Analysis of Sonnet 53: In Martial Sports

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



In martial sports I had my cunning tried,
And yet to break more staves did me address:
While, with the people's shouts, I must confess,
Youth, luck, and praise, ev'n fill'd my veins with pride;

When Cupid having me his slave descried,
In Mars's livery, prancing in the press:
'What now, Sir Fool,' said he; I would no less.
'Look here, I say.' I look'd and Stella spied,

Who hard by made a window send forth light.
My heart then quak'd, then dazzled were mine eyes;
One hand forgot to rule, th'other to fight.

Nor trumpet's sound I heard, nor friendly cries;
My foe came on, and beat the air for me,
Till that her blush taught me my shame to see.


Scheme ABBA ABBA CDC DEE
Poetic Form
Metre 0101111101 011111111 1101011101 11011111111 110101111 01010010001 1111111111 1111110101 1111010111 1111110011 110111111011 111111101 1111010111 1101111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 654
Words 126
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 121
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

39 sec read
81

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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