Sonnet 58
Deere, why make you more of a dogge than me?If he doe love, alas I burne in love;If he waite well, I never thence would move;If he be faire, yet but a dogge can be;Little he is, so little worth is he:He barkes, my songs thyne owne voyce oft doth prove;Bidden, (perhaps) he fetcheth thee a glove?But I unbid, fetch even my soule to theeYet while I languish, him that bosome clips,That lap doth lap, nay lets in spight of spightThis sour-breath’d mate tast of those sugred lips;Alas, if you graunt onely such delightTo witles things, then Love I hope, (since witBecomes a clogge) will soone ease me of it.
Words in this poem
- dogge n.
- A quadruped of the genus Canis, esp. the domestic dog (C. [AS. docga; akin to D. dog mastiff, Dan. dogge, Sw. dogg.]
- unbid a.
- Not bidden; not commanded.
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
- spight n.
- A woodpecker. See Speight.
- clogge n.
- That which hinders or impedes motion; hence, an encumbrance, restraint, or impediment, of any kind. [OE. clogge clog, Scot. clag, n., a clot, v., to to obstruct, cover with mud or anything adhesive; prob. of the same origin as E. clay.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 58 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 58, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-58.html, id L04814.
Form and metre
Sonnet 58 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABCAACBADEDEFF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 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 ABCAACBADEDEFF meA · loveB · moveC · beA · heA · proveC · gloveB · theeA · clipsD · spightE · lipsD · delightE · witF · itF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Deere, why make you more of a dogge than me? | 10 | ·········· |
| If he doe love, alas I burne in love; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| If he waite well, I never thence would move; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| If he be faire, yet but a dogge can be; | 10 | ·········· |
| Little he is, so little worth is he: | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| He barkes, my songs thyne owne voyce oft doth prove; | 10 | ·········· |
| Bidden, (perhaps) he fetcheth thee a glove? | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
| But I unbid, fetch even my soule to thee | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Yet while I languish, him that bosome clips, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That lap doth lap, nay lets in spight of spight | 10 | ·········· |
| This sour-breath’d mate tast of those sugred lips; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Alas, if you graunt onely such delight | 10 | ˘/···/˘·˘/ |
| To witles things, then Love I hope, (since wit | 9 | ········· |
| Becomes a clogge) will soone ease me of it. | 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.