NEY frequently used in Astrophil and Stella. Although
the turn occurs at line 9, as is usual in Italian sonnets,
the forceful COUPLET at the end of this poem is remi-
niscent of the ENGLISH SONNET form that Shakespeare
preferred.
Astrophil introduces his paradox in the fi rst QUA-
TRAIN, although this is not obvious until the end of the
poem. He tells Reason that even though Reason would
prefer to fi ght against the “sence” (Astrophil’s fi ve
senses, through which he experiences Stella) and
“love” that Astrophil prefers, Reason will fi nd its prin-
ciples obeyed all the same. In the remainder of the
OCTAVE, Astrophil suggests employments more fruitful
for Reason than attempting to subdue his passion. He
uses an ANAPHORA to tell Reason what it ought to do: it
should “clime the Muses’ hill, / Or reach the fruite of
Nature’s choisest tree, / Or seeke heavn’s course, or
heavn’s inside to see” (ll. 3–5). The Muses’ “hill,” usu-
ally Mount Parnassus, is the source for poetic inspira-
tion. The fruit of Nature’s tree refers to seeking
patterns in Nature to be emulated, and seeking heav-
en’s course alludes to cosmological speculations as
well as to the fact that “Stella” means “star,” and
“Astrophil” star-lover. Astrophil concludes his octet
with the relatively gentle admonition that Reason
should “leave love to will” (l. 8).
In line 9, the sonnet’s initial turn, Astrophil returns
to his claim that Reason wants to fi ght against both
love and the delight Astrophil takes in his senses when
he is around Stella. Reason is a sword fi ghter who gives
“wounds of dispraise” with “sword of wit” (l. 10), but
whose “cunning fence”—that is, artful fencing skill—
will be foiled by the blows delivered by “Stella’s rayes”
(ll. 11–12). Here Sidney probably puns on the word
foyle (l. 11), using it as a verb but also referring to the
fencing foil.
The couplet extends the fencing metaphor and con-
strains it to an obviously courtly sporting combat,
asserting that after it has been struck by Stella’s rays,
Reason itself kneels in submission and offers its ser-
vices to prove the necessity of loving Stella. Astrophil
uses a CHIASMUS—“By reason good, good reason [Stella]
to love” (ll. 13–14)—to illustrate Reason’s reversal of
its former argument against love. Thus, reason is well
“serv’d,” as Astrophil asserts in line 1, by being taught
by Stella’s beauty and virtue that to love Stella is ulti-
mately reasonable.
See also ASTROPHIL AND STELLA (OVERVIEW).
Joel B. DavisAstrophil and Stella: Sonnet 15 (“You that do
search for every purling spring”) SIR PHILIP SID-
NEY (ca. 1582) Sonnet 15 returns to the admonition
against insincere imitation that characterizes Sonnets 1
and 6. It is written in iambic pentameter and follows
the ITALIAN (PETRACHAN) SONNET form. Here, lines 9
and 10 form a COUPLET that sums up the OCTAVE, so
that the poet’s rhyme scheme for the SESTET (cdcd, ee)
becomes ccdeed. Likewise, the VOLTA (turn) we expect
in line 9 is delayed until line 12, where it is marked by
the adversative but.
In the octave, Astrophil lists the faulty practices of
imitative poets. In the fi rst quatrain, he speaks of their
practices fi guratively, suggesting that they seek every
“spring” that fl ows from Mount Parnassus, the mytho-
logical home of the Muses, (inspiration) and “wring”
their poetics from every fl ower, “not sweet perhaps,”
that grows nearby (ll. 2–4). Thus, not only are imita-
tive poets too busy looking for models to imitate, they
also imitate poor models—the fl owers that are not
sweet. When Astrophil expands his criticism to include
the sins of ALLITERATION and poor imitation of Petrarchan
CONCEITs, he alliterates as he mocks alliteration, charac-
terizing it as “running in ratling rowes” (l. 6). He then
mocks the use of Petrarchan imagery as “poore
Petrarch’s long-deceased woes” and “new-borne sighes
and denisened wit” (ll. 8–9). “Denisend wit” is a con-
troversial phrase in the poem. It has been variously
printed as “devised wit” and “wit disguised,” but the
most authoritative manuscripts contain “denisend wit,”
so critics have taken line 8 to mean that the wits of
imitators of PETRARCH are inhabited with nothing more
than sighs.
The fi rst half of the sestet completes the thought of
the octave. Astrophil tells imitative poets, “You take
wrong waies,” and he warns them that “stolne goods”—
that is, the ideas, imagery, and techniques they borrow
from other poets—are eventually recognized as unorigi-
nal. He then goes in to make inspirational suggestions.
On one hand, the advice is what we would expect, forASTROPHIL AND STELLA: SONNET 15 41