Sonnet 96: Thought, With Good Cause

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



Thought, with good cause thou lik'st so well the Night,
Since kind or chance gives both one livery,
Both sadly black, both blackly darken'd be,
Night barr'd from sun, thou from thy own sunlight;

Silence in both displays his sullen might,
Slow Heaviness in both holds one degree--
That full of doubts, thou of perplexity;
Thy tears express Night's native moisture right.

In both a mazeful solitariness:
In Night of sprites the ghastly powers to stir,
In thee, or sprites or sprited ghastliness.

But, but (alas) Night's side the odds hath fur,
For that at length yet doth invite some rest,
Thou though still tir'd, yet still do'st it detest.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
106

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBA ABBA XCX CDD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 647
Words 112
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3

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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