Sonnet 68
Oh joy, too high for my Love still to showe,Oh blisse, fit for a nobler seat than meeEnvie put out thine eyes, least thou doe seeWhat Oceans of delight in me doth flowe.My friend that oft saw’st through all maskes, my woe,Come, come, and let me poure myself on thee:Gone is the winter of my miserie.My spring appeares, ô see what heere doth growe,For Stella hath with wordes (where faith doth shine)Of her high hart given me the MonarchieAnd though she give but thus condicionally,This Realme of blisse, while vertues course I take,No Kings be Crownd, but they some covenant make.
Words in this poem
- envie v. i.
- To vie; to emulate; to strive. [See Vie.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 68 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 68, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-68.html, id L04824.
Form and metre
Sonnet 68 is 13 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 23% 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 ABBAABCA-C-DD showeA · meeB · seeB · floweA · woeA · theeB · miserieC · groweA · shine · monarchieC · condicionally · takeD · makeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh joy, too high for my Love still to showe, | 10 | ·········· |
| Oh blisse, fit for a nobler seat than mee | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Envie put out thine eyes, least thou doe see | 10 | ˘/········ |
| What Oceans of delight in me doth flowe. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| My friend that oft saw’st through all maskes, my woe, | 10 | ·········· |
| Come, come, and let me poure myself on thee: | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Gone is the winter of my miserie. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| My spring appeares, ô see what heere doth growe, | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| For Stella hath with wordes (where faith doth shine) | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Of her high hart given me the Monarchie | 10 | ····/····· |
| And though she give but thus condicionally, | 11 | ··········· |
| This Realme of blisse, while vertues course I take, | 9 | ········· |
| No Kings be Crownd, but they some covenant make. | 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.