junctions) to good effect. With this technique, Astro-
phil describes the kiss as gems, fruits of newfound
paradise, breathing all bliss, sweetening the heart, in
order to conclude that it teaches lips a “nobler exer-
cise”—a list that increases the poem’s energetic tension
with each phrase. This kiss provides his mouth with a
nobler use than speech—or writing poetry, although
nobler is pointedly ironic.
In the next QUATRAIN, Astrophil moves from asyn-
deton to direct PERSONIFICATION of an experience, long-
ing to “paint” the kiss as a concrete object for all people
to see, even if he could only approximate the reality,
and even though a kiss is “only Nature’s art” (l. 6). This
desire puts him at odds with Stella, who forbids his
praise of her kisses: She would be known for better
things (“higher seated praise,” l. 10), says Astrophil,
speaking for her. He then cries that his burning heart
make this commanded silence impossible. If she wants
him silent, he says, then she must stop his mouth by
kissing him again. Once Stella’s objection has been
presented, the full irony of kissing as a “nobler” activity
(l. 4) becomes evident.
Wordplays grow thick in the last three lines, contrib-
uting irony and humor to the trivial situation. Most
potent is the double entendre in Astrophil’s assertion
that “I, mad with delight, want wit to cease” (l. 13).
Want can mean either “desire” or “lack;” here both
meanings apply. Astrophil says that he lacks the wit to
cease his praises of her kisses, and, simultaneously, that
he wants his wit to cease altogether so he can simply
enjoy the kisses—both conditions caused by the mad-
ness of delight generated by those kisses themselves.
In addition to the personifi cation, asyndeton, and
double entendres, Sidney controls the energy of this
SONNET by limiting the variety in diction. In the octave,
repetitions of kisse and gemmes, and kisse and soules,
produce a pattern that emphasizes the speaker’s desired
direction. In the sestet, each of the two opposing posi-
tions starts with but—“But she forbids” (l. 9) and “But
my heart burnes” (l. 11)—leading Astrophil to tell Stella
she must stop his mouth “with still still kissing me,” the
doubled “still” playing on the word’s two senses of
“silence” and “always.” The sestet links back to the
octave by means of “faine”: Astrophil “faine would...
paint thee [the kiss]” (l. 7), and he claims that Stella
“faine would have me peace.” In addition, there are sev-
eral synonyms for stop in the SESTET, each with its own
value and playful quality: silent, peace, cease, stop, and
still. By employing such a variety of words to express a
single issue after having so strictly limited the vocabu-
lary of the fi rst 10 lines, Astrophil emphasizes the
impossibility of his silence—in a sonnet.
See also ASTROPHIL AND STELLA (OVERVIEW).
Marjory E. LangeAstrophil and Stella: Sonnet 86 (“Alas, whence
came this change of lookes? If I”) SIR PHILIP SID-
NEY (ca. 1582) In SIR PHILIP SIDNEY’s climatic Sonnet
86, Astrophil suffers the consequences of the kiss he
stole from the sleeping Stella in the Second Song. The
series of SONNETs and songs following the Second Song
and culminating in the Fourth Song show Astrophil
rejoicing over his stolen kiss and the poetic inspiration
this illicit caress has aroused. By Sonnet 86, Stella has
learned of this unsolicited kiss—most likely through
reading Astrophil’s poetry. In this sonnet, Stella slaps
Astrophil, in a clear rejection of his advances.
In the fi rst QUATRAIN, Astrophil notices Stella’s
“change of lookes.” He contends that if he has done
something to warrant this change, then his “own con-
science” would be “self condemning,” and therefore
Stella would not need to punish him. Astrophil contin-
ues to refute the validity of Stella’s change in the sec-
ond quatrain by claiming both his soul and love for
Stella are as pure as “spotless ermine,” a reference to
the white fur used to adorn Renaissance clothing and a
popular symbol for chastity in Renaissance art and lit-
erature. In the third quatrain, Stella slaps him, and
Astrophil begs, “O ease your hand” (l. 9). Throughout
Stella’s escalating reactions, Astrophil continues to
maintain that her judgment is not based on any justifi -
able “faults” (ll. 9–10). In the fi nal COUPLET, Astrophil
claims that far worse than her physical retribution is
the pain he sees in Stella’s “blessed eyes,” where “one’s
heaven become his hell” (l. 14).
As the only single sonnet in the sequence fl anked by
two songs, Sonnet 86 structurally functions as a ful-
crum between Astrophil’s previous manic poetic highs
and his quick decline into anger and despair. In theASTROPHIL AND STELLA: SONNET 86 61