Sonnet 9
Queene Vertues Court, which some call Stellas face,Prepar’d by Natures cheefest furniture:Hath his front built of Alabaster pure.Gold is the covering of that statelie place.The doore, by which sometimes comes forth her graceRed Porphire is, which locke of Pearle makes sure:Whose Porches rich, with name of chekes indure,Marble mixt red and white, doe enterlace.The Windowes now, through which this heavenly guestLookes ore the world, and can finde nothing such,Which dare claime from those lights the name of best,Of touch they are, that without touch doe touch,Which Cupids selfe, from beauties mine did drawe:Of touch they are, and poore I am their strawe.
About this text
Sonnet 9 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 9, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-9.html, id L04765.
Form and metre
Sonnet 9 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 A-BAAB-ACDCDEE faceA · furniture · pureB · placeA · graceA · sureB · indure · enterlaceA · guestC · suchD · bestC · touchD · draweE · straweE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Queene Vertues Court, which some call Stellas face, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Prepar’d by Natures cheefest furniture: | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Hath his front built of Alabaster pure. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Gold is the covering of that statelie place. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| The doore, by which sometimes comes forth her grace | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Red Porphire is, which locke of Pearle makes sure: | 10 | ·········· |
| Whose Porches rich, with name of chekes indure, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Marble mixt red and white, doe enterlace. | 10 | /˘········ |
| The Windowes now, through which this heavenly guest | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Lookes ore the world, and can finde nothing such, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Which dare claime from those lights the name of best, | 10 | ·········· |
| Of touch they are, that without touch doe touch, | 10 | ·········· |
| Which Cupids selfe, from beauties mine did drawe: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Of touch they are, and poore I am their strawe. | 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.