Sonnet 46
What, have I thus betraide my libertie,Can those black beames, such burning marks engraveIn my free side, or am I borne a slave,Whose necke becomes such yoke of tyrannie?Or want I sence to feele my miserie,Or spirit, disdaine of such disdaine to have,Who for long faith the daily helpe I crave,May get no almes, but scorne of beggerie.Vertue awake, beautie but beautie is;I may, I must, I can, I will, I doeLeave following that which it is gaine to misse,Let her goe: soft, but there she comes, goe to,Unkind I love you, not, (O mee) that eyeDoth make my hart give to my tongue a lye.
Words in this poem
- engrave v. t.
- To deposit in the grave; to bury. [Pref. en- + grave a tomb. Cf. Engrave to carve.]
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 46 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 46, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-46.html, id L04802.
Form and metre
Sonnet 46 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 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 ABBAABBA----CC libertieA · engraveB · slaveB · tyrannieA · miserieA · haveB · craveB · beggerieA · is · doe · misse · to · eyeC · lyeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What, have I thus betraide my libertie, | 10 | ·········· |
| Can those black beames, such burning marks engrave | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| In my free side, or am I borne a slave, | 10 | ·········· |
| Whose necke becomes such yoke of tyrannie? | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Or want I sence to feele my miserie, | 11 | ··········· |
| Or spirit, disdaine of such disdaine to have, | 10 | ·/········ |
| Who for long faith the daily helpe I crave, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| May get no almes, but scorne of beggerie. | 10 | ·········· |
| Vertue awake, beautie but beautie is; | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| I may, I must, I can, I will, I doe | 10 | ·········· |
| Leave following that which it is gaine to misse, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Let her goe: soft, but there she comes, goe to, | 10 | ·········· |
| Unkind I love you, not, (O mee) that eye | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Doth make my hart give to my tongue a lye. | 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.