Sonnet 39 by Sir Phillip Sidney is an extremely beautiful poem that has a variety of hidden messages. From its title to its last line, each word written sparks a new idea bout Astrophel and Stella’s mysterious love. The moon, in this case is like a therapist to Astrophel. He complains about his love for Stella, and speaks to it and if it understands the same loneliness that he is going through. The moon and Astrophel develop a bond while he realizes his love for Stella will always remain whether it be night or day.
The title of the book has a meaning on its own. Astro- meaning star, combined with Phel- meaning lover, creates star lover. I believe Sidney made these clever names to show how devoted Astrophel to Stella. What we really have in life that we carry to the grave is our name. Sidney is referring to Stella as his whole world and what he will die for. She is his pride and he will fight for her and his name; they were meant to be together since birth.
Basically, the poem is about the infinite love for a woman. Astrophel reaches out to the moon for a talk. His encounter with the pale moon questions if he has been wounded by cupid’s arrow also. The moon is pale, moves slowly by its lonesome in the dark. He questions if the moon is lovesick as he is. Astrophel finds of way of expressing his feelings by asking the moon various questions, for example, if love is looked as “foolish”. Does it have the same reputation as it does on earth? He also asks the moon is women enjoy being loved, rather than true. Astrophel considers a women’s love vain rather than full of joy. I find his obsession with Stella causes him to find all things bad in her, but he is just so crazy in love that the only thing he looks forward to seeing her the next day.
Metonymy in this sonnet gives those hidden messages an opportunity to let the reader’s mind wander. For example, “Come Sleep! O Sleep, the certain knot of peace”, sleep in this sentence is like medicine for pain and grief. He wants to sleep, perhaps to stop the aching pain of Stella on his mind, or perhaps about Stella not having “real” love for him. In this case, he thinks about her while looking at the moon, before he goes to sleep. He thinks intensively bout love and if it’s the same in the different realms such as heaven and earth. He seeks advice from the moon, but knows the moon can’t help him or anyone for that matter fight against their obsessions.
Being hopelessly obsessed gives the speaker a very obvious tone. The voice of the speaker is anxious, willing and desperate. His anxiety to see Stella that keeps him from resting his head, he’ll stay up all night just to see her as the sun rises. Astrophel appears willing since he will go out of his way and waste his time thinking of someone who doesn’t do the same. Lastly, he is beyond desperate for the fact that while he gets treated badly by Stella, he still sticks around waiting for her to plead for his love. Thus, proving that he scared of being alone that resists his affection. In the end, he realizes that he will see her eventually and quickly has another change in tone, suddenly happy, Astrophel realizes that Stella is the one and can’t wait to be with her again.
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