Sonnet 51
A Strife is growne betweene Vertue and Love,While each pretends, that Stella must be his;Her eyes, her lips, her all, saith Love doe this,Since they doe weare his badge, most firmely prove;But Vertue thus, that title doth disprove.That Stella, (ô deere name) that Stella is,That vertuous Soule, sure heyre of heavenly Blisse:Not this faire outside, which our hart doth move;And therefore, though her beauty and her grace,Be Loves indeede, in Stellas selfe he mayBy no pretence claime any manner place.Well Love, since this Demurre our sute doth staie.Let Vertue have that Stellas selfe, yet thus,That Vertue but that body graunt to us.
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- vertuous a.
- Virtuous; powerful.
- pretence n.
- The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. [LL. praetensus, for L. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. See Pretend, and cf. Tension.]
- demurre v. i.
- To linger; to stay; to tarry. [OF. demurer, demorer, demourer, to linger, stay, F. demeurer, fr. L. demorari; de- + morari to delay, tarry, stay, mora delay; prob. originally, time for thinki]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 51 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 51, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-51.html, id L04807.
Form and metre
Sonnet 51 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 7% 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 AB-AAB-AC-C-DD loveA · hisB · this · proveA · disproveA · isB · blisse · moveA · graceC · may · placeC · staie · thusD · usD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A Strife is growne betweene Vertue and Love, | 10 | ·········· |
| While each pretends, that Stella must be his; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Her eyes, her lips, her all, saith Love doe this, | 10 | ·········· |
| Since they doe weare his badge, most firmely prove; | 11 | ··········· |
| But Vertue thus, that title doth disprove. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| That Stella, (ô deere name) that Stella is, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| That vertuous Soule, sure heyre of heavenly Blisse: | 12 | ·/˘˘··/˘·/˘· |
| Not this faire outside, which our hart doth move; | 10 | ···//·/··· |
| And therefore, though her beauty and her grace, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Be Loves indeede, in Stellas selfe he may | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| By no pretence claime any manner place. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Well Love, since this Demurre our sute doth staie. | 10 | ····˘//··· |
| Let Vertue have that Stellas selfe, yet thus, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That Vertue but that body graunt to us. | 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.