Sonnet 3
Let Daintie wittes cry on the Sisters nine,That bravely maskt, their fancies may be tolde:Or Pinders Apes flaunt they in phrases fine,Enamling with pyde flowers their thoughts of gold:Or els let them in statelyee glorie shine,Ennobling new found tropes with problemes old:Or with strange similes, inricht each line,Of hearbes or beasts, which Inde or Affricke hold.For me in sooth, no Muse but one I know,Phrases and Problemes from my reach do growe.And straunge things cost too deere for my poor sprites,How then? even thus in Stellas face I reede,What love and beautie be, then all my deedeBut coppying is, what in her nature writes.
Words in this poem
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- flaunt n.
- Anything displayed for show.
- inde a.
- Azure-colored; of a bright blue color. Rom. of R.
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 3 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 3, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-3.html, id L04759.
Form and metre
Sonnet 3 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 7% 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 ABABABABCC-DD- nineA · toldeB · fineA · goldB · shineA · oldB · lineA · holdB · knowC · groweC · sprites · reedeD · deedeD · writes
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Let Daintie wittes cry on the Sisters nine, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That bravely maskt, their fancies may be tolde: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Or Pinders Apes flaunt they in phrases fine, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Enamling with pyde flowers their thoughts of gold: | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Or els let them in statelyee glorie shine, | 11 | ··········· |
| Ennobling new found tropes with problemes old: | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Or with strange similes, inricht each line, | 9 | ········· |
| Of hearbes or beasts, which Inde or Affricke hold. | 10 | ·········· |
| For me in sooth, no Muse but one I know, | 10 | ·········· |
| Phrases and Problemes from my reach do growe. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And straunge things cost too deere for my poor sprites, | 10 | ·········· |
| How then? even thus in Stellas face I reede, | 10 | ··/··/˘··· |
| What love and beautie be, then all my deede | 10 | ·········· |
| But coppying is, what in her nature writes. | 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.