Sonnet 78
Sweete kisse, thy sweetes I faine would sweetely indite,Which even of sweetnes, sweetest sweeter art;Pleasing’st consort, where each sense holds a part,With coopling Doves guides Venus chariot right,Best charge and brav’st retraite in Cupids sight.A double key which openeth to the hart,Most ritch when most his ritches it imparte.Nest of yong joyes, Scholemaster of delight,Teaching the meanes at once to take and give,The friendly fray where blowes do wound and heale,The prettie death while each in other live,Poore hopes first wealth a stage of promised weale.Breakefast of love, but loe, loe where shee isCease we to praise, now praie wee for a kisse.
Words in this poem
- indite v. t.
- To compose; to write; to be author of; to dictate; to prompt. [OE. enditen to indite, indict, OF. enditer to indicate, show, dictate, write, inform, and endicter to accuse; both fr. LL. indictare to show, to accuse, fr. L. ]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 78 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 78, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-78.html, id L04834.
Form and metre
Sonnet 78 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.5 syllables. 7% 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 ABBAABBACDCD-- inditeA · artB · partB · rightA · sightA · hartB · imparteB · delightA · giveC · healeD · liveC · wealeD · is · kisse
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sweete kisse, thy sweetes I faine would sweetely indite, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Which even of sweetnes, sweetest sweeter art; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Pleasing’st consort, where each sense holds a part, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| With coopling Doves guides Venus chariot right, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Best charge and brav’st retraite in Cupids sight. | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| A double key which openeth to the hart, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Most ritch when most his ritches it imparte. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nest of yong joyes, Scholemaster of delight, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Teaching the meanes at once to take and give, | 10 | /˘········ |
| The friendly fray where blowes do wound and heale, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| The prettie death while each in other live, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Poore hopes first wealth a stage of promised weale. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Breakefast of love, but loe, loe where shee is | 11 | ··········· |
| Cease we to praise, now praie wee for a kisse. | 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.