Sonnet 67
Stella, the only Plannet of my lightLight of my life, and life of my desire,Cheife good, whereto my hope doth onely spire,World of my wealth and heaven of my delight.Why doost thou spend the Treasure of thy spriteWith voice more fit to wed Amphyons Lyre?Seeking to quench in me the noble fyre,Fed by thy worth and kindled by thy sight.And all in vaine, for while thy breath most sweeteWith choisest words, thy words with reasons rare:Thy reasons firmely set, are vertues feete,Labor to kill in me this killing careOh thinke I then, what Paradise of joyIt is, so faire a vertue to enjoye.
Words in this poem
- whereto adv.
- To which; -- used relatively.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- sprite n.
- A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition. See Spright. [OE. sprit, F. esprit, fr. L. spiritus. See Spirit, and cf. Sprightly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 67 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 67, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-67.html, id L04823.
Form and metre
Sonnet 67 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 89% 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. 36% 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 A-BAABBACDCDEE lightA · desire · spireB · delightA · spriteA · lyreB · fyreB · sightA · sweeteC · rareD · feeteC · careD · joyE · enjoyeE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stella, the only Plannet of my light | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Light of my life, and life of my desire, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Cheife good, whereto my hope doth onely spire, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| World of my wealth and heaven of my delight. | 10 | ·····/··˘/ |
| Why doost thou spend the Treasure of thy sprite | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| With voice more fit to wed Amphyons Lyre? | 9 | ········· |
| Seeking to quench in me the noble fyre, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Fed by thy worth and kindled by thy sight. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And all in vaine, for while thy breath most sweete | 10 | ·········· |
| With choisest words, thy words with reasons rare: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thy reasons firmely set, are vertues feete, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Labor to kill in me this killing care | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Oh thinke I then, what Paradise of joy | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| It is, so faire a vertue to enjoye. | 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.