Question

Which line in this poem indicates that the poetic speaker is hopelessly in love?

Sonnet 8 from Astrