Sonnet 31 "With how sad steps, O Moon"

E639316

Sonnet 31, "With how sad steps, O Moon," is a famous lyric in Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella sequence that uses an apostrophe to the moon to explore unrequited love and emotional melancholy.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Sonnet 31 "With how sad steps, O Moon" canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf English Renaissance poem ⓘ
lyric poem ⓘ
sonnet ⓘ
addressedTo the Moon ⓘ
asks whether the Moon knows the pains of love ⓘ
author Sir Philip Sidney ⓘ
belovedCharacter Stella ⓘ
circulatedWith other sonnets in Astrophil and Stella ⓘ
collectionPublicationCentury 16th century ⓘ
compares the Moon’s sadness to the lover’s sadness ⓘ
countryOfOrigin England ⓘ
explores the pain of unreturned affection ⓘ
the universality of love’s woes ⓘ
firstLine With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb’st the skies! ⓘ
form sonnet sequence component ⓘ
genre love sonnet ⓘ
imagery celestial imagery ⓘ
love-sickness imagery ⓘ
influencedBy Petrarchan love poetry ⓘ
language English ⓘ
laterMedium print ⓘ
literaryDevice conceit ⓘ
rhetorical question ⓘ
literaryMovement Elizabethan literature ⓘ
linked to: English Renaissance
literaryPeriod English Renaissance ⓘ
metricalForm iambic pentameter ⓘ
notableFor adaptation of Petrarchan motifs to English verse ⓘ
intimate apostrophe to a celestial body ⓘ
psychological introspection of the lover ⓘ
originalMedium manuscript circulation ⓘ
partOf Astrophil and Stella ⓘ
primaryTheme emotional suffering ⓘ
melancholy ⓘ
unrequited love ⓘ
questions the constancy and virtue of the beloved ⓘ
secondaryTheme courtly love conventions ⓘ
projection of feelings onto nature ⓘ
self-pity ⓘ
sequenceNumber 31 ⓘ
setIn a night sky scene ⓘ
speaker Astrophil ⓘ
studiedIn English poetry surveys ⓘ
Renaissance literature courses ⓘ
tone contemplative ⓘ
melancholic ⓘ
usesFigureOfSpeech apostrophe ⓘ
personification ⓘ
usesRhymeScheme Petrarchan-influenced rhyme scheme ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Astrophil and Stella → notableSonnet → Sonnet 31 "With how sad steps, O Moon" ⓘ