Sonnet 16
In nature apt to like, when I did seeBeauties which were of many Carrects fine,My boyling spirits did thether soone encline,And Love I thought that I was full of thee;But finding not those restles flames in meeWhich others said did make their soules to pyne,I thought those babes of some pins hurt did whine:By my love judging what loves paines might be.But while I thus with this young Lyon plaid,Myne eyes (shall I say curst or blest) beheldStella: now shee is nam’de, neede more be sayd?In her sight I a lesson new have speld.I now have learnd love right, and learnd even so,As who by being poysond doth poyson know.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- curst a.
- Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 16 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 16, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-16.html, id L04772.
Form and metre
Sonnet 16 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 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 ABBAABBA-C-CDD seeA · fineB · enclineB · theeA · meeA · pyneB · whineB · beA · plaid · beheldC · sayd · speldC · soD · knowD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In nature apt to like, when I did see | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Beauties which were of many Carrects fine, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| My boyling spirits did thether soone encline, | 11 | ·/˘/˘······ |
| And Love I thought that I was full of thee; | 10 | ·········· |
| But finding not those restles flames in mee | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Which others said did make their soules to pyne, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I thought those babes of some pins hurt did whine: | 10 | ·········· |
| By my love judging what loves paines might be. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But while I thus with this young Lyon plaid, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Myne eyes (shall I say curst or blest) beheld | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Stella: now shee is nam’de, neede more be sayd? | 10 | /˘········ |
| In her sight I a lesson new have speld. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I now have learnd love right, and learnd even so, | 10 | ········/· |
| As who by being poysond doth poyson know. | 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.