Sonnet II: Not At First Sight

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



Not at first sight, nor with a dribbed shot
Love gave the wound, which while I breathe will bleed;
But known worth did in mine of time proceed,
Till by degrees it had full conquest got:

I saw and liked, I liked but loved not;
I lov'd, but straight did not what Love decreed.
At length to love's decrees I, forc'd, agreed,
Yet with repining at so partial lot.

Now even that footstep of lost liberty
Is gone, and now like slave-born Muscovite
I call it praise to suffer tyranny;

And now employ the remnant of my wit
To make myself believe that all is well,
While with a feeling skill I paint my hell.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
69

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBA ABBA CXC XDD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 606
Words 117
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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