Sonnet 32
Morpheus the lively sonne of deadlie Sleepe,Witnes of life to them that living die:A Prophet oft, and oft an Historie,A Poet eake as humors flye and creepe:Since thou in me so sure a power doost keepe,That never I with clos’d up fence doe lye,But by thy worke, my Stella I discry,Teaching blind eyes both how to smile and weepe,Vouchsafe of all acquaintance this to tell,Whence hast thou Ivorie, Rubies, Pearle, and Golde,To shew her skin, lips, teeth, and head so well?(Foole aunswers he) no Indes such treasures hold,But from thy hart, while my Sire charmeth thee,Sweet Stellas Image I do steale to mee.
Words in this poem
- morpheus n.
- The god of dreams.
- sonne n.
- A male child; the male issue, or offspring, of a parent, father or mother. [OE. sone, sune, AS. sunu; akin to D. zoon, OS., OFries., & OHG. sunu, G. sohn, Icel. sonr, Sw. son, Dan. sön, Goth. sunus, Lith. sunus, Russ. suin', Skr. sunu (]
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- golde n.
- An old English name of some yellow flower, -- the marigold (Calendula), according to Dr. Prior, but in Chaucer perhaps the turnsole.
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 32 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 32, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-32.html, id L04788.
Form and metre
Sonnet 32 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables.
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 AB-AABBACDCDEE sleepeA · dieB · historie · creepeA · keepeA · lyeB · discryB · weepeA · tellC · goldeD · wellC · holdD · theeE · meeE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Morpheus the lively sonne of deadlie Sleepe, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Witnes of life to them that living die: | 9 | ······/˘· |
| A Prophet oft, and oft an Historie, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A Poet eake as humors flye and creepe: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Since thou in me so sure a power doost keepe, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| That never I with clos’d up fence doe lye, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But by thy worke, my Stella I discry, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Teaching blind eyes both how to smile and weepe, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Vouchsafe of all acquaintance this to tell, | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| Whence hast thou Ivorie, Rubies, Pearle, and Golde, | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| To shew her skin, lips, teeth, and head so well? | 10 | ·········· |
| (Foole aunswers he) no Indes such treasures hold, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| But from thy hart, while my Sire charmeth thee, | 10 | ······//˘· |
| Sweet Stellas Image I do steale to mee. | 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.