Sonnet 45
I curst thee oft, I pittie now thy case,Blind hitting Boy, since shee that thee and meRules with a becke, so tyranniseth thee,That thou must want or foode or dwelling place;For Shee protests to banish thee her face.Her face (ô Love) a roge thou then should’st bee,If Love learne not alone to love and see,Without desire to feede on further grace.Alas poore wagge, that now a Scholler artTo such a Schoole-mistris, whose lessons newThou needes must misse, and so thou needes must smart;Yet deere, let me this pardon get of you,So long though he from booke mich to desire.Till without Fuell, thou can make hote fire.
Words in this poem
- curst a.
- Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
- wagge v. t.
- To move one way and the other with quick turns; to shake to and fro; to move vibratingly; to cause to vibrate, as a part of the body; as, to wag the head. [OE. waggen; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. vagga to rock a cradle, vagga cradle, Icel. vagga, Dan. vugge; akin to AS. wagian to move, wag, wegan to bear, ca]
- mich v. i.
- To lie hid; to skulk; to act, or carry one's self, sneakingly. [OE. michen; cf. OE. muchier, mucier, to conceal, F. musser, and OHG. muhhen to waylay. Cf. Micher, Curmudgeon, Muset.]
- fuell v. t.
- To feed with fuel.
- hote v. t.
- To command; to enjoin. Piers Plowman.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 45 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 45, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-45.html, id L04801.
Form and metre
Sonnet 45 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCDEE. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 ABBAABBACDCDEE caseA · meB · theeB · placeA · faceA · beeB · seeB · graceA · artC · newD · smartC · youD · desireE · fireE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I curst thee oft, I pittie now thy case, | 10 | ·········· |
| Blind hitting Boy, since shee that thee and me | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Rules with a becke, so tyranniseth thee, | 10 | ·········· |
| That thou must want or foode or dwelling place; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For Shee protests to banish thee her face. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Her face (ô Love) a roge thou then should’st bee, | 9 | ········· |
| If Love learne not alone to love and see, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Without desire to feede on further grace. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Alas poore wagge, that now a Scholler art | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| To such a Schoole-mistris, whose lessons new | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Thou needes must misse, and so thou needes must smart; | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet deere, let me this pardon get of you, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| So long though he from booke mich to desire. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Till without Fuell, thou can make hote fire. | 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.