by Matt Kloosterman

Created on: November 03, 2009

Mood: Confusion, frustrated, content, lost and completed.

Theme: Overcoming a psychological obstruction and facing the realities of love.

Structure: Lines 1-4 and Lines 5- 14

Sonnet one, by Sir Philip Sidney explains the glory and bitter realities of love. The poet expresses his in depth struggle against a mental block, causing his words to move haltingly. Sidney also explains his multiple attempts of overcoming his loss for words. The poet then realizes the resolution to his setbacks, through his lover, the shining star.

Lines 1-4 elaborate on the poets motives. The poet explains how he yearns to illustrate his passion for his lover which represents the Muse Urania. Lines 5-14 demonstrate in detail, how Sidney struggles to overcome his psychological obstruction.

The title of the sonnet reinforces the romance behind Sidney and his love. The word Astro signifies star, while the word phil means love in Greek. The title symbolically explains that the author orbits around this star. Moreover, this star acts as warmth that creates life on his planet. Stella in Latin means the star of the sea, which symbolizes the calmness and depth of the love that Sidney feels. However, the star of the sea could also explain the hardships and imperfections of love. This is because the sea can react with viscous tidal waves, or in settled peaceful sense. Sidney seemingly accepts the bitter-sweet realities of love and devotes his life to his star. The poet uses the first line of the sonnet to address his desirous(pg:452 line: 1) need to exemplify his love through poetic verses(pg:452 line 1). The second line of the sonnet introduces the idea that Sidney cannot produce his loving feelings on paper. In the line, That the dear she might take some pleasure of my pain... (pg:452 line 2) justifies that Sidney wishes that his love could understand how troublesome it is for him to be mentally frozen with his pain (pg:452 line 2) The pain acts as a frustration for Sidney. We are then introduced to the poet's thoughts, as he searches for the pleasure (pg: 452 line 3) in writing. This will allow his words to flow more smoothly, allowing the star to be connected with knowledge (pg:452 line 4). With the star gaining knowledge the poet will then be laid in grace (pg:452 line 4) by his love. The star is the poets love. This clarifies the idea that once the star understands how the poet feels, Sidney will then be laid to rest.

The poet searches for the correct words (pg: 452 line 5) by

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