Sonnet 69
My Muse may well grudge at my heavenly joy,Yf still I force her in sad rymes to creepe:She oft hath drunke my teares, now hopes t’enjoyNectar of mirth, since I loves Cup do keepe.Sonnets be not bound Prentice to annoy,Trebbles sing high, so well as bases deepe:Griefe but Loves winter liverie is, the boyHath cheekes to smile, so well as eyes weepe.Come then my Muse, shew the height of delightIn well raisde noates my pen the best it mayShall paint out joy, though but in blacke and white.Cease eager Muse, peace pen for my sake stay.I give you heere my hand for truth of this:Wise silence is best Musique unto blisse.
Words in this poem
- prentice n.
- An apprentice. Piers Plowman. [Aphetic form of apprentice.]
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 69 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 69, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-69.html, id L04825.
Form and metre
Sonnet 69 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 29% 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 ABABABABCDCD-- joyA · creepeB · t'enjoyA · keepeB · annoyA · deepeB · boyA · weepeB · delightC · mayD · whiteC · stayD · this · blisse
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My Muse may well grudge at my heavenly joy, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yf still I force her in sad rymes to creepe: | 10 | ·········· |
| She oft hath drunke my teares, now hopes t’enjoy | 10 | ·········· |
| Nectar of mirth, since I loves Cup do keepe. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Sonnets be not bound Prentice to annoy, | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Trebbles sing high, so well as bases deepe: | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Griefe but Loves winter liverie is, the boy | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Hath cheekes to smile, so well as eyes weepe. | 9 | ········· |
| Come then my Muse, shew the height of delight | 10 | ········˘/ |
| In well raisde noates my pen the best it may | 10 | ·········· |
| Shall paint out joy, though but in blacke and white. | 10 | ·········· |
| Cease eager Muse, peace pen for my sake stay. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I give you heere my hand for truth of this: | 10 | ·········· |
| Wise silence is best Musique unto blisse. | 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.