Astrophil and Stella 2

3. Sonnets 18-22 begin with Astrophil lamenting about the recklessness he exhibited throughout his youth, squandering all of the gifts given to him by heaven while "no good excuse can show." While likely once a virtuous man, he is now "unable quite to pay even Nature's rent." In his older and wiser state, he is shamed by his prior actions, and regrets his impertinent spending. Because of this waste, he is no longer worthy of the love of Stella. The lines "My wit doth strive those passions to defend, / Which for reward spoile it with vaine annoyes," demonstrate Astrophil's battle between reason and heart. His wit, or logic, says that he is being foolish to long so deeply for something (or someone) that he cannot have. It defends his actions in his youth, perhaps implying that mistakes and foolish temerity are a standard experience of youth. His heart, though, is angry with his previous carelessness. He yearns to make Stella his own, and can "lose no more for Stella's sake," yet it is beyond his control. The use of financial words is intriguing, especially in its frequency in sonnet 18. "Checkes," "audite," "banckrout," "lent," "rent," "ow," "wealth," and "spent," are all used throughout the first sonnet. This applies to the idea of Astrophil spending his gifts in his younger days. An interesting visual is drawn in sonnet 19, with Astrophil asserting that, "On Cupid's bow how are my heart-strings bent," then mentioning a wracke, a torture device. He again shows his undying love for Stella, claiming that his "verie inke turnes straight to Stella's name." The conflict is still there, as his "words... avise themselves that they are vainely spent." Although he loves her greatly, his reason is putting up a great battle. Stella, meaning a celestial body, is compared to the heavens, as Astrophil says that, "...unto me, who fare like him that both / Lookes to the skies, and in a ditch doth fall?" The more Astrophil gazes upon Stella, the farther he falls away from obtaining her. Sonnet 20 induces very unusual imagery, with Cupid sending a "bloudie bullet" into Astrophil, causing him his distress. Throughout the rest of the first five sonnets, Stella is still held in extremely high regard. After all, "Hath this world ought so faire as Stella is?" Astrophil is clearly in over his head, but I can't help to wonder if Sidney is being sincere or sarcastic.


4. Throughout the first five poems there is not a great deal of change. The tone stays relatively the same: Astrophil worships Stella throughout all five, expounding on his unstoppable and unlimited love for her. The first sonnet explains his dilemma, namely the state of his moral affairs and how they are lower than expectations hold. The second documents his agony, his longing for the wondrous Stella. The third gives the idea that his love is not his fault; rather, Cupid shot him while he was helpless, and therefore Cupid is to blame. The fourth sonnet tell of Astrophil's struggle to find reason and logic to dismiss his love, but the failure of his attempt. The last sonnet, number 22, possibly gives an example of Stella's beauty, even claiming that, "The Sunne which others burn'd, did her but kisse." Throughout all five sonnets Astrophil paints Stella to be an immaculate vision, a stunning and flawless being worthy of the heavens. It will be interesting to see if this will change over time. For the time being, there are no flaws with Stella, just Astrophil's self-proclaimed shortcomings.


5. As we mentioned in class, it is interesting to debate whether Sidney meant Astrophil and Stella to be sincere or mocking. On one hand, he could be writing a semi-autobiographical account of his relationship with Penelope Devereux. The struggles faced by Astrophil could represent his own internal battles; he could be genuinely using the sonnets to release his feelings or to document his experiences. If taken this way, the sonnets are touching and draw sympathy. They are extremely romantic and show a great love and passion. However, the sonnets could also be taken to be highly sarcastic. Sidney could be using Astrophil to emphasize the ludicrousness of romanticism, the overplayed nature of "love" as portrayed in writings and plays. He could be attempting to scorn Astrophil's unrequited love and quite unnecessary and unwanted passions. If this is truly the purpose of the work, the piece takes on entirely new meaning. Every phrase uttered by Astrophil becomes humorous. It is true that his adoration is almost obsessive; if viewed in a mocking tone, this can be interpreted as pointing out the ridiculousness of men in lust who view themselves as being in love. Most of the research I've found has pointed to Sidney being authentic in his writing of Astrophil and Stella. I am not sold either way yet, though.


6. Sidney utilizes the Petrarchan style of sonnet, consisting of ABBA-ABBA-CDCD-EE format. He follows the octave-sestet pattern quite strictly, and his rhymes never deviate from what I've seen. He generally uses perfect rhyme, although in today's pronunciation most of the rhymes might be considered slant rhymes. It has been said that Sidney was greatly influenced by Petrarch's work, and I can see how that could be deduced. His use of thematic words is interesting; as I pointed out, sonnet 18 uses financial words frequently. Sidney randomly capitalizes and italicizes words. I have yet to find a reason for this, my only guess is that the chosen words refer indirectly to Stella. Overall I like his structure, although the poetry itself is sometimes difficult to read and interpret.