Sonnet 55: Muses, I Oft Invoked

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



Muses, I oft invoked your hold aid,
With choicest flow'rs my speech t'engarland so
That it, despis'd in true by naked show,
Might win some grace in your sweet grace array'd.

And oft whole troops of saddest words I stay'd,
Striving abroad a-foraging to go;
Until by your inspiring I might know
How their black banner might be best display'd.

But now I mean no more your help to try,
Nor other sug'ring of my speech to prove,
But on her name incessantly to cry:

For let me but name her whom I do love
So sweet sounds straight mine ear and heart do hit,
That I well find no eloquence like it.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

36 sec read
53

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBA ABBA CXC XDD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 597
Words 115
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…

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