Sonnet 44
Stella oft sees the verie face of woesPainted in my beclowded stormie face:But cannot skill to pittie my disgrace;No though thereof the cause her selfe shee knowes.Yet hearing late a fable which did show,Of Lovers never knowne, (a grievous case)Pittie thereof got in her breast such place,As from her eyes, a Spring of teares did flow.Alas, if Fancie drawne by ymag’d things,Though false, yet with free scope more grace doth breedeThen Servants wreck, where new doubts honor brings,Than thinke my Deere, that in me you doe reedeOf Lovers ruine some thrise sad Tragædie:I am not I, pittie the tale of me.
About this text
Sonnet 44 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 44, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-44.html, id L04800.
Form and metre
Sonnet 44 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 21% 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 ABBACBBCDEDE-- woesA · faceB · disgraceB · knowesA · showC · caseB · placeB · flowC · thingsD · breedeE · bringsD · reedeE · tragædie · me
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stella oft sees the verie face of woes | 10 | /˘········ |
| Painted in my beclowded stormie face: | 10 | /˘········ |
| But cannot skill to pittie my disgrace; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| No though thereof the cause her selfe shee knowes. | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet hearing late a fable which did show, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Of Lovers never knowne, (a grievous case) | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Pittie thereof got in her breast such place, | 10 | ·········· |
| As from her eyes, a Spring of teares did flow. | 10 | ·········· |
| Alas, if Fancie drawne by ymag’d things, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Though false, yet with free scope more grace doth breede | 10 | ·········· |
| Then Servants wreck, where new doubts honor brings, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Than thinke my Deere, that in me you doe reede | 10 | ·········· |
| Of Lovers ruine some thrise sad Tragædie: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I am not I, pittie the tale of me. | 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.