Sonnet 96
Dian that faine would cheare her friend the Night,Doth shewe her oft at full her fairest face,Bringing with her those starrie Nymphs, whose chaceFrom heavenly standing hurts eche mortall wight.But ah poore Night in love with Phœbus light,And endlesly dispairing of his grace,Herselfe to shewe no other joy hath place,Sylent and sad in moorning weeds doth dight:Even so (alas) and Ladie Dians peere,With choise delight and rarest company,Would faine drive clouds from out my heavie cheere:But woe is me, though joy her selfe were shee,Shee could not shewe my blind braine waies of joyWhile I dispaire my Sunnes light to enjoy.
Words in this poem
- chace v. t.
- To pursue. See Chase v. t.
- mortall a.
- Subject to death; destined to die; as, man is mortal. [F. mortel, L. mortalis, from mors, mortis, death, fr. moriri 8die; akin to E. murder. See Murder, and cf. Filemot, Mere a lake, Mortgage.]
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- dight v. t.
- To prepare; to put in order; hence, to dress, or put on; to array; to adorn. [OF. dihten, AS. dihtan to dictate, command, dispose, arrange, fr. L. dictare to say often, dictate, order; cf. G. dichten to write poetry, fr. L. dictare. See D]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet 96 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 96, in Astrophel and Stella (1591), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sidney-astrophel/sonnet-96.html, id L04852.
Form and metre
Sonnet 96 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 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 ABBAABBAC-C-DD nightA · faceB · chaceB · wightA · lightA · graceB · placeB · dightA · peereC · company · cheereC · shee · joyD · enjoyD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dian that faine would cheare her friend the Night, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Doth shewe her oft at full her fairest face, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Bringing with her those starrie Nymphs, whose chace | 10 | /˘········ |
| From heavenly standing hurts eche mortall wight. | 11 | ·/˘/˘·/˘/˘· |
| But ah poore Night in love with Phœbus light, | 10 | ·········· |
| And endlesly dispairing of his grace, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Herselfe to shewe no other joy hath place, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sylent and sad in moorning weeds doth dight: | 10 | ·········· |
| Even so (alas) and Ladie Dians peere, | 10 | /·˘/···/˘· |
| With choise delight and rarest company, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Would faine drive clouds from out my heavie cheere: | 10 | ·········· |
| But woe is me, though joy her selfe were shee, | 10 | ·········· |
| Shee could not shewe my blind braine waies of joy | 10 | ·········· |
| While I dispaire my Sunnes light to enjoy. | 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.