Sonnet 95
Though with good cause thou lik’st so well the night.Since kind or chaunce gives both one libertie,Both sadly blacke, both blackly darkned be:Night bard from Sunne, thou from thine own Sunnes lightSilence in both displaies his sullen might:Slowe Heavens in both do hold the one degree,That full of doubts, thou of perplexitie:Thy teares expresse nights native moysture right,In both a wofull solitarines:In night of Spirites the gastly power sturr,And in our sprites are Spirits gastlines:But but (alas) nights sights the ods hath fure,For that at length invites us to some rest,Thou though still tyr’d, yet still dost it detest.
Words in this poem
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- blackly adv.
- In a black manner; darkly, in color; gloomily; threateningly; atrociously.
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- wofull a.
- Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity; afflicted; wretched; unhappy; sad.
- detest v. t.
- To witness against; to denounce; to condemn. [L. detestare, detestatum, and detestari, to curse while calling a deity to witness, to execrate, detest; de + testari to be a witness, testify, testis a witness]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 95 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 95, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-95.html, id L04851.
Form and metre
Sonnet 95 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 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 A-BAAB-AC-C-DD nightA · libertie · beB · lightA · mightA · degreeB · perplexitie · rightA · solitarinesC · sturr · gastlinesC · fure · restD · detestD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Though with good cause thou lik’st so well the night. | 10 | ·········· |
| Since kind or chaunce gives both one libertie, | 10 | ·········· |
| Both sadly blacke, both blackly darkned be: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘· |
| Night bard from Sunne, thou from thine own Sunnes light | 10 | ·········· |
| Silence in both displaies his sullen might: | 10 | /˘··˘/·/˘· |
| Slowe Heavens in both do hold the one degree, | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| That full of doubts, thou of perplexitie: | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy teares expresse nights native moysture right, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In both a wofull solitarines: | 9 | ········· |
| In night of Spirites the gastly power sturr, | 10 | ···/˘···/· |
| And in our sprites are Spirits gastlines: | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·· |
| But but (alas) nights sights the ods hath fure, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| For that at length invites us to some rest, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Thou though still tyr’d, yet still dost it detest. | 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.