Lines 9-14 Summary

Lines 9-10

"Not so," (quod I) "let baser things devise
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: 

• At this point in the sonnet, we get a classic volta (or turn), in which the poem changes its tune. So far, the poem has been all about mortality—how nothing and no one can live forever. But now, the poem begins to say that actually, yes, some things do live forever. 
• The dialogue shifts from the beloved to the speaker himself (and we're just assuming that the speaker was a dude, given the lack of evidence to the contrary). He tells his girlfriend that "baser things [will] devise / to die in dust." Translation: things that are "baser" (or lower, less important, cruder) than you will die and become dust, but that "you shall live by fame."
• In other words: death is for suckers, yo. And you, my dear, are most definitely not a sucker (says the speaker). 
• And note all that alliteration of D words—"devise," "die," "dust." It all sounds very harsh, but the speaker eases up on these tough sounds when he addresses his girl at the end of the line. Check out "Sound Check" for more on how the poem sounds.
• So, tell us, speaker, how will your lady-friend become famous?

Lines 11-12

My verse your vertues rare shall eternize,
And in the heavens write your glorious name: 

• So how will the speaker's beloved live forever? Through his poetry, of course. (In this line, "verse" = "poetry"). The writing in the sand was just child's play. Poetry does all the heavy lifting involved in making someone eternal. 
• The speaker says that his verse will "eternize" all of his girl's virtues, and that it will write her name in the heavens, not in the sand. His poetry will be so awesome that it will make her immortal, basically. 
• Note the soft, alliterative V's in "verse" and "vertues"—they seem almost sweet compared to the hard D's in "dust" and "die."
• He speaks to his sweetheart softly.
• But not too softly: we are starting to think that the beloved is right when she calls the speaker "vain." Does his poetry really have the power to make someone immortal? Can her "glorious name" really live on forever through his poetry? Are his poems really that good? Or does the speaker have a serious over-confidence problem?

Lines 13-14

Where whenas death shall all the world subdue,
Our love shall live, and later life renew." 

• Depending on your point of view, the speaker either reveals himself to be the most loving boyfriend ever, or the most clueless one. He pushes the envelope even more with this immortality stuff. He says that "death shall all the world subdue"—in other words, that death will kill everyone in the whole wide world—but that their "love shall live, and later life renew." Translation: everyone will die but their love will go on forever because of his poetry.
• Now, here's where form gets really interesting. Have you noticed how the poem has become really alliterative, once the speaker begins his dialogue? In these final two lines, we have alliteration of W words in "where," "whenas," and "world," and alliteration of L words with "love," "live," "later," and "life."
• It's like the speaker really wants to show off his poetry-makin' skills now. He's making these big claims—you will live forever through my awesome poems—and, to prove it, he shows off his alliterative skills. We feel very conscious that this poem is a Poem-with-a-capital-P, if you know that we mean.
• This becomes doubly true when we notice that the last two lines of the poem form a rhyming couplet. So much rhyming, so much alliteration—this poem's poem-ness is undeniably poem-ish. This final couplet is the other hallmark of the Spenserian sonnet; it provides a sense of closure and finality to the poem.
• So, do you think that the speaker is making promises that he can't keep? Can he really immortalize his gal in verse? Just think about it: are you reading Spenser's poem? Are you thinking deep thoughts about him and his beloved? Are you Shmooping this poem up or what?
• We may not actually know his beloved's name, but we're all thinking about the speaker and his gal right now. Edmund Spenser and the immortal power of his awesome verse FTW. (That's "For the win," for all you technophobes out there).