Sonnet 105
O absent presence Stella is not here,False flattering hope that with so faire a face,Bare me in hand that in this Orphane place,Stella I saw, my Stella should appeare,What saist thou now, where is that dainty cleareThou wouldst mine eyes should helpe their famisht case:But how art thou? now that selfe felt disgraceDoth make me most to wish thy comfort neere,But heere I doe shore of faire Ladies meete,Who may with charme of conversation sweeteMake in my heavie mould new thoughts to grow:Sure they prevaile as much with me, as heThat bad his frind but then new maimde to beMerrie with him, and so forget his woe.
Words in this poem
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 105 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 105, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-105.html, id L04861.
Form and metre
Sonnet 105 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABBAABBACCDEED hereA · faceB · placeB · appeareA · cleareA · caseB · disgraceB · neereA · meeteC · sweeteC · growD · heE · beE · woeD
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 absent presence Stella is not here, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| False flattering hope that with so faire a face, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Bare me in hand that in this Orphane place, | 10 | ·········· |
| Stella I saw, my Stella should appeare, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| What saist thou now, where is that dainty cleare | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thou wouldst mine eyes should helpe their famisht case: | 10 | ·········· |
| But how art thou? now that selfe felt disgrace | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Doth make me most to wish thy comfort neere, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But heere I doe shore of faire Ladies meete, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Who may with charme of conversation sweete | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Make in my heavie mould new thoughts to grow: | 10 | ·········· |
| Sure they prevaile as much with me, as he | 11 | ··········· |
| That bad his frind but then new maimde to be | 10 | ·········· |
| Merrie with him, and so forget his woe. | 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.