Song 9
Goe my Flocke, goe get you hence,Seeke a better place of feeding,Where you may have some defenceFrom the stormes in my breast bleeding,And showers from mine eyes proceeding.
Leave a wretch in whom all woe,Can abide to keepe no measure;Merrie Flocke, such one forgoeUnto whom mirth is displeasure,Onely rich in measures treasure.
Yet alas before you goe,Heare your wofull Masters storie,Which to stones I else would showe;Sorrow onely then hath glorie,When tis excellently sorie.
Stella, fairest Shepheardesse,Fairest, but yet cruelst ever:Stella, whom the heavens still blesse,Though against me she persever,Though I blisse inherit never.
Stella hath refused mee,Stella, who more love hath provedIn this caitiffe hart to bee,Than can in good to us be movedTowards Lambkins best beloved.
Stella hath refused meeAstrophel that so well served.In this plesant Spring (Muse) see,While in pride flowers be preserved,Himselfe onely, winter starved.
Why (alas) then doth she sweareThat she loveth me so deerely;Seeing me so long to beareCoales of love that burne so cleerly:And yet leave me hopelesse meerly.
Is that love? forsooth I trow.If I saw my good dogg grieved,And a helpe for him did know,My love should not be beleeved,But he were by me releeved.
No, she hates me (welaway)Faining love, somewhat to please me,Knowing if she should displayAll hate, death soone would seaze me,And of hideous torments ease me.
Then my deare Flocke now adieu:But alas, if in your strayingHeavenly Stella meete with you,Tell her in your piteous blayingHer poore Slaves just decaying.
Words in this poem
- defence n.
- The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. [F. défense, OF. defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. Fence.]
- wofull a.
- Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity; afflicted; wretched; unhappy; sad.
- excellently adv.
- In an excellent manner; well in a high degree.
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- trow v. i.
- To believe; to trust; to think or suppose. [OE. trowen, AS.treówan to trust, believe, fr. treów trust, treówe true, faithful. See True.]
- dogg n.
- A quadruped of the genus Canis, esp. the domestic dog (C. [AS. docga; akin to D. dog mastiff, Dan. dogge, Sw. dogg.]
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song 9 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 9, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/song-9.html, id L04872.
Form and metre
Song 9 is 50 lines in 10 stanzas of 5 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABB, in 4 of the 10 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 16 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 ABABB henceA · feedingB · defenceA · bleedingB · proceedingB
- 2 -A-AA woe · measureA · forgoe · displeasureA · treasureA
- 3 ABABB goeA · storieB · showeA · glorieB · sorieB
- 4 ABA-B shepheardesseA · everB · blesseA · persever · neverB
- 5 ABAB- meeA · provedB · beeA · movedB · beloved
- 6 ABAB- meeA · servedB · seeA · preservedB · starved
- 7 A-ABB sweareA · deerely · beareA · cleerlyB · meerlyB
- 8 ABABB trowA · grievedB · knowA · beleevedB · releevedB
- 9 -A-AA welaway · meA · display · meA · meA
- 10 ABABB adieuA · strayingB · youA · blayingB · decayingB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Goe my Flocke, goe get you hence, | 7 | ······· |
| Seeke a better place of feeding, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Where you may have some defence | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| From the stormes in my breast bleeding, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And showers from mine eyes proceeding. | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Leave a wretch in whom all woe, | 7 | ······· |
| Can abide to keepe no measure; | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| Merrie Flocke, such one forgoe | 7 | /˘····· |
| Unto whom mirth is displeasure, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Onely rich in measures treasure. | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Yet alas before you goe, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Heare your wofull Masters storie, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Which to stones I else would showe; | 7 | ······· |
| Sorrow onely then hath glorie, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| When tis excellently sorie. | 8 | ··/˘˘˘·· |
| Stella, fairest Shepheardesse, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Fairest, but yet cruelst ever: | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Stella, whom the heavens still blesse, | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| Though against me she persever, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Though I blisse inherit never. | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Stella hath refused mee, | 6 | /˘·˘/· |
| Stella, who more love hath proved | 7 | /˘····· |
| In this caitiffe hart to bee, | 7 | ······· |
| Than can in good to us be moved | 9 | ········˘ |
| Towards Lambkins best beloved. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Stella hath refused mee | 6 | /˘·˘/· |
| Astrophel that so well served. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| In this plesant Spring (Muse) see, | 7 | ······· |
| While in pride flowers be preserved, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Himselfe onely, winter starved. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Why (alas) then doth she sweare | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| That she loveth me so deerely; | 9 | ········· |
| Seeing me so long to beare | 7 | /˘····· |
| Coales of love that burne so cleerly: | 8 | ········ |
| And yet leave me hopelesse meerly. | 9 | ········· |
| Is that love? forsooth I trow. | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| If I saw my good dogg grieved, | 7 | ······· |
| And a helpe for him did know, | 7 | ······· |
| My love should not be beleeved, | 7 | ······· |
| But he were by me releeved. | 7 | ······· |
| No, she hates me (welaway) | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Faining love, somewhat to please me, | 8 | /˘·//··· |
| Knowing if she should display | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| All hate, death soone would seaze me, | 7 | ······· |
| And of hideous torments ease me. | 9 | ··/˘˘/··· |
| Then my deare Flocke now adieu: | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| But alas, if in your straying | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| Heavenly Stella meete with you, | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| Tell her in your piteous blaying | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Her poore Slaves just decaying. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
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.