Sonnet 25
The wisest scholler of the wight most wise,By Phœbus doome, with sugred sentence sayes:That vertue if it once meete with our eyes,Strange flames of love it in our soules would rayse.But for that man with paine this truth discries,While he each thing in sences ballance wayes,And so, nor will nor can behold those skyes,Which inward Summe to heroicke mindes displaies.Vertue of late with vertuous care to stirLove of himselfe, takes Stellas shape, that heeTo mortall eyes might sweetly shine in her.It is most true, for since I her did see,Vertues great beautie in her face I prove,And finde th’ effect, for I doe burne in love.
Words in this poem
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- summe n.
- The aggregate of two or more numbers, magnitudes, quantities, or particulars; the amount or whole of any number of individuals or particulars added together; as, the sum of 5 and 7 is 12. [OE. summe, somme, OF. sume, some, F. somme, L. summa, fr. summus highest, a superlative from sub under. See Sub-, and cf. Supreme.]
- vertuous a.
- Virtuous; powerful.
- mortall a.
- Subject to death; destined to die; as, man is mortal. [F. mortel, L. mortalis, from mors, mortis, death, fr. moriri 8die; akin to E. murder. See Murder, and cf. Filemot, Mere a lake, Mortgage.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 25 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 25, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-25.html, id L04781.
Form and metre
Sonnet 25 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABABABCDCDEE. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 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 ABABABABCDCDEE wiseA · sayesB · eyesA · rayseB · discriesA · wayesB · skyesA · displaiesB · stirC · heeD · herC · seeD · proveE · loveE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The wisest scholler of the wight most wise, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| By Phœbus doome, with sugred sentence sayes: | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| That vertue if it once meete with our eyes, | 10 | ········/· |
| Strange flames of love it in our soules would rayse. | 10 | ······/··· |
| But for that man with paine this truth discries, | 9 | ········· |
| While he each thing in sences ballance wayes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And so, nor will nor can behold those skyes, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Which inward Summe to heroicke mindes displaies. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Vertue of late with vertuous care to stir | 11 | ·····/˘˘··· |
| Love of himselfe, takes Stellas shape, that hee | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To mortall eyes might sweetly shine in her. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| It is most true, for since I her did see, | 10 | ·········· |
| Vertues great beautie in her face I prove, | 9 | ········· |
| And finde th’ effect, for I doe burne in love. | 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.