Sonnet 64
Love, by sure proofe I may call thee unkinde,That gives no better cares to my just cryes:Thou whom to me, such my good turnes shouldst binde,As I may well recount, but none can prise.For when nak’d boy, hou couldst no harbour findeIn this olde world, (growne now so to be wise)I lodg’de thee in my heart: and being blindeBy nature borne, I gave to thee my eyes.Mine eyes, my light, my life, my hart alas,If so great services may scorned be:Yet let this thought thy Tygrish courage passe,That I perhaps am somewhat kin to thee:Since in thine armes, if learn’d fame truth hath spred,Thou bearst the Arrowe, I the Arrowhed.
Words in this poem
- harbour n.
- A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 64 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 64, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-64.html, id L04820.
Form and metre
Sonnet 64 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% 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 ABABABAB-C-CDD unkindeA · cryesB · bindeA · priseB · findeA · wiseB · blindeA · eyesB · alas · beC · passe · theeC · spredD · arrowhedD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Love, by sure proofe I may call thee unkinde, | 10 | ·········· |
| That gives no better cares to my just cryes: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thou whom to me, such my good turnes shouldst binde, | 10 | ·········· |
| As I may well recount, but none can prise. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| For when nak’d boy, hou couldst no harbour finde | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| In this olde world, (growne now so to be wise) | 10 | ·········· |
| I lodg’de thee in my heart: and being blinde | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| By nature borne, I gave to thee my eyes. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Mine eyes, my light, my life, my hart alas, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| If so great services may scorned be: | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘· |
| Yet let this thought thy Tygrish courage passe, | 11 | ·······/˘·/ |
| That I perhaps am somewhat kin to thee: | 10 | ··˘/·//··· |
| Since in thine armes, if learn’d fame truth hath spred, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thou bearst the Arrowe, I the Arrowhed. | 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.