Sonnet 6
Some Lovers speake, when they their Muses entertaineOf hopes begot, by feare, of wot not what desires,Of force of heavenly beames, infusing hellish paine;Of lyving deathes, deere woundes, faire Stormes, and friesing fyres.Some one his songs in Jove and Joves straunge tales attyres,Bordered with Bulles and Swannes, poudered with golden raine:Another humbler witte to shepheards pipe retyres,Yet hiding royall blood, full oft in Rurall vaine.To some a sweetest plaint a sweetest stile affordes,Whiles teares poure out his inke, and sighes breatheHis paper pale despaire, and paine his penne doth move.I can speake what I feele, and feele as much as they,But thinke that all the mappe of my state I display,When trembling voice brings foorth, that I do Stella love.
Words in this poem
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- humbler n.
- One who, or that which, humbles some one.
- witte v. t.
- To know; to learn. [OE. witen, pres. ich wot, wat, I know (wot), imp. wiste, AS. witan, pres. wat, imp. wiste, wisse; akin to OFries. wita, OS. witan, D. weten, G. wissen, OHG. wiz]
- royall a.
- Kingly; pertaining to the crown or the sovereign; suitable for a king or queen; regal; as, royal power or prerogative; royal domains; the royal family; royal state. [OE. roial, riall, real, OF. roial. reial, F. royal, fr. L. regalis, fr. rex, regis, king. See Rich, and cf. regal, real a coin, Rial.]
- rurall a.
- Of or pertaining to the country, as distinguished from a city or town; living in the country; suitable for, or resembling, the country; rustic; as, rural scenes; a rural prospect. [F., fr. L.ruralis, fr. rus, ruris, the country. Cf. Room space, Rustic.]
- plaint n.
- Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; hence, a mournful song; a lament. Chaucer."The Psalmist's mournful plaint." [OE. plainte, pleynte, F. plainte, fr. L. plangere, planctum (plancta, fem. p.p.), to beat, beat the breast, lament. Cf. Complain, Plague, Plangent.]
- stile n.
- A pin set on the face of a dial, to cast a shadow; a style. See Style. Moxon. [See Style.]
- whiles conj.
- During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
- penne v. t.
- To write; to compose and commit to paper; to indite; to compose; as, to pen a sonnet.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 6 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 6, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-6.html, id L04762.
Form and metre
Sonnet 6 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.9 syllables. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 A-ABBABA--CDDC entertaineA · desires · paineA · fyresB · attyresB · raineA · retyresB · vaineA · affordes · breathe · moveC · theyD · displayD · loveC
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Some Lovers speake, when they their Muses entertaine | 12 | ·/˘····/˘··· |
| Of hopes begot, by feare, of wot not what desires, | 12 | ··˘/······˘/ |
| Of force of heavenly beames, infusing hellish paine; | 12 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| Of lyving deathes, deere woundes, faire Stormes, and friesing fyres. | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Some one his songs in Jove and Joves straunge tales attyres, | 12 | ············ |
| Bordered with Bulles and Swannes, poudered with golden raine: | 12 | /˘·······/˘· |
| Another humbler witte to shepheards pipe retyres, | 12 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Yet hiding royall blood, full oft in Rurall vaine. | 12 | ·/˘/˘····/˘· |
| To some a sweetest plaint a sweetest stile affordes, | 12 | ···/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Whiles teares poure out his inke, and sighes breathe | 9 | ········· |
| His paper pale despaire, and paine his penne doth move. | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| I can speake what I feele, and feele as much as they, | 14 | ·············· |
| But thinke that all the mappe of my state I display, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| When trembling voice brings foorth, that I do Stella love. | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
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.