Sonnet 102
O happie Thames that didst my Stella beare,I saw thee with full many a smiling lineUpon thy cheereful face loves Livery weare:While those faire Plannets on thy streames did shine,The boat for joy could not to dance forbeare,While wanton winds with beautie so divineRavisht, staid not, til in her golden haireThey did themselves (ô sweetest prison) twine.But faine those friendly winds there would their stayHave made, but forst by Nature still to flie,First did with puffing kisse those Lockes display:She so discovered, blusht. From window IWith sight thereof cride out; Ah faire disgrace,Let honours selfe to thee graunt highest place.
Words in this poem
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- puffing
- a. & n. from Puff, v. i. & t. Puffing adder. (Zoöl.) Same as Puff adder (b), under Puff.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 102 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 102, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-102.html, id L04858.
Form and metre
Sonnet 102 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 36% 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 ABABAB-BC-C-DD beareA · lineB · weareA · shineB · forbeareA · divineB · haire · twineB · stayC · flie · displayC · i · disgraceD · placeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O happie Thames that didst my Stella beare, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I saw thee with full many a smiling line | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| Upon thy cheereful face loves Livery weare: | 11 | ········/˘· |
| While those faire Plannets on thy streames did shine, | 10 | ·········· |
| The boat for joy could not to dance forbeare, | 10 | ·········· |
| While wanton winds with beautie so divine | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Ravisht, staid not, til in her golden haire | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They did themselves (ô sweetest prison) twine. | 9 | ··˘//˘/˘· |
| But faine those friendly winds there would their stay | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Have made, but forst by Nature still to flie, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| First did with puffing kisse those Lockes display: | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| She so discovered, blusht. From window I | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| With sight thereof cride out; Ah faire disgrace, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Let honours selfe to thee graunt highest place. | 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.