Sonnets Group
Question:
poolej32
Student
High School - 12th Grade
Answers:
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linda-allen Teacher
High School - 10th GradePosted by linda-allen on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 7:36 PMSir Philip Sidney was the great-nephew of Robert Dudley, with whom Elizabeth I had a romance when she was young. Sonnet 39 is part of a series of love poems Sidney titled "Astrophel and Stella." He wrote these poems for Penelope Devereux, with whom he was engaged for several years, but never married. He wrote Sonnet 39 in 1581, the same year Penelope married Lord Rich. The speaker in the poem longs for sleep to come so that he can see Stella's (Penelope's) face.
Here's a little Elizabethan trivia for you. Sidney married Frances Walsingham, the daughter of Elizabeth I's chief spy and torturer Francis Walsingham. When Sidney died, Frances married Robert Devereux, who was Penelope's brother and the famous Earl of Essex who romanced and was executed by Elizabeth I.
Who doesn't love a great romance?