Astrophil and Stella 4

3. Sonnets 28-32 of Astrophil and Stella begin with an interesting twist: the first sonnet, while chronicling the love of Astrophil for Stella, also call upon the elements. Earth is represented in the line "I list not dig so deepe for brasen fame." Digging is typically associated with dirt, therefore with earth. Water is seen in, "The raines of Love I love, though never slake." Air is found when Astrophil says that, "...in pure simplicitie, / Breathe out..." Fire is shown as well, this time in "...flames that burne within my heart." Sidney suggests that there is a fifth element: the element of love, or of the heavens. Quintessence, although now usually used with an entirely different meaning, originally referred to the fifth, most powerful element. This element was supposedly composing all heavenly bodies. This makes sense if applied to Stella, who is "star" and represents the heavens. The idea of "changelings" is brought to light early on, which can also go with the element theme, particularly if the fifth element is looked at more as love. Changelings could refer to people touched by love; although they have not physically changed, they are different from before the love. Internal changes take place when one falls in love, which could be what Sidney was getting at. The second sonnet and third sonnet compare love to war, an interesting and debatable analogy. In the second sonnet speaks of "weak Lords, neighbord by mighty kings" and "chiefe cities," and of "frontiers" and "conquerings." These ideas all suggest a battlefield-type love, probably reflecting the way Astrophil feels that his love for Stella has been. In the third sonnet this suggestion is furthered with each two lines containing warring peoples. The Turkish contrast the Christians, reminiscent of the Crusades. The Poles are compared to the Russians, and the French are shown with the Dutch. "How Holland hearts, now so good townes be lost, / Trust in the shade of pleasing Orange tree," puts Holland against Orange, and Ulster is later shown against the Scottish. Although these comparisons may seem strange or irrelevant at first, further exploration shows that each of these pairs were at one point enemies. It's interesting to note that through sonnet 32 there has been no mention of Stella's personality. All of the descriptions throughout Astrophil's praise is physical. Whether this is meant to hint at a lust-induced relationship or just an oversight on Sidney's part, I'm not sure. Sonnet 29 emphasizes this, though, by using body parts throughout. "...her lips his heralds arre: / Her breasts his tents, legs his triumphall carre: / Her flesh his food, her skin his armour brave," demonstrates a great physical attraction, even need, but speaks much more strongly of lust than of love.


4. In this poems, Astrophil seems to take a slightly more negative stance on love. While it's true that before he was quite open about his unrequited love, sonnets 28-32 take the gloom to another level. Before, although he was lamenting his unreturned love, he still seemed to have hope. It seems that his hope is waning and he contemplates the battle-like conditions of love and the way he truly needs Stella but may never have her. He mourns his lack of luck, complaining about the men who waste the love they're given while he cannot even attain love to waste. Maybe it's just that as I'm reading I'm becoming more aware of the melancholy nature of the sonnets, but these sonnets really emphasized the sadness and evoke pity. Sonnet 28 specifically shows Astrophil's lament as he employs the four elements, and possibly a fifth element, to his love of Stella. Sonnet 29 begins the war analogy, also bemoaning Stella's other man. The sonnet claims that the other man does love her, but it also raises the question of whether Astrophil is feeling love or intense lust. Sonnet 30 continues the battle analogy with the comparisons between the countries or empires. Sonnet 31 makes a connection to the skies, seemingly speaking to the moon. "With how sad steps, O Moone, thou climb'st the skies, / How silently, and with how wanne a face," seems to show Astrophil identifying with the "sad" moon. This is an interesting connection, considering Stella is representative of the heavens. Is Astrophil growing closer to her, or is he just using the moon as a metaphor? Sonnet 32 once again shows Astrophil's deep longing for Stella, and the section closes with him blatantly lusting after her.


5. I'm still not absolutely sure whether Sidney meant Astrophil and Stella seriously or mockingly, but I'm starting to find myself siding more and more with the sarcastic argument. Throughout the last five sonnets, Astrophil's lust has been made completely unambiguous. He mentions her body parts numerous times, but never mentions a non-physical characteristic to suggest he truly loves her personality. His "love" seems very shallow, very surface-level. This leads me to conclude that he in fact lusts Stella, which would also lead to the conclusion that Sidney meant Astrophil and Stella to be mocking. If this is the case, the sonnets were written to make fun of romanticism and the unrealistic ideals that go along with it. As previously mentioned, I'm still not entirely sure that I'm choosing this side, but for the moment it seems the stronger option.


6. Sidney sticks with the Petrarchan style and still uses his italicized and upper-cased words. However, the word choice of the formatted words is more confusing in this section, with words like "Stella," "Nature," and "Love," appearing as usual, but also all of the countries and empires and "Morpheus," "Sleepe," and "Indes," appearing as well. I'm beginning to conclude that he uses different formatting for words he wants to emphasize, and that they do not necessarily have a direct connection. I would have thought that "Moone" would have been italicized but it was not.