Sonnet 1

Philip Sidney’s “Sonnet 1” is the first poem in Astrophil and Stella, which was originally published in 1591. Sidney put out this collection of poems in manuscript form for his close circle of friends and family sometime before his death—it was likely written and shared in his coterie around 1581. Astrophil and Stella was printed for general consumption in 1590, four years after Sidney’s death. Sidney’s work is deeply influenced by Francesco Petrarch’s Italian collection of sonnets and other poems, the Canzoniere (songbook), from the 1300s. Also, Sidney follows in the footsteps of earlier English Renaissance poets, such as Thomas Wyatt, who translated Petrarch’s sonnets in the mid-1500s. Astrophil and Stella was the first sequence in English to include sonnets, as well as other poetic forms, in a narrative sequence like Petrarch’s works. Sidney is also known for his prose works—the fictional The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia and his essay The Defence of Poesy (also known as An Apology for Poetry), which were also only printed posthumously (circulating only in manuscript for a small readership while he was alive).

“Sonnet 1” plays with the form of the sonnet within the genre of the ars poetica, or poetry about the craft of writing. In the poem, Sidney explores Studying Versus Personal Invention, The Functions of Art, and Producing Poetry as Bearing Children.

Poet Biography

Philip Sidney was born in 1554 in Kent, England, to Sir Henry Sidney, a knight and lord deputy in Ireland, and Mary, the daughter of the duke of Northumberland. Sidney’s sister Mary Sidney Herbert played a large role in his literary life. Sidney completed grammar school at Shrewsbury and then attended Oxford University, but he didn’t complete a degree. Instead, he went on the “Grand Tour of Europe,” starting in 1572. His travels included visiting France, Hungary, and Italy. He studied Italian poets such as Dante Alighieri, Ludovico Ariosto, and Francesco Petrarch while in Italy. He also was in Paris during the Saint Bartholomew’s Day massacre.

In 1575, Sidney returned to England and became a courtier of Elizabeth I. His family friend Walter Devereux, the first earl of Essex, hoped on his deathbed in 1576 that Sidney would marry his daughter, Penelope Devereux. She is the woman on whom Sidney’s poetic character Stella (of Astrophil and Stella) is based. Sidney was interested in creating a Protestant League, but Elizabeth I put an end to this project. Around 1578, Sidney wrote The Lady of May, a pastoral performance, and began writing poetry.

Sidney left court for a year in 1580 and wrote The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia. He returned to court in the following year and obtained a seat in the House of Commons. Around this time, he wrote The Defence of Poesy—believed to be a response to Stephen Gosson’s The School of Abuse—as well as Astrophil and Stella.

In 1583, Elizabeth I knighted Sidney, and he married Frances Walsingham. Sidney served as a soldier until he died from a gunshot wound in 1586.

Poem Text

Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,

That she, dear she, might take some pleasure of my pain,

Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,

Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain,—

I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe,

Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain,

Oft turning others’ leaves, to see if thence would flow

Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sunburned brain.

But words came halting forth, wanting Invention’s stay:

Invention, Nature’s child, fled step-dame Study’s blows,

And others’ feet still seemed but strangers in my way.

Thus great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,

Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:

“Fool,” said my Muse to me, “look in thy heart and write.”

Sidney, Philip. “Sonnet 1.” 1591. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

The poem opens with the speaker asserting that he truthfully is in love and is pleased to use poetry to describe his love. However, the speaker believes that his beloved might find pleasure in his suffering. Specifically, the speaker hopes that this pleasure might inspire his beloved to read his poetry and that the poetry will offer insight into his feelings. If these insights result in pity from his beloved, then her pity will lead to her extending him grace.

The speaker moves on to describe his poetic writing process. He looks for the correct words to portray his sadness. He also describes his reading habits. He studies what others have written to entertain his beloved. He describes turning the pages of books to find inspiration and believes that finding such inspiration would be like placing cool water on a sunburned mind.

In a turn, the speaker reveals his struggles with writer’s block. He can’t find the words to keep his poetry inventive. He believes that invention comes from nature and is at odds with studying. Studying is like an abusive stepmother who invention runs away from. This is compounded by a quick comparison to poetry by other people: Their “feet” (Line 11) trip him up, or get in his way.

Despite the writer’s block, the speaker describes feeling pregnant with ideas. He is unable to escape the intense pain of keeping his poetry inside; he even bites his pen, frustrated at the absence of its writing. He beats himself up out of spite. At last, the speaker’s muse finds him in the poem’s closing line, calling him a fool and telling him to write from the heart.