Sonnet 4
Vertue (alas) now let me take some rest,Thou set’st a bate betweene my will and wit;If vaine love have my simple soule opprest,Leave what thou lik’st not, deale not thou with it.Thy Scepter use in some olde Catoes brest,Churches or Schooles are for thy seat more fit:I doe confes, (pardon a fault confest,)My mouth too tender is for thy hard bit.But if that needes, thou wilt usurping beeThe little reason that is left in mee.And still th’ effect of thy perswasions proove,I sweare, my heart such one shall shew to thee,That shrines in flesh so true a deitie,That Vertue, thou thy selfe shalt be in love.
Words in this poem
- bate n.
- Strife; contention. [Prob. abbrev. from debate.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 4 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 4, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-4.html, id L04760.
Form and metre
Sonnet 4 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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-C-- restA · witB · opprestA · itB · brestA · fitB · confestA · bitB · beeC · meeC · proove · theeC · deitie · love
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Vertue (alas) now let me take some rest, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Thou set’st a bate betweene my will and wit; | 10 | ·········· |
| If vaine love have my simple soule opprest, | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘˘ |
| Leave what thou lik’st not, deale not thou with it. | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy Scepter use in some olde Catoes brest, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Churches or Schooles are for thy seat more fit: | 10 | /˘········ |
| I doe confes, (pardon a fault confest,) | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| My mouth too tender is for thy hard bit. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But if that needes, thou wilt usurping bee | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The little reason that is left in mee. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And still th’ effect of thy perswasions proove, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| I sweare, my heart such one shall shew to thee, | 10 | ·········· |
| That shrines in flesh so true a deitie, | 9 | ········· |
| That Vertue, thou thy selfe shalt be 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.