Sonnet 57
Doubt there hath beene, when with his golden chaineThe Orator so farre mens harts doth bind:That no pace els their guided steps can find;But as in them more shorte or slacke doth raine.Whether with words this sou’raigntte be gaine,Clothde with fine tropes with strongest reason lin’d,Or els pronouncing grace, wherewith his mindePrints his owne lively forme, in rudest braine.Now judge by this, in pearcing phrases lateTh’ Anatomie of all my woes I wrate,Stellas sweete breath the same to me did reede.Oh voyce, oh face mauger my speeches might,With wooed woe, most ravishing delight,Even in sad mee a joy to me did breede.
Words in this poem
- farre n.
- A young pig, or a litter of pigs. [See Farrow.]
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- mauger prep.
- In spite of; in opposition to; notwithstanding. [OF. maugré, malgré, F. malgré. See Mal-, Malice, and Agree.]
- ravishing a.
- Rapturous; transporting.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 57 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 57, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-57.html, id L04813.
Form and metre
Sonnet 57 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABBAABBACCDEED chaineA · bindB · findB · raineA · gaineA · lin'dB · mindeB · braineA · lateC · wrateC · reedeD · mightE · delightE · breedeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Doubt there hath beene, when with his golden chaine | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The Orator so farre mens harts doth bind: | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| That no pace els their guided steps can find; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But as in them more shorte or slacke doth raine. | 10 | ·········· |
| Whether with words this sou’raigntte be gaine, | 9 | ········· |
| Clothde with fine tropes with strongest reason lin’d, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Or els pronouncing grace, wherewith his minde | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Prints his owne lively forme, in rudest braine. | 11 | ···/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Now judge by this, in pearcing phrases late | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Th’ Anatomie of all my woes I wrate, | 10 | ·········· |
| Stellas sweete breath the same to me did reede. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Oh voyce, oh face mauger my speeches might, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| With wooed woe, most ravishing delight, | 10 | ··˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| Even in sad mee a joy to me did breede. | 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.