Analysis of Sonnet 87: When I Was Forc'd From Stella

Sir Philip Sidney 1554 (Penshurst, Kent) – 1586 (Zutphen)



When I was forc'd from Stella, ever dear
Stella, food of my thoughts, heart of my heart;
Stella, whose eyes make all my tempests clear,
By iron laws of duty to depart:

Alas I found that she with me did smart;
I saw that tears did in her eyes appear;
I saw that sighs her sweetest lips did part,
And her sad words my saddest sense did hear.

For me, I wept to see pearls scatter'd so;
I sigh'd her sighs, and wailed for her woe,
Yet swam in joy, such love in her was seen.

Thus, while th'effect most bitter was to me,
And nothing than the couse more sweet could be,
I had been vex'd, if vex'd I had not been.


Scheme ABAB BABX CCX DDX
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110101 1011111111 101111111 1101110101 0111111111 1111100101 1111010111 0011110111 1111111101 110101101 1101110011 111101110111 0101011111 1111111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 614
Words 125
Sentences 4
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 114
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

39 sec read
79

Sir Philip Sidney

Sir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier, scholar and soldier who is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan age. more…

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