Analysis of Sonnet 32: Morpheus The Lively Son

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



Morpheus the lively son of deadly sleep,
Witness of life to them that living die,
A prophet oft, and oft an history,
A poet eke, as humors fly or creep,

Since thou in me so sure a power dost keep,
That never I with clos'd-up sense do lie,
But by thy work my Stella I descry,
Teaching blind eyes both how to smile and weep;

Vouchsafe of all acquaintance this to tell:
Whence hast thou ivory, rubies, pearl and gold,
To show her skin, lips, teeth, and head so well?

'Fool,' answers he, 'no Indies such treasures hold,
But from thy heart, while my sire charmeth thee,
Sweet Stella's image I do steal to me.'


Scheme ABCA ABCA DED ECC
Poetic Form
Metre 101011101 1011111101 0101011100 010111111 11011101011 1101111111 111111011 1011111101 111010111 11110010101 1101110111 11011101101 1111111011 1101011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 612
Words 119
Sentences 3
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 115
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
60

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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