Sonnet 5
It is most true, that eyes are found to serveThe inward light: and that the heavenly partOught to be King, from whose rules who doth swerve,Rebels to nature, strive for their owne smart.It is most true, what wee call Cupids dart,An Image is, which for ourselves we carve:And fooles adore, in Temple of our hart,Till that good God make church and Church-men starve.True that true beautie vertue is in deede,Whereof this beautie can but be a shade:Which Elements with mortall mixture breede,True that on earth we are but Pilgrimes made,And should in soule, up to our Country move:True and most true, that I must Stella love.
Words in this poem
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- 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 5 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 5, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-5.html, id L04761.
Form and metre
Sonnet 5 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABBCBCDEDEFF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 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 ABABBCBCDEDEFF serveA · partB · swerveA · smartB · dartB · carveC · hartB · starveC · deedeD · shadeE · breedeD · madeE · moveF · loveF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It is most true, that eyes are found to serve | 10 | ·········· |
| The inward light: and that the heavenly part | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Ought to be King, from whose rules who doth swerve, | 10 | ·········· |
| Rebels to nature, strive for their owne smart. | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| It is most true, what wee call Cupids dart, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| An Image is, which for ourselves we carve: | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| And fooles adore, in Temple of our hart, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·/· |
| Till that good God make church and Church-men starve. | 10 | ·········· |
| True that true beautie vertue is in deede, | 10 | ·········· |
| Whereof this beautie can but be a shade: | 10 | ·········· |
| Which Elements with mortall mixture breede, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| True that on earth we are but Pilgrimes made, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And should in soule, up to our Country move: | 10 | ······//˘· |
| True and most true, that I must Stella 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.