1. S ONNET 75 E DMUND S PENSER B Y : P AUL Z IZZO AND C ASSIE G REENE

2. E DMUND S PENSER Edmund Spenser was born in London around 1552 He was educated at the Merchant Taylors School He attended college at Pembroke College, in Cambridge He was best known for writing The Faerie Queene He died on January 13 th, 1599

3. S ONNET 75 One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washed it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay A mortal thing so to immortalize, For I myself shall like to this decay, And eek my name be wiped out likewise. Not so (quoth I), let baser things devise To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your virtues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name. Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue, Out love shall live, and later life renew.

4. L ITERARY D EVICES U SED Personification Alliteration Metaphor

5. B REAKING D OWN S ONNET Quatrain 1 In the First quadrant Spenser is trying to love the women, but overtime they will drift apart and taken away from each other “ But came the tide and made my pain his prey” The tide is the time and the making his pain his prey is saying that he doesn’t want to waste time because time will tear them apart Quatrain 2 The girl is saying that they will both die soon “For I myself shall like this to decay, and eek my name be wiped out likewise” The girl is saying that everyone is going to die eventually, so they shouldn’t care what people think

6. B REAKING DOWN S ONNET Quatrain 3 “ But you shall live by fame, my verse your virtues rare shall eternize” He is that they will live on after this because he wrote about her and they will not be forgotten Couplet Spenser is saying that she is right, and it doesn’t matter if they eventually die, but that even after they will still love and have each other.

7. T HEME The theme of Sonnet 75 is that no one can live on forever, but by him writing this poem he is immortalizing their virtues. This way there love can live on forever

8. C LASS A CTIVITY Independently think about the theme of this poem, and make your own title for it Explain why you chose this title.