Sonnet 41
O Eyes which doe the Spheres of beautie move,Whose beames all joyes, whose joyes all vertues be:Who while they make Love conquer, conquer Love,The Schooles where Venus hath learnd Chastitie;O eyes, where humble lookes most glorious prove,Onely loved tyrants just in crueltie.Doe not, doe not, from poore me, once remove,Keepe still my Zenith, ever shine on me;For though I never see them, but straight waiesMy life forgets to nourish languisht sprights:Yet still on me (ô eyes) dart downe your rayes;And if from Majestie of sacred LightsOppressing mortall sence, my death proceede:Wreckes tryumphs best, which Love hie set doth breed.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- 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 41 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 41, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-41.html, id L04797.
Form and metre
Sonnet 41 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABACACABDEDEFF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 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 ABACACABDEDEFF moveA · beB · loveA · chastitieC · proveA · crueltieC · removeA · meB · waiesD · sprightsE · rayesD · lightsE · proceedeF · breedF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O Eyes which doe the Spheres of beautie move, | 10 | ·········· |
| Whose beames all joyes, whose joyes all vertues be: | 9 | ········· |
| Who while they make Love conquer, conquer Love, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The Schooles where Venus hath learnd Chastitie; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| O eyes, where humble lookes most glorious prove, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Onely loved tyrants just in crueltie. | 10 | /˘·˘/˘···· |
| Doe not, doe not, from poore me, once remove, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Keepe still my Zenith, ever shine on me; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| For though I never see them, but straight waies | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| My life forgets to nourish languisht sprights: | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Yet still on me (ô eyes) dart downe your rayes; | 9 | ········· |
| And if from Majestie of sacred Lights | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Oppressing mortall sence, my death proceede: | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| Wreckes tryumphs best, which Love hie set doth breed. | 9 | ········· |
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.