Sonnet 56
Woe having made with many sighs his owneEach sense of mine; each gift, each power of mindeGrowne now his slaves, he forst them out to findeThe throwest words, fit for woes selfe to groneHoping that when they might finde Stella alone,Before she could prepare to be unkind,Her soule (armed with such a daintie rinde,)Should soone be hurt with sharpnes of the mone.She heard my plaints, and did not onely heare.But them, so sweet is she, most sweetly sing,With that faire brest, making Woes darknes cleere,A prittie case I hoped her to bring,To feele my griefe, and she with face and voice,So sweetes my paines, that my paines me rejoyce.
Words in this poem
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 56 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 56, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-56.html, id L04812.
Form and metre
Sonnet 56 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 29% 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 -AABBAABCDCDEE owne · mindeA · findeA · groneB · aloneB · unkindA · rindeA · moneB · heareC · singD · cleereC · bringD · voiceE · rejoyceE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Woe having made with many sighs his owne | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Each sense of mine; each gift, each power of minde | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Growne now his slaves, he forst them out to finde | 10 | ·········· |
| The throwest words, fit for woes selfe to grone | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Hoping that when they might finde Stella alone, | 11 | /˘·····/˘˘/ |
| Before she could prepare to be unkind, | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Her soule (armed with such a daintie rinde,) | 10 | ···˘······ |
| Should soone be hurt with sharpnes of the mone. | 9 | ········· |
| She heard my plaints, and did not onely heare. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But them, so sweet is she, most sweetly sing, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With that faire brest, making Woes darknes cleere, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| A prittie case I hoped her to bring, | 10 | ······˘··· |
| To feele my griefe, and she with face and voice, | 11 | ··········· |
| So sweetes my paines, that my paines me rejoyce. | 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.