Laurel · Philip Sidney · Astrophel and Stella

Song 6

Philip Sidney (1554–1586) · 1591

iambic trimeter · ABABCC · 54 lines · from Astrophel and Stella

O You that heare this voice,O you that see this face,Say whether of the choice,Deserves the better place,Feare not to judge this bate,For it is voide of hate.

This side doth Beautie take,For that doth Musick speake,Fit Orators to make,The strongest judgements weake.The barre to plead the right,Is onely true delight.

Thus doth the voice and face,The gentle Lawiers wage,Like loving brothers case,For Fathers heritage,That each while each contends,It selfe to other lends.

For Beautie beautifiesWith heavenly view and grace,The heavenly harmonie;And in this faultles faceThe perfect beauties bee,A perfect harmonie.

Musick more lustie swelsIn speeches nobly placed,Beautie as farre excelsIn actions aptly graced.A friend each partie drawes,To countenance his cause.

Love more affected seemesTo Beauties lonely light,And wonder more esteemesOf Musicks wondrous might;But both to both so bent,As both in both are spent.

Musicke doth witnes callThe eare his truth to trie:Beautie brings to the hallThe judgement of the eie:Both in their objects such,As no exceptions tuch.

The common Sense which mightBe arbitrer of this,To be forsooth upright,To both sides partiall is:He laies on this chiefe praise,Chiefe praise on that he laies.

Then reason Princesse hie,Whose throne is in the minde;Which Musicke can in skie,And hidden Beauties finde:Say, whether thou wilt crowneWith limitlesse renowne.

Words in this poem

bate n.: Strife; contention. [Prob. abbrev. from debate.]
wage v. i.: To bind one's self; to engage.
heritage a.: That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
nobly adv.: Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
farre n.: A young pig, or a litter of pigs. [See Farrow.]
aptly adv.: In an apt or suitable manner; fitly; properly; pertinently; appropriately; readily.
graced a.: Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
wondrous adv.: In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
tuch n.: A dark-colored kind of marble; touchstone. Sir J. [See Touchstone.]
forsooth v. t.: To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
partiall a.: Of, pertaining to, or affecting, a part only; not general or universal; not total or entire; as, a partial eclipse of the moon. [F., fr. LL. partials, fr. L. pars, gen. partis, a part; cf. (for sense 1) F. partiel. See Part, n.]
princesse a.: A term applied to a lady's long, close-fitting dress made with waist and skirt in one. [F., a princess.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Song 6 is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sir P.S.: His Astrophel and Stella Wherein the excellence of sweete poesie is concluded, Project Gutenberg ebook #56375; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Philip Sidney, Song 6, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/song-6.html, id L04869.

Form and metre

Song 6 is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 6 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic trimeter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 ABABCC voice^A · face^B · choice^A · place^B · bate^C · hate^C
2 ABABCC take^A · speake^B · make^A · weake^B · right^C · delight^C
3 ABABCC face^A · wage^B · case^A · heritage^B · contends^C · lends^C
4 -ABA-B beautifies · grace^A · harmonie^B · face^A · bee · harmonie^B
5 ABABCC swels^A · placed^B · excels^A · graced^B · drawes^C · cause^C
6 ABABCC seemes^A · light^B · esteemes^A · might^B · bent^C · spent^C
7 A-A-BB call^A · trie · hall^A · eie · such^B · tuch^B
8 A-A-BB might^A · this · upright^A · is · praise^B · laies^B
9 ABABCC hie^A · minde^B · skie^A · finde^B · crowne^C · renowne^C

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic trimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
O You that heare this voice,	6	······
O you that see this face,	6	······
Say whether of the choice,	6	······
Deserves the better place,	6	˘/·/˘·
Feare not to judge this bate,	6	······
For it is voide of hate.	6	······
This side doth Beautie take,	6	······
For that doth Musick speake,	6	···/˘·
Fit Orators to make,	6	·/˘˘··
The strongest judgements weake.	6	·/˘/˘·
The barre to plead the right,	7	·/˘····
Is onely true delight.	6	·/˘·˘/
Thus doth the voice and face,	6	······
The gentle Lawiers wage,	6	·/˘···
Like loving brothers case,	6	·/˘/˘·
For Fathers heritage,	6	·/˘/˘˘
That each while each contends,	6	····˘/
It selfe to other lends.	6	···/˘·
For Beautie beautifies	6	···/˘·
With heavenly view and grace,	6	·/˘···
The heavenly harmonie;	7	·/˘˘/˘˘
And in this faultles face	5	·····
The perfect beauties bee,	6	·/·/˘·
A perfect harmonie.	6	·/·/˘˘
Musick more lustie swels	6	/˘····
In speeches nobly placed,	6	·/˘/˘·
Beautie as farre excels	6	····˘/
In actions aptly graced.	6	·/˘/˘·
A friend each partie drawes,	6	······
To countenance his cause.	6	·/˘˘··
Love more affected seemes	6	··˘/˘·
To Beauties lonely light,	6	·/˘/˘·
And wonder more esteemes	6	·/˘·˘/
Of Musicks wondrous might;	6	·/˘/˘·
But both to both so bent,	6	······
As both in both are spent.	6	······
Musicke doth witnes call	5	·····
The eare his truth to trie:	6	······
Beautie brings to the hall	6	······
The judgement of the eie:	6	·/˘···
Both in their objects such,	6	···/˘·
As no exceptions tuch.	6	··˘/˘·
The common Sense which might	6	·/˘···
Be arbitrer of this,	6	······
To be forsooth upright,	6	··˘/˘/
To both sides partiall is:	6	···/˘·
He laies on this chiefe praise,	6	······
Chiefe praise on that he laies.	6	······
Then reason Princesse hie,	6	·/˘/˘·
Whose throne is in the minde;	6	······
Which Musicke can in skie,	6	······
And hidden Beauties finde:	6	·/˘/˘·
Say, whether thou wilt crowne	6	······
With limitlesse renowne.	6	······

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

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