and Stella, Sonnet 87 recognizes a break in the lovers’
relationship in dramatic fashion.
See also ASTROPHIL AND STELLA (OVERVIEW).
Marjory E. Lange
Astrophil and Stella: Sonnet 89 (“Now that of
absence the most irksome night”) SIR PHILIP
SIDNEY (1582) Sonnet 89 is thought to have been
composed during the summer of 1582, soon after
Penelope Devereux (Stella) married Sidney’s rival, Lord
Rich; thus, Astrophil loses Stella. Because of this devas-
tating loss, Sonnet 89 breaks many metrical rules. Sid-
ney uses the same two words—night and day—for each
line’s end rhyme. Interestingly, the words occur an
equal number of times, as Astrophil laments the
“absence” (l. 1) of his “Stella’s eyes” (l. 3), which pro-
vided the necessary light to his emotional world. The
constant repetition of the two opposing forces destabi-
lizes the reader, as Sidney moves the positive “day”
into an unfamiliar negative in which it contains no
light but is merely the absence of darkness. Day brings
no comfort to this suffering lover—but neither does
the night. Still, Astrophil overcomes day with its “dark-
est shade” (l. 2), and without Stella there will be no
lifting of the darkness even when day arrives. Instead
the new day lasts too long and leaves the abandoned
lover longing for the covering comfort of “long-stayed
night” (l. 6). Night brings no solace, bearing instead a
horrible “silence” (l. 8) that is as unendurable as the
“darkness of his day” (l. 10). In the absence of the sta-
bilizing infl uence of his love for Stella, Astrophil is now
“living in blackest winter night,” (l. 13) even while his
soul suffers the hellish agony of remembrance of the
“fl ame” of his summer’s impassioned “day” (l. 14).
See also ASTROPHIL AND STELLA (OVERVIEW); SIDNEY, SIR
PHILIP; SONNET.
Leslie J. OrmandyAstrophil and Stella: Sonnet 90 (“Stella, thinke
not that I by verse seeke fame”) SIR PHILIP SID-
NEY (ca. 1582) Sonnet 90 of Astrophil and Stella, like
several earlier poems in the SONNET SEQUENCE (1, 3, 6,
15, and 74), refl ects on the act of writing poetry, serv-
ing as a reminder to Astrophil that he writes not only of
Stella and her love but for her, too; she is both audi-
ence and content.
This ITALIAN (PETRARCHAN) SONNET is built on a
foundation of negative statements, of denials: each of
the fi ve phrases—“thinke not” (l. 1); “Nor so ambi-
tious I” (l. 5); “In truth I sweare, I wish not” (l. 7); “ne
if I would” (l. 9); and “For nothing from my wit or
will doth fl ow” (l. 12)—introduces a different nuance
of the poetic creative experience. In addition, there
are subsidiary denials, all of which together lead
steadily toward the conclusion that Astrophil claims
he is interpreting the love that fl ows through him, not
creating it.
The SONNET also addresses fame garnered through
writing. In the fi rst four lines, the speaker states that he
has never sought fame; one audience—Stella—is
enough (“If thou praise not, all other praise is shame,”
l. 4). The only fame he seeks, implicitly, is that of being
known for loving Stella. In a crescendo of verbs—seek,
hope, love, live—Astrophil places himself in relation to
Stella as her faithful lover. He goes so far as to claim
that he “live[s] but for thee” (l. 2). The next six lines
deal with ambition. Here there is no mention of Stella;
the speaker repudiates the name of poet on the grounds
that he cannot call himself a poet on account of “the
plumes from others’ wings I take” (l. 11). This senti-
ment echoes both Sonnet 1 and SIR PHILIP SIDNEY’s
arguments in his DEFENSE OF POESY, where the poet is
specifi cally defi ned as a “maker,” one who does not
borrow from nature—or other poets—but creates from
within his own mind.
The last three lines clarify that Astrophil’s poetry
comes from Stella’s beauty and his own love (ll. 13–
14), which is a very different situation than borrowing
“others leaves” (Sonnet 1, 1.7). He gives to Stella’s
beauty the full credit for providing all his words as well
as the impetus for writing them down. What makes
this sonnet stand out is the poet-lover’s self-defensive
tone; the series of negatives acts to undermine the
strength of the poet’s argument, defending before there
has been any attack.
See also ASTROPHIL AND STELLA (OVERVIEW), SYNEC-
DOCHE.
Marjory E. LangeASTROPHIL AND STELLA: SONNET 90 63