Sonnet 50
Pardon mine eares, both I and they doe pray,So may your tongue full flauntingly proceede,To them that doe such entertainments neede;So may you still have somewhat new to say.On sillie me, doe not you burthen layOf all the grave conceipts your braine doth breede,But find some Hercules, to beard (in steedeOf Atlas tyrde) your wisedomes heavenly sway.For me while you discourse of courtly tydes,Of cunningst Fishers in most troubled streames,Of straying waves when valiant errour guides:Meane while my hart confers with Stellas beames,And is even woe that so sweet Comedie,By such unfuted speech, should hindered be.
Words in this poem
- flauntingly adv.
- In a flaunting way.
- courtly a.
- Relating or belonging to a court. [From Court.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- errour n.
- A wandering; a roving or irregular course. [OF. error, errur, F. erreur, L. error, fr. errare to err. See Err.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 50 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 50, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-50.html, id L04806.
Form and metre
Sonnet 50 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 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 ABBAABBA-C-C-- prayA · proceedeB · needeB · sayA · layA · breedeB · steedeB · swayA · tydes · streamesC · guides · beamesC · comedie · be
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pardon mine eares, both I and they doe pray, | 10 | /˘········ |
| So may your tongue full flauntingly proceede, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| To them that doe such entertainments neede; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| So may you still have somewhat new to say. | 10 | ·····//··· |
| On sillie me, doe not you burthen lay | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of all the grave conceipts your braine doth breede, | 10 | ·········· |
| But find some Hercules, to beard (in steede | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of Atlas tyrde) your wisedomes heavenly sway. | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| For me while you discourse of courtly tydes, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Of cunningst Fishers in most troubled streames, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Of straying waves when valiant errour guides: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Meane while my hart confers with Stellas beames, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| And is even woe that so sweet Comedie, | 10 | ··/······· |
| By such unfuted speech, should hindered be. | 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.