Analysis of Sonnet 86: Alas, Whence Come This Change Of Looks?
Sir Philip Sidney 1554 (Penshurst, Kent) – 1586 (Zutphen)
Alas, whence come this change of looks? If I
Have chang'd desert, let mine own conscience be
A still-felt plague, to self-condemning me:
Let woe gripe on my heart, shame load mine eye.
But if all faith, like spotless ermine lie
Safe in my soul, which only doth to thee
(As his sole object of felicity)
With wings of love in air of wonder fly,
Oh ease your hand, treat not so hard your slave:
In justice pains come not till faults do call.
Or if I needs, sweet Judge, must torments have,
Use something else to chasten me withal
Than those blest eyes, where all my hopes do dwell.
No doom should make one's heav'n become his hell.
Scheme | ABBA ABBA XCX CDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111111111 1110111101 0111110101 1111111111 1111110101 1011110111 1111010100 1111011101 1111111111 0101111111 111111111 110111011 1111111111 1111110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 636 |
Words | 121 |
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) | 30 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 49 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Sonnet 86: Alas, Whence Come This Change Of Looks?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35327/sonnet-86%3A-alas%2C-whence-come-this-change-of-looks%3F>.
Discuss this Sir Philip Sidney poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In