Sonnet 100
Stella is sicke, and in that sick-bed lyesSweetenes, that breathes and pants as oft as shee:And Grace sicke too, such fine conclusions tries,That sicknes brings it selfe best grac’d to bee.Beautie is sicke, but sicke in such faire guise,That in that palenes Beauties white we see,And Joy which is unsever’d from those eyes.Stella now learnes, (strange case) to weepe with me,Love moves thy paine and like a faithful page,As thy looks sturre, runs up and downe to makeAll folkes prest at thy wil thy paine to swage,Nature with care seeks for his darlings sake,Knowing worlds passe, ere she enough can findeOf such heaven stuffe to cloath so heavenly minde.
Words in this poem
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 100 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, Sonnet 100, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-100.html, id L04856.
Form and metre
Sonnet 100 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABABAB-C-CDD lyesA · sheeB · triesA · beeB · guiseA · seeB · eyesA · meB · page · makeC · swage · sakeC · findeD · mindeD
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Stella is sicke, and in that sick-bed lyes | 10 | /˘········ |
| Sweetenes, that breathes and pants as oft as shee: | 10 | /˘········ |
| And Grace sicke too, such fine conclusions tries, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| That sicknes brings it selfe best grac’d to bee. | 9 | ········· |
| Beautie is sicke, but sicke in such faire guise, | 10 | ·········· |
| That in that palenes Beauties white we see, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And Joy which is unsever’d from those eyes. | 10 | ·········· |
| Stella now learnes, (strange case) to weepe with me, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Love moves thy paine and like a faithful page, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As thy looks sturre, runs up and downe to make | 10 | ·········· |
| All folkes prest at thy wil thy paine to swage, | 10 | ·········· |
| Nature with care seeks for his darlings sake, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Knowing worlds passe, ere she enough can finde | 10 | /··/··˘/·· |
| Of such heaven stuffe to cloath so heavenly minde. | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
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.