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Sidney's style of writing appears to be easily interpreted on a literal level, yet there is a deeper and more complex dimension of figurative elements, such as metaphors, that require further exploration and examination to unveil their complete meaning. In addition, this sonnet encompasses complex speech that must be interpreted through its underlying meaning and not what it appears to be on the surface. Firstly, Sidney uses a fairly concise structure throughout "Sonnet 1." For the most part, there is a consistent pattern of unstressed then stressed syllables which make "Sonnet 1" a poem of iambic hexameter. In addition, he also uses a rather apparent rhyme scheme of "ABAB ABAB CDCD EE" as well as commas between phrases, resulting in the poem flowing at a fast pace. The rhyme pattern, commas, and the iambic meter force the reader to read one phrase after another, resulting in a mutual feeling of anger between the speaker and the reader for not being able to write to his love. There is first an octave where the first two quatrains share the same rhyme scheme, then another quatrain, and then a couplet which attempts to offer a solution to the problem the speaker is experiencing in the poem. This type of line sequence is called a sonnet. In the octave, there is an exact rhyme of "A" words, such as "show" (line 1), "know" (line 3), and "woe" (line 5), that have the same amount of syllables at the end of the line, whereas, the "B" rhymes, like "pain" (line 2), "obtain" (line 4), and "entertain" (6) are near rhymes and have different amounts of syllables. When reading, there is a tendency to slow down the "B" words to capture their actual meanings. The turn, or deviation of tone, appears between the octave of the first eight lines and the sestet of the last six lines where the variation in rhyme scheme also takes place. At this point, the tone change suggests the speaker has a blank mind due to an absence of imagination causing a lack of words to express the ideas that he is so filled with. On a more literal level, there are several aspects that compliment and are complimented by the structure of this poem, such as tone, metaphor, and other literary elements. Firstly, the speaker of this poem is a lover who is attempting to write to his love to try to make her feel so beloved and overtaken by the most perfect words he has chosen, yet in the midst of him trying to write, his mind goes blank and he cannot think of anything to say to her. The angry tone toward the end of the sonnet is evident by the speaker saying, "Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite" (line 13). The speaker also seems woeful when he says, "Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes" (line12) which is ironic because he is trying to make his love woeful, yet he is the one who is sad and wallowing in his pain. Through the fast-paced flow of the poem, we as readers are forced to understand that his anger is a legitimate result of "Nature" failing to grant him an imagination to compose love poetry. Our tendency to develop a mutual agreement that "Invention, Nature's child" (line 10) has passed him by causes the readers to overlook his personal inabilities and deters us from criticizing his senselessness Furthermore, Sidney's use of metaphors as a literary device is much less apparent. The few metaphorical phrases are found in line seven where the speaker says "turning others' leaves," in line ten "some fresh and fruitful showers," and in line twelve "great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes." Within these few phrases of the poem, Sidney has created a dimension deeper than the literal which causes the reader to further examine them to reveal and comprehend the underlying meaning. The "fresh and fruitful showers" are not showers of rain to cool his "sunburned brain," but they are showers of thoughts to replenish his brain with ideas for writing. Similarly, "great with child to speak" does not mean his is pregnant; it means he has so much to say, yet, with him being "helpless in [his] throes," he cannot overcome his inability to think of any ideas to express. Therefore, he is unable to speak even though he would like to. His mind has gone blank, and all the wonderful ideas he once had have left him which has caused him to become so depressed that he feels there is nothing he can do about it. The suggestion that he cannot compose poetry when he thinks of his love implies that he is attempting to use his creative imagination to write to her. This point is illustrated in line fourteen, "‘Fool," said my Muse to me, "look into thy heart, and write.'" The word "Fool" is an indication that the composer has made an extremely stupid mistake in composing a love poem by basing it on imaginative elements as opposed to the interpersonal emotions he feels for his love. Unlike Sidney's less apparent use of metaphors as a literary device, he has personified three words toward the end of the sonnet. He uses "Invention" as "Nature's child," and likewise, "Nature" is "Invention's parent." Due to the fact that he gives these nouns roles as mother and child, he is suggesting that it is natural to use imagination to come up with ideas, and it should not be possible that one is not found without the presence of the other, but this is not the case for the writer. He is still without an imagination in addition to an incorrect approach to the ideas for composing a love poem. The other personification is the word "study." Sidney brings the word study to life by giving breath for it to blow invention away. These words are personified to create other characters to project the blame as to whose fault it is that the writer is unable to write. The speaker fails to realize that he is causing his writer's block. In summary, Sidney's Astrophil and Stella is a poem consisting of several literary devices and poetic structures that bring the poem to a level where readers are able to interpret it on a literal level. In order to understand and experience the actual meaning, one must analyze each individual aspect and develop a point of view that is more understanding than criticizing. By developing a lesser critical point of view, readers are permitted to feel what it is like for an aspiring poet to learn that in actuality, he is not a poet and he lacks imagination, an essential element of composing poetry. Bibliography: Word Count: 1204
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