Astrophil and Stella

Astrophil and Stella #10

BY SIR PHILIP SIDNEY

Reason, in faith thou art well serv’d, that still
Wouldst brabbling be with sense and love in me:
I rather wish’d thee climb the Muses’ hill,
Or reach the fruit of Nature’s choicest tree,
Or seek heav’n’s course, or heav’n’s inside to see:
Why shouldst thou toil our thorny soil to till?
Leave sense, and those which sense’s objects be:
Deal thou with powers of thoughts, leave love to will.
But thou wouldst needs fight both with love and sense,
With sword of wit, giving wounds of dispraise,
Till downright blows did foil thy cunning fence:
For soon as they strake thee with Stella’s rays,
Reason thou kneel’dst, and offeredst straight to prove
By reason good, good reason her to love.

Astrophel mocks Reason for its attempt to cultivate his loving mind. He urges Reason to climb the Muses' hill or seek the inside of Heaven rather than waste time attempting to instill rationality in Astrophel's mind. Even if Reason did continue to fight, Astrophel declares, as soon as he was faced with Stella's eyes he would fall to his knees. Immediately, even Reason would be so overcome by Stella's beauty that Reason would give himself up in her name.

Analysis:

This sonnet mirrors Sonnet 4 in its presentation of Reason as a sort of grumbling old schoolmaster. Astrophel possesses a tone of familiar contempt for Reason, declaring that Reason is well served in his defeat. Astrophel only lessens his contemptuous tone when Reason succumbs to Stella and falls to his knees. In the final couplet of the sonnet, Sidney describes the truth behind the conflict between reason and love. Even the most intelligent person can succumb to rationalizations, putting reason in the service of desire. As in Sonnet 4, Astrophel emphasizes that public standards of reason and virtue are irrelevant in the private world of love.

Astrophil and Stella #10
BY SIR PHILIP SIDNEY

Reason, in faith thou art well serv’d, that still
Wouldst brabbling be with sense and love in me:
I rather wish’d thee climb the Muses’ hill,
Or reach the fruit of Nature’s choicest tree,
Or seek heav’n’s course, or heav’n’s inside to see:
Why shouldst thou toil our thorny soil to till?
Leave sense, and those which sense’s objects be:
Deal thou with powers of thoughts, leave love to will.
But thou wouldst needs fight both with love and sense,
With sword of wit, giving wounds of dispraise,
Till downright blows did foil thy cunning fence:
For soon as they strake thee with Stella’s rays,
Reason thou kneel’dst, and offeredst straight to prove
By reason good, good reason her to love.

Astrophel mocks Reason for its attempt to cultivate his loving mind. He urges Reason to climb the Muses' hill or seek the inside of Heaven rather than waste time attempting to instill rationality in Astrophel's mind. Even if Reason did continue to fight, Astrophel declares, as soon as he was faced with Stella's eyes he would fall to his knees. Immediately, even Reason would be so overcome by Stella's beauty that Reason would give himself up in her name.

Analysis:

This sonnet mirrors Sonnet 4 in its presentation of Reason as a sort of grumbling old schoolmaster. Astrophel possesses a tone of familiar contempt for Reason, declaring that Reason is well served in his defeat. Astrophel only lessens his contemptuous tone when Reason succumbs to Stella and falls to his knees. In the final couplet of the sonnet, Sidney describes the truth behind the conflict between reason and love. Even the most intelligent person can succumb to rationalizations, putting reason in the service of desire. As in Sonnet 4, Astrophel emphasizes that public standards of reason and virtue are irrelevant in the private world of love.