SIR PHILLIP SYDNEY
SONNET 1.
In Sonnet 1, Sidney begins by remarking that he wishes to make known to Stella (Penelope) how
much "pain" he suffers because of his love for her and thus hopes that she will "pity" him. He wished
to gain her sympathy by using his poetic powers to the maximum extent possible "to paint the
blackest face of woe" of his sufferings. To do this he tried to use the words and phrases of other
poets who had experienced similar feelings and emotions, only to realise the ineffectiveness of such
an approach. He compares his situation to that of a pregnant mother struggling at the point of
childbirth, "helpless in my throes." Just then his poetic muse rebukes him and instructs him not seek
the assistance of the writings of others but to look in to his own heart and express his own true
feelings sincerely.
Sonnet 1 is somewhat a sonnet on how to write a sonnet to Stella. 1st quatrain: He loves her, but he
cannot find the words to tell her. He is "fain" (desirous) in his poem to show his love, and the "dear"
(stella) might read his poems, discover he loves her, and feel pity for him and, therefore, he might
obtain her grace" (favor). 2nd quatrain: He seeks the words to tell her and turns to "others' leaves"
(He gets ideas from others.). He hopes some fresh ideas will flow from his "sunburned brain." The
"sunburned brain" is symbolic in that it has been burned by the "sun" of Stella's beauty and by the
brilliance of other poets' words.
SONNET 39.
In summary, Sidney begins Sonnet 39 with a request for sleep: this is the second of three sonnets
about sleep and going to bed. Note how Sidney addresses sleep, personifying it. Sleep wont come,
so he flatters it, lavishing kind epithets upon it: it is the knot (or flowerbed or small garden plot; this
sense is etymologically related to the more common meaning of knot) of peace, meaning that its a
bed (a flowerbed, that is) where peace can flourish. It is the baiting place of wit: a baiting-place was
a wayside inn or stop where one could take refreshment on a long journey. In other words, getting a
good nights sleep increases your wit used here to refer generally to wisdom, cleverness, and
sharpness of mind. Woes are soothed by the soft balm of sleep, like healing a wound with an
ointment. A poor Sir Philip Sidneyman can gain wealth and a prisoner release in sleep, not least
because sleep is a time when our minds can dream a better life for us. Sleep is also a great leveller:
the highest-born and the lowliest person are equal in sleep (though presumably, the high-born ones
beds are comfier).
Sidney calls upon sleep to protect him with its shield of proof from the sharp darts of despair he
feels (darts suggesting Cupids arrow: the despair Sidneys speaker feels is down to his hopeless love
for the woman, Stella); hes prepared to pay protection money, or tribute, if sleep can provide a
shield from such despairing thoughts.
Sidney says he can offer smooth pillows, a comfortable bed, a bedroom that is essentially soundproof
and blocks out all light and if all of this isnt enough to induce sleep (because, after all, they already
belong to sleep by right), then he knows that something that will seal the deal: if sleep grants his
wish and lets him get some shuteye, then in Sidneys dreams, sleep will be granted the ultimate
reward, of seeing the beautiful image of Stella there, more lifelike than anywhere else. What an
incentive!
This idea of trying to strike a bargain with sleep will strike a chord with anyone who has endured a
sleepless night because of an affair of the heart. (Shakespeare would also write a sonnet on this
subject.) It doesnt matter if you have the perfect conditions for sleep: sometimes sleep just wont
come, when you are what the poets used to call heartsick over something or someone. Sonnet 39
also contains some subtle effects involving rhyme: note how the first eight lines of the poem, the
octave, are rhymed abababab. Its usual practice for a Petrarchan or Italian sonnet to have just two
different rhymes in the octave, but theyre normally rhymed abbaabba. Rearranging them in
alternating lines creates a seesaw back-and-forth effect that suggests the tossing and turning of the
poems speaker: Come sleep, O sleep, the certain knot of peace sounds like a cry of despair, the
speaker having exhausted all other options.
And the final line complicates the message of the sonnet. If Sidney or his fictionalised speaker,
Astrophil cannot sleep for love of Stella, something it seems fair to infer from the other sonnets in
Astrophil and Stella, then sleep will hardly provide complete respite from her, since even in his
dreams he expects to see her. In the last analysis, it is the surprise of this final line which crowns the
poem as one of the great sonnets in the sequence.
SONNET 72.
72. Astrophel directs the sonnet to Desire, the emotion that has augmented his love for Stella since
the beginning of the sequence. He declares that, even though both love and desire fan the flames of
his heart, he has determined that he must give up Desire. Love flourishes through chastity and virtue,
and he now must accept virtue in all its forms. He will embrace Service and Honor as Stella's gifts to
him. Astrophel recognizes that he must give up Desire, but ultimately he does not know how to do
so.
Analysis: This sonnet evaluates the same conflict as in Sonnet 71, but its tone is markedly different.
Astrophel recognizes Desire as a loyal companion and his oldest friend. Sidney addresses Desire as a
person (it is apostrophe), demonstrating a great deal of reluctance in banishing Desire. At the end,
Astrophel is confused by his inability to go through with the banishment. For the first time,
Astrophel's relationship with Desire is recognized as a force to be reckoned with.
SONNET 101
101. Astrophel expresses concern over a sickness that has sent Stella to bed. As a result of Stella's
illness, Grace, Beauty, and Sweetness are equally sick. Her illness is not fatal, but Love and Nature
both strive to assuage it as quickly as possible. Nature, in particular, is concerned because she
realizes that she will never be able to create such physical beauty in another human.
