Sonnet 94
Yet sighes, deare sighes, in deede true friends you are,That do not leave your least friend at the wurst:But as you with my brest I oft have nurst:So gratefull now you wait upon my care.Faint coward Joy, no longer tarrie dare,Seeing hope yeeld when this woe strake him first,Delight exclaims he is for my fault curst,Although my mate in Armes himselfe he sware,Nay Sorrow comes with such mayne rage as hee,Kills his owne children, Teares, finding that theyBy Love were made apt to comfort with mee,Onely true sighes, you do not go away:Thank may you have for such thankfull part:Thank worthiest yet, when you shall breake my heart.
Words in this poem
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- gratefull a.
- Having a due sense of benefits received; kindly disposed toward one from whom a favor has been received; willing to acknowledge and repay, or give thanks for, benefits; as, a grateful heart. [Grate, a. + full; cf. F. gré thanks, good will, fr. L. gratum, neut. of gratus agreeable, grateful. See Grate, a.]
- strake n.
- A streak. Spenser."White strake." Gen. xxx. 37. [See Streak.]
- curst a.
- Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- thankfull a.
- Obtaining or deserving thanks; thankworthy. [AS. Þancfull.]
- 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 94 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 94, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-94.html, id L04850.
Form and metre
Sonnet 94 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 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 -AABBAABCDCDEE are · wurstA · nurstA · careB · dareB · firstA · curstA · swareB · heeC · theyD · meeC · awayD · partE · heartE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Yet sighes, deare sighes, in deede true friends you are, | 10 | ·········· |
| That do not leave your least friend at the wurst: | 10 | ·········· |
| But as you with my brest I oft have nurst: | 10 | ·········· |
| So gratefull now you wait upon my care. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Faint coward Joy, no longer tarrie dare, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Seeing hope yeeld when this woe strake him first, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Delight exclaims he is for my fault curst, | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| Although my mate in Armes himselfe he sware, | 10 | ·········· |
| Nay Sorrow comes with such mayne rage as hee, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Kills his owne children, Teares, finding that they | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| By Love were made apt to comfort with mee, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Onely true sighes, you do not go away: | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Thank may you have for such thankfull part: | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Thank worthiest yet, when you shall breake my heart. | 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.