Analysis of Sonnet X: Reason

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



Reason, in faith thou art well serv'd, that still
Wouldst brabbling be with sense and love in me:
I rather wish'd thee climb the Muses' hill,
Or reach the fruit of Nature's choicest tree,

Or seek heav'n's course, or heav'n's inside to see:
Why shouldst thou toil our thorny soil to till?
Leave sense, and those which sense's objects be:
Deal thou with powers of thoughts, leave love to will.

But thou wouldst needs fight both with love and sense,
With sword of wit, giving wounds of dispraise,
Till downright blows did foil thy cunning fence:

For soon as they strake thee with Stella's rays,
Reason thou kneel'dst, and offeredst straight to prove
By reason good, good reason her to love.


Scheme ABAB BABA CCC XXX
Poetic Form
Metre 1001111111 111110101 1101110101 1101110101 1111110111 11111010111 110111101 11110111111 1111111101 111110111 111111101 1111111101 101101111 1101110011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 695
Words 123
Sentences 4
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 38
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 134
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
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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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