Sonnet 2
Not at first sight, nor with a dribbing shot,Love gave the wound, which while I breath will bleede:But knowne, worth did in mine of time proceede,Till by degrees it had full conquest got.I sawe and lik’d, I lik’d but loved not,I lov’d, but did not straight what Love decreede:At length to Loves decrees, I forst agreede:Yet with repining at so partiall lot.Now even that foot-steppe of lost libertieIs gone, and now like slave borne Muscovite:I call it praise to suffer tyrannie,And now imploy the remnant of my witTo make my selfe believe that all is well,While with a feeling skill I paint my hell.
Words in this poem
- partiall a.
- Of, pertaining to, or affecting, a part only; not general or universal; not total or entire; as, a partial eclipse of the moon. [F., fr. LL. partials, fr. L. pars, gen. partis, a part; cf. (for sense 1) F. partiel. See Part, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 2 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 2, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-2.html, id L04758.
Form and metre
Sonnet 2 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 14% 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 ABBAABBAC-C-DD shotA · bleedeB · proceedeB · gotA · notA · decreedeB · agreedeB · lotA · libertieC · muscovite · tyrannieC · wit · wellD · hellD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Not at first sight, nor with a dribbing shot, | 10 | ·········· |
| Love gave the wound, which while I breath will bleede: | 10 | ·········· |
| But knowne, worth did in mine of time proceede, | 10 | ·········· |
| Till by degrees it had full conquest got. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| I sawe and lik’d, I lik’d but loved not, | 10 | ········˘· |
| I lov’d, but did not straight what Love decreede: | 10 | ·········· |
| At length to Loves decrees, I forst agreede: | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Yet with repining at so partiall lot. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Now even that foot-steppe of lost libertie | 10 | ·/········ |
| Is gone, and now like slave borne Muscovite: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I call it praise to suffer tyrannie, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And now imploy the remnant of my wit | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To make my selfe believe that all is well, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| While with a feeling skill I paint my hell. | 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.