Sonnet XXVII: Because I Oft

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



Because I oft in dark abstracted guise
Seem most alone in greatest company,
With dearth of words, or answers quite awry,
To them that would make speech of speech arise,

They deem, and of their doom the rumor flies,
That poison foul of bubbling pride doth lie
So in my swelling breast that only I
Fawn on myself, and others do despise:

Yet pride I think doth not my soul possess,
Which looks too oft in his unflatt'ring glass:
But one worse fault, ambition, I confess,

That makes me oft my best friends overpass,
Unseen, unheard, while though to highest place
Bends all his powers, even unto Stella's grace.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
35

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXBA ABBA CDC DEE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 614
Words 111
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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