Writing on the Sand

Edmund Spenser (c. 1552-1599):

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.

George Seferis (1900-1971):

On the golden sand

We wrote her name;

But the sea-breeze blew

And the writing vanished.


(tr. E.Keeley and P. Sherrard)