Sonnet 72
Love still a Boy, and oft a wanton is,Schoolde only by his Mothers tender eye:What wonder then if he his lesson misse,When for so soft a rod deare play he trye.And yet my starre, because a sugred kisse,In sport I sucke, while she a sleepe did lye:Doth lowre, naye chide, nay threat for onely this:Sweet it was saucy love, not humble I.But no scuse serves, she makes her wrath appeare,In Beauties throne, see now who dares come neereThose scarlet Judges, threatning blooddie paine.O heavenly Foole, thy most kisse worthy faceAnger invests with such a lovely grace,That Angers selfe I needes must kisse againe.
Words in this poem
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- starre n.
- One of the innumerable luminous bodies seen in the heavens; any heavenly body other than the sun, moon, comets, and nebulæ. [OE. sterre, AS. steorra; akin to OFries. stera, OS. sterro, D. ster, OHG. sterno, sterro, G. stern, Icel. stjarna, Sw. stjerna, Dan. stierne, Goth. staírno, Arm]
- lowre n.
- Cloudiness; gloominess.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 72 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 72, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-72.html, id L04828.
Form and metre
Sonnet 72 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 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 -ABABABACCDEED is · eyeA · misseB · tryeA · kisseB · lyeA · thisB · iA · appeareC · neereC · paineD · faceE · graceE · againeD
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 still a Boy, and oft a wanton is, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Schoolde only by his Mothers tender eye: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| What wonder then if he his lesson misse, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| When for so soft a rod deare play he trye. | 10 | ·········· |
| And yet my starre, because a sugred kisse, | 10 | ········˘· |
| In sport I sucke, while she a sleepe did lye: | 10 | ·········· |
| Doth lowre, naye chide, nay threat for onely this: | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| Sweet it was saucy love, not humble I. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But no scuse serves, she makes her wrath appeare, | 10 | ·········· |
| In Beauties throne, see now who dares come neere | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Those scarlet Judges, threatning blooddie paine. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| O heavenly Foole, thy most kisse worthy face | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| Anger invests with such a lovely grace, | 10 | /˘˘/···/˘· |
| That Angers selfe I needes must kisse againe. | 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.