Astrophil and Stella is a revolutionary sonnet sequence written by Sir Philip Sidney in the 1580s, shortly before his death in 1586. The sequence was circulated amidst the writing elite of the period, and it was a source of great inspiration for them. Sidney’s play on the traditional Petrarchan sonnet opened doors for his contemporaries, even after his death, inspiring those after him to experiment further with the traditional sonnet form. What is significant about Astrophil and Stella is how Sidney turns the traditional ideas of the Petrarchan sonnet on their heads: Astrophil is unable to turn away from sexual or romantic desires to the more virtuous platonic love as the Petrarchan sonnet usually modeled. In sonnet 108, Sidney criticizes this Petrarchan convention, purposefully turning away from the traditional model in order to emphasize its limitations.
       Sonnet 108 is important because, as the final sonnet in the sequence, Astrophil should have let go of his romantic desires and allowed himself to love Stella from afar, and yet he has not. In lines 4-5, he describes Stella as being the one thing bringing joy to his life when he is despairing, and in line 6 he compares his soul to a bird and her to his nest. This metaphor is one way Astrophil demonstrates he is not ready to leave behind his romantic desire; he sees being with her as a safe place and wants desperately to be with her. The comparison to Astrophil as a bird searching for his nest is maintained through a majority of the sonnet as he is held back by “Sorrow” and “Despair.”
       Throughout the sonnet, “Sorrow” and “Despair” are personified beings, they are not simply inanimate emotions. In lines 7-8, Astrophil describes how “Most rude Despair, my daily unbidden guest, / Clips straight my wings, strait wraps me in his night.” In this metaphor, Despair acts as a stand-in for the typical Petrarchan conventions. He pulls Astrophil back to Earth, away from the beloved he cannot have. By clipping his wings, Despair is forcibly keeping him from even thinking of home, reminding him there is no point in pursuing her, and he should give up and move on instead. Despair also blinds Astrophil by “wrap[ping] me in his night,” in line 8. This continues the metaphor of Astrophil as a bird, with Despair acting as his keeper.By blinding him, he keeps him calm and lost, so he will not try to pursue Stella anyways, similar to how a bird-keeper would cover a bird’s face so they do not panic or try to escape.
Sorrow also acts to keep Astrophil in line with the Petrarchan model by trying to keep Astrophil from seeing Stella at all. Sorrow is the distance between them, keeping her out of sight, and hopefully out of his mind, but he is not able to keep the thought of her away. When thought of her shines “Through that dark furnace to [his] heart oppressed” (Line 4), Despair steps in, reminding him of what he cannot have and pulling him back. Despair and Sorrow have double meanings, they try to keep Astrophil in line with the Petrarchan model, and they also demonstrate how painful it is for him to be so distant from his beloved. In other words, Sidney creates Sorrow and Despair as antagonistic characters to criticize the Petrarchan tradition as well as represent the pain the distance causes for Astrophil.
       Astrophil and Stella is a fascinating piece, setting the stage for some of the most well known works of literature of the era. Sidney’s take on the Petrarchan tradition is amusingly tongue-in-cheek as he purposefully veers away from it. The characters Sorrow and Despair in sonnet 108 are Sidney’s way of personifying both Astrophil’s pain from being so far from his beloved, as well as to criticize the Petrarchan model. The metaphor of Astrophil’s soul or heart as a bird allows for Despair to keep him away from Stella, especially because, as a bird, he could perhaps fly to meet her, but Sorrow and Despair know it is impossible, and instead clip his wings and keep him away. In a sense, they scold him, reminding him again and again that his love will never find its nest.

​

​

Cited: “Sonnet 108.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Sixteenth Century and The Early Seventeenth                         Century, by Stephen Greenblatt et al., 10th ed., B, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2018, p. 603.