Sonnet 86
When I was forst from Stella ever deare,Stella, foode of my thoughts, hart of my hart:Stella, whose eyes make all my temples cleare,By Yron lawes, of duetie to depart,Alas I found that shee with mee did smart:I sawe that teares did in her eyes appeare:I sawe that sighes her sweetest lips did part:And her sad words my sadded sense did heare.For mee, I weepe to see Pearles scattered so:I sighd her sighes, and wailed for her woe:Yet swamme in joy such love in her was seene.Thus while the effect most bitter was to mee,And nothing than that cause more sweet could be,I had beene vext, if vext I had not beene.
Words in this poem
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 86 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 86, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-86.html, id L04842.
Form and metre
Sonnet 86 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABBABACCDEED. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables.
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 ABABBABACCDEED deareA · hartB · cleareA · departB · smartB · appeareA · partB · heareA · soC · woeC · seeneD · meeE · beE · beeneD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When I was forst from Stella ever deare, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Stella, foode of my thoughts, hart of my hart: | 10 | /˘········ |
| Stella, whose eyes make all my temples cleare, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| By Yron lawes, of duetie to depart, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Alas I found that shee with mee did smart: | 10 | ˘/········ |
| I sawe that teares did in her eyes appeare: | 10 | ·········· |
| I sawe that sighes her sweetest lips did part: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And her sad words my sadded sense did heare. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For mee, I weepe to see Pearles scattered so: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I sighd her sighes, and wailed for her woe: | 10 | ······˘··· |
| Yet swamme in joy such love in her was seene. | 10 | ·········· |
| Thus while the effect most bitter was to mee, | 11 | ···˘/·/˘··· |
| And nothing than that cause more sweet could be, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I had beene vext, if vext I had not beene. | 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.