Sonnet 85
Alas whence comes this change of lookes? If Ihave chang’d desert, let mine owne conscience beA still felt plague to selfe condemning mee:Let woe grype on my heart, shame load mine eye:But if all faith like spotles Ermine lyeSafe in my soule (which onely doth to theeAs his sole object of felicitieWith wings of Love in aire of wonder flie.)O case your hand, treat not so hard your slave,In Justice, paines come not till faults do call:Or if I needs (sweet Judge) must torments have,Use something else to chasten mee withall,Than those blest eyes where all my hopes do dwell,No doome shall make ones Heaven become his Hell.
Words in this poem
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- grype v. t.
- To gripe. See Gripe.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- withall adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- 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 85 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 85, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-85.html, id L04841.
Form and metre
Sonnet 85 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABCCDEDEFF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 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 ABBAABCCDEDEFF iA · beB · meeB · eyeA · lyeA · theeB · felicitieC · flieC · slaveD · callE · haveD · withallE · dwellF · hellF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alas whence comes this change of lookes? If I | 10 | ˘/········ |
| have chang’d desert, let mine owne conscience be | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| A still felt plague to selfe condemning mee: | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Let woe grype on my heart, shame load mine eye: | 10 | ·········· |
| But if all faith like spotles Ermine lye | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Safe in my soule (which onely doth to thee | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As his sole object of felicitie | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With wings of Love in aire of wonder flie.) | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O case your hand, treat not so hard your slave, | 10 | ·········· |
| In Justice, paines come not till faults do call: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Or if I needs (sweet Judge) must torments have, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Use something else to chasten mee withall, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Than those blest eyes where all my hopes do dwell, | 10 | ·········· |
| No doome shall make ones Heaven become his Hell. | 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.