Analysis of Astrophel and Stella: XX

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



Fly, fly, my friends, I have my death wound, fly!
    See there that boy, that murd'ring boy, I say,
    Who, like a thief, hid in dark bush doth lie
    Till bloody bullet get him wrongful prey.
    So tyrant he no fitter place could spy,
    Nor so fair level in so secret stay,
    As that sweet black which veils the heav'nly eye;
    There himself with his shot he close doth lay.
    Poor passenger, pass now thereby I did,
  And stay'd, pleas'd with the prospect of the place,
  While that black hue from me the bad guest hid;
  But straight I saw motions of lightning grace
  And then descried the glist'ring of his dart:
  But ere I could fly thence it pierc'd my heart.


Scheme ABABABABCDCDEE
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111111 111111111 1101101111 1101011101 1101110111 1111001101 111111011 1011111111 1100111111 0111010101 1111110111 1111101101 01101111 1111111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 674
Words 124
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 488
Words per stanza (avg) 122
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
65

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…

All Sir Philip Sidney poems | Sir Philip Sidney Books

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