The poet writes his lover's name in the sand by the seashore, but the incoming tide washes it away. Undaunted, he writes it again with his other hand, only to have that effort also erased as the tide returns. His lover chides him, saying that trying to immortalize something mortal through such means is in vain, as she and her name will ultimately decay over time as well. The poet insists that while baser things fade into dust, her virtues will live on through his verse which will eternize and glorify her name by writing it in the heavens. There, even when death conquers all the world, their love shall live on and renew life once more.
The poet writes his lover's name in the sand by the seashore, but the incoming tide washes it away. Undaunted, he writes it again with his other hand, only to have that effort also erased as the tide returns. His lover chides him, saying that trying to immortalize something mortal through such means is in vain, as she and her name will ultimately decay over time as well. The poet insists that while baser things fade into dust, her virtues will live on through his verse which will eternize and glorify her name by writing it in the heavens. There, even when death conquers all the world, their love shall live on and renew life once more.
The poet writes his lover's name in the sand by the seashore, but the incoming tide washes it away. Undaunted, he writes it again with his other hand, only to have that effort also erased as the tide returns. His lover chides him, saying that trying to immortalize something mortal through such means is in vain, as she and her name will ultimately decay over time as well. The poet insists that while baser things fade into dust, her virtues will live on through his verse which will eternize and glorify her name by writing it in the heavens. There, even when death conquers all the world, their love shall live on and renew life once more.
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 dost 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, Our love shall live, and later life renew.
The Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Hardy (Illustrated): 940+ Poems, Lyrics & Verses, Including Wessex Poems, Poems of the Past and the Present, Time's Laughingstocks, Satires of Circumstance, Moments of Vision, Late Lyrics and Earlier, Human Shows…