Analysis: Stella's sickness leads Astrophel to reevaluate his feelings of despair and torment. For the
first time in several sonnets, his tone is more optimistic, and he is no longer preoccupied with the
unforgivable action of Sonnet 93.
SONNET MY TRUE LOVE HATH MY HEART AND I HIS
This poem is a rather simple poem where the author expresses a romantic sentiment: I have given
my heart to my love, and they have given me theirs, and because of this, we are both happier. He
states that this exchange was done willingly, and "there was never a better bargain driven." In other
words, we wanted to give each other our hearts, and it was a wonderful bargain because we both got
something wonderful...
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
SONNET 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day
The speaker begins by asking whether he should or will compare "thee" to a summer day. He says
that his beloved is more lovely and more even-tempered. He then runs off a list of reasons why
summer isnt all that great: winds shake the buds that emerged in Spring, summer ends too quickly,
and the sun can get too hot or be obscured by clouds
He goes on, saying that everything beautiful eventually fades by chance or by natures inevitable
changes. Coming back to the beloved, though, he argues that his or her summer (or happy, beautiful
years) wont go away, nor will his or her beauty fade away. Moreover, death will never be able to
take the beloved, since the beloved exists in eternal lines (meaning poetry). The speaker concludes
that as long as humans exist and can see (so as to read), the poem hes writing will live on, allowing
the beloved to keep living as well.
SONNET 29 When, in disgrace and fortune and men's eyes
The speaker of this sonnet says he's completely bummed and that he's been bawling his eyes out
over his pathetic life and all of his misfortune. He says he's all alone and feels alienated and
unsuccessful. Heck. Even God is ignoring him and won't return his phone calls.
He says he wishes he was rich and had something to hope for. Also, he totally wishes he was good
looking, popular with friends, and talented like some other dudes he knows. But he's not, which is
why nothing seems fun anymorenot even the stuff he used to enjoy doing.
Just as our bummed out speaker is thinking about all the stuff he used to really dig, he suddenly
remembers a special person in his life and his mood begins to shift in a big, dramatic way. The mere
thought of this unnamed mystery person makes our speaker so unbelievably happy and hopeful that
he feels like a bird (a "lark," to be exact) that rises up and sings to the heavens.
Finally, our speaker concludes that, hey, life is pretty great after all. Even though this unnamed
person isn't exactly around right now, just thinking about his or her "sweet love" makes our speaker
feel like the luckiest guy everso lucky that he wouldn't trade places with anyone else for all the
money and power in the world.
SONNET 130 My mistresses' eyes are nothing like the sun
Sonnet 130 is like a love poem turned on its head. Usually, if you were talking about your beloved,
you would go out of your way to praise her, to point all the ways that she is the best. In this case,
though, Shakespeare spends this poem comparing his mistress's appearance to other things, and
then telling us how she doesn't measure up to them. He goes through a whole laundry list, giving us
details about the flaws of her body, her smell, even the sound of her voice. Then, at the end, he
changes his tune and tells us about his real and complete love for her.
SONNET 116 Let me not to the marriage of true minds
The poet makes his point clear from line 1: true love always perseveres, despite any obstacles that
may arise. He goes on to define love by what it doesnt do, claiming that it stays constant, even
though people and circumstances may change. Love never dies, even when someone tries to destroy
it. Rather than being something that comes and goes, love is eternal and unchanging so much so
that the poet compares it to the North Star, which never moves in the sky and guides lost ships
home. This metaphorical star is mysterious and perhaps incomprehensible, even though we can
chart its location.
Moving on to a new image, love isnt at the beck and call of time (or times consequences, age and
death); mortality isnt an issue for true love, which doesnt fade even when youth and beauty
disappear. Love doesnt change as the days go by; rather, it remains strong until the lovers dying day
(or beyondchew on that for a while).
Finally, the poet stakes his own reputation on this definition, boldly claiming that if anyone can prove
him wrong, hell eat his words. That is to say, if this idea of love turns out to be wrong, then hell take
back everything he wrote and itll be as though it never existed. Furthermore, if this specific portrayal
of love is somehow proved to be the wrong one, then nobody, as far as the poet is concerned, has
ever loved at all.
THE DREAM OF THE ROOD
This poem takes up the cult of the cross theme popular in Christianity since the fourth century
recovery of the True Cross by Saint Helena. The image of the cross provided a reminder of Christs
sacrifice for the salvation of humankind. The dreamers experience leads him to a stronger devotion
to the cross, and he accepts the command to embark on a mission of evangelization, revealing...
The Dream of the Rood, Old English lyric, the earliest dream poem and one of the finest religious
poems in the English language, once, but no longer, attributed to Caedmon or Cynewulf. In a dream
the unknown poet beholds a beautiful treethe rood, or cross, on which Christ died. The rood tells
him its own story. Forced to be the instrument of the saviours death, it describes how it suffered the
nail wounds, spear shafts, and insults along with Christ to fulfill Gods will. Once blood-stained and
horrible, it is now the resplendent sign of mankinds redemption. The poem was originally known
only in fragmentary form from some 8th-century runic inscriptions on the Ruthwell Cross, now
standing in the parish church of Ruthwell, now Dumfries District, Dumfries and Galloway Region,
Scot. The complete version became known with the discovery of the 10th-century Vercelli Book in
northern Italy in 1822.