„Epitaph on Sir Thomas Wyatt“

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

 elegy, not a sonnet

 rhyme scheme: ABAB
 first line: 5 feet + additional syllable / hexameter (stress on „Wyatt“ and „rest“)
 rest of poem: iambic pentameter
 final syllable stressed – masculine rhyme; unstressed – feminine rhyme
In first four lines, Surrey is praising Wyatt, his gift and his virtues. Throughout the poem he
celebrates Wyatt, pointing out specific things about him (head, visage, hand, tongue, eye,
heart, corpse/body).
“Visage”: facial expressions both stern and mild
“Hand”: describing Wyatt as a poet, no one can be like him (but they can come close); Wyatt
robbed Chaucer of his wit; Chaucer isn’t as timeless as Wyatt
“Tongue”: Wyatt’s speeches; celebrates him as a diplomat; Wyatt knew a couple of foreign
languages; was a role model
“Eye”: Wyatt wasn’t affected by others’ judgement
“Heart”: always true in his heart; despised wealth for the sake of wealth; everything he got
was deserved; wasn’t afraid to say the truth
“Corpse/Body”: nature could not recreate someone like Wyatt; he was unique, special
First line ends with a masculine rhyme, last line of the poem ends with a feminine rhyme.
Masculine + feminine = symbolizes Wyatt’s perfection; ‘best of both worlds’

“Th’Assyrians’ king, in peace with four desire”

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

 form: sonnet
 iambic pentameter
 rhyme scheme: ABABCDCDEFEFGG
Poem is about Sardanapalus, the Assyrian king. According to the myth, he was a bad soldier
– never won a battle. Wasn’t a proper ruler; engaged in hedonism; liked both sexes; liked to
wear typically women’s clothes; guilty of all 7 sins. The only redeeming thing he did was that
he killed himself. In the poem, Howard condemns Sardanapalus based on these things.
Even in the last lines, which refer to Sardanapalus’ suicide, Howard points out that the King
was too proud (sin – pride) to go and die in battle, and instead killed himself beforehand.
The poem is a metaphor for king Henry VIII – he only thought about himself, not about the
people; was greedy – liked showing off his money and wealth; disrupted the religious rules
by wanting to divorce his wife; wanted to be head of church and head of state.
Unlike most sonnets, this poem is not a love poem, but rather a great political satire –
ridiculing the current situation.
 “My True Love Hath My Heart”
Sir Philip Sidney

 typical sonnet (a love poem)

 iambic pentameter
 rhyme: ABABCDCDEFEFGG (last line could be considered A again, because it is identical
to the first one)
This sonnet is a song from Sidney’s long pastoral romance, Arcadia. Written from the point
of view of a woman (a shepherdess pledging her love to her fiance, a shepherd), the poem
deals with a perfectly requited love.
The speaker states that she and her lover have pledged their hearts to each other, and it’s
the best exchange or ‘bargain’ that could have been contrived. By exchanging their hearts
with each other and pledging themselves to the other, the two lovers guide each other and
make them two hearts in one. The shepherdess tells her that her lover’s heart was
‘wounded’ when he saw her, because Cupid, the Roman god of love, shot him with his arrow
and afflicted him with love for the shepherdess. When the shepherdess saw that her love
was wounded with love for her, she fell for him. The next two lines, though, require more
careful unpicking and analysis:
„For as from me on him his hurt did light,
So still, methought, in me his hurt did smart“
Sidney’s shepherdess is essentially saying (using the word ‘hurt’ to twist ‘heart’ slightly out
of shape) that both lovers, seeing the other afflicted with love, were themselves afflicted: in
other words, it was mutual attraction.
The word ‘change’ in the penultimate line of the poem means both transformation (they
have been transformed, by Cupid, into lovers) and exchange (they have pledged their hearts
to one another).

“Astrophil and Stella”

Sir Philip Sidney

 Astrophil – star lover; Stella – star

“Sonnet 1”

 iambic hexameter
 rhyme scheme: ABABABABCDCDEE
The author opens this first sonnet by explaining his motivation for composing the sonnet
sequence. He believes that if his love were to read the sonnets, she would eventually return
his affection. He argues that her pleasure in his pain would cause her to read his sonnets,
and her reading of the sonnets would allow her to know the extent of his affection, which
might make her pity the author's situation-and this pity may transform into grace and love.
The author also describes his difficulties in composing the sonnet sequence. He has struggled
to express the pain and misery of his emotions and has tried to look at other poets' works in
order to gain inspiration. Still, he has been unsuccessful. Finally, the author has realized that
the only way to fully express his love for Stella in his poetry is to write from his heart.
Sidney's actions of writing about how to compose a love sonnet allow him to do just that:
compose a love sonnet. With this in mind, he warns the reader that the emotions expressed
in the entire sonnet sequence stem directly from the heart-thus, he cannot be held rationally
responsible. The statements in this first sonnet make clear that Sidney (who already can be
identified with the author of the love sonnets) is conflicted in his role as a zealous lover and
a self-critical poet. This sonnet demonstrates the first of many clashes between reason and
passion that appear in the sonnet sequence. He already seems to know that he will never
truly win Stella, but he cannot help but desire her. This conflict between contradicting forces
is a crucial element of the sequence.

„Sonnet 77“

 rhyme scheme: ABABABABCDCDEE

Astrophil lists many of Stella's beautiful qualities: her eyes, her face, her presence, her grace,
her hand, her lips, her skin, her words, and her voice. He acknowledges that he should feel
blessed with only the presence of these attributes. In fact, when Astrophel is in a steady and
virtuous state of mind, he does think only of these attributes. Most of the time, however,
Astrophel has extreme physical desire for the rest of Stella's attributes, which are too sexual
to be mentioned in the poem.
Last 2 lines of the poem: Astrophel expresses his continuing conflict between chaste love
and physical desire. His muse is too virginal to list the rest of Stella's qualities, although
Astrophel is thinking about them. This sonnet makes clear that Astrophel's appreciation
includes a salient sexual element.

„Sonnet 99“

 rhyme scheme: ABBAABBACDCDEE

When night convinces every other person to fall asleep, Astrophil stays awake. He looks at
the shapes of the darkness and then retreats to his own mind to see the image of Stella. As
the sun rises, Astrophil immediately falls asleep, closing his eyes under a "tomb of lids." He is
ashamed to stay awake to see the brightness of the sun when his mind maintains its
darkness.
Astrophil feels the most comfort in the darkness of the night because it mirrors the shadows
in his mind. As soon as he sees the sun, he is reminded of Stella, and he cannot bear to keep
his eyes open.