Sonnet 31
With how sad steps ô Moone thou clim’st the skyes,How silently, and with how meane a face,What may it be, that even in heavenly place,That busie Archer his sharpe Arrowes tryes?Sure if that long with love acquainted eyesCan judge of love, thou feelst of Lovers case,I reade within thy lookes thy languisht grace.To mee that feele the like, my state discries.Then even of fellowship ô Moone tell me,Is constant love deemde there but want of wit?Are beauties there, as proude as here there be?Doe they above, love to be lov’d, and yetThose Lovers scorne, whom that love doth possesse?Doe they call vertue there ungratefulnesse?
About this text
Sonnet 31 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 31, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-31.html, id L04787.
Form and metre
Sonnet 31 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 skyesA · faceB · placeB · tryesA · eyesA · caseB · graceB · discriesA · meC · wit · beC · yet · possesseD · ungratefulnesseD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| With how sad steps ô Moone thou clim’st the skyes, | 9 | ········· |
| How silently, and with how meane a face, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| What may it be, that even in heavenly place, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| That busie Archer his sharpe Arrowes tryes? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Sure if that long with love acquainted eyes | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Can judge of love, thou feelst of Lovers case, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I reade within thy lookes thy languisht grace. | 10 | ·········· |
| To mee that feele the like, my state discries. | 10 | ·········· |
| Then even of fellowship ô Moone tell me, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| Is constant love deemde there but want of wit? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Are beauties there, as proude as here there be? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Doe they above, love to be lov’d, and yet | 10 | ·········· |
| Those Lovers scorne, whom that love doth possesse? | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| Doe they call vertue there ungratefulnesse? | 11 | ··········· |
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.