Sonnet 66
Hope art thou true or doost thou flatter me?Doth Stella now beginne, with pitteous eyeThe raigne of this her conquest to espie?Will shee take time before all wracked be?Her eye speech is translated thus by thee.But failste thou not in phrase so heavenly hye?Looke on againe, the faire text better prie;What blushing notes dost thou in Margent see?What sighes stolne out, or kild before full borneHast thou found such and such like arguments?Or art thou els to comfort me forsworne?Well how so thou interpret the contents,I am resolv’d thy error to maintaine:Rather than by more trueth to get more paine.
Words in this poem
- beginne v. i.
- To have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence. [AS. beginnan (akin to OS. biginnan, D. & G. beginnen, OHG. biginnan, Goth., du-ginnan, Sw. begynna, Dan. begynde); pref. be- + an assumed ginnan. sq. root31. Se]
- prie n.
- The plant privet. Tusser.
- margent n.
- A margin; border; brink; edge. [OE. See Margin.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 66 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 66, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-66.html, id L04822.
Form and metre
Sonnet 66 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 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 ABCAABCAD-D-EE meA · eyeB · espieC · beA · theeA · hyeB · prieC · seeA · borneD · arguments · forsworneD · contents · maintaineE · paineE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hope art thou true or doost thou flatter me? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Doth Stella now beginne, with pitteous eye | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| The raigne of this her conquest to espie? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Will shee take time before all wracked be? | 10 | ········˘· |
| Her eye speech is translated thus by thee. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| But failste thou not in phrase so heavenly hye? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Looke on againe, the faire text better prie; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| What blushing notes dost thou in Margent see? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| What sighes stolne out, or kild before full borne | 10 | ·········· |
| Hast thou found such and such like arguments? | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Or art thou els to comfort me forsworne? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Well how so thou interpret the contents, | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| I am resolv’d thy error to maintaine: | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Rather than by more trueth to get more paine. | 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.