Sonnet 1

Sidney’s “Sonnet 1” is an ars poetica—a poem about writing poetry—in sonnet form. The speaker is Sidney himself; he includes biographical clues throughout Astrophil and Stella—“Sonnet 1” is the first poem in that work. Sidney did not submit his sonnets to be publicly printed and distributed, and they were only published after his death. His intended audience was his close circle of friends in the late 1500s—that is, those familiar with how he failed to marry his real-life Stella (Penelope Rich [nee Devereux]). In that light, a modern audience eavesdrops on the private affairs and jokes of Sidney’s coterie.

“Sonnet 1” has 14 lines, which can be broken into three or four sections. In terms of rhyme scheme, Sidney’s sonnet can be broken into an octave (eight lines) with the rhyme scheme ABABABAB, another quatrain (four lines) with the rhyme scheme CDCD, and a concluding couplet (two lines) with the rhyme scheme EE. Ideologically, the sonnet can be broken up into two quatrains (two sets of four lines) and two tercets (two sets of three lines).