Title:

Astrophel And Stella: I

Author:

Sir Philip Sidney

Scansion:

The poem Astrophel And Stella: I is a sonnet written by Sir Philip Sidney and published after his death. Using Webster’s II New University Dictionary, I found the poem has a dominant iambic trimeter.

Rhyme Scheme:

a,b,a,b a,b,a,b c,a,c,a d,d

Identifying the poem’s rhyme scheme, however, is less challenging. The poem is written so that every other sentence rhymes. That is, the last word in the first sentence rhymes with the last word in the third, fifth, and seventh sentence. The same rhyme pattern is true for the even numbered sentences. The last words in sentences two, four, six, and eight are pain, obtain, entertain, and brain respectively. There are two minor anomalies that accrue in the poem’s rhyme scheme. The most obvious variation is found in the last two sentences. These two sentences are the only consecutive rhyming sentences in the poem.

Formal Features:

The author uses a number of different formal features that can be identified. After close analyzes, I found that the author uses a style of writing known as inversion. Inversion is most often used in poetry when the order of words are changes from how they would normally be arranged in a sentence. For example, in line four Sidney writes, “Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain”. The meaning of this sentence can be better interpreted if rephrased, “Knowledge might win pity, and pity obtain grace”. Simply rearranging the words makes the authors meaning clear. Again the use of inversion can be found when the author writes, “Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show”. This sentence can be rephrased, “Loving in truth, and fain in verse to show my love”.

From analyzing the poem’s form, I believe the author used inversion to keep the poem in a constant rhyme scheme. Rhyme scheme is another formal feature used in this poem. The rhyme scheme helps the poem flow. A smooth flowing rhyme scheme enables a poem to sound attractive when read; like a song. If the author had not changed the order of words the poem wound not rhyme.

Another formal feature used by the author is metaphor. When he writes, “Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite”, he doesn’t mean his pen is missing. What the author is expressing is frustration that he can’t make the pen express his thoughts. Just as, “beating myself for spite”, doesn’t mean he is literally hitting himself. It means he is frustrated with his inability to express himself on paper. He is beating himself up mentally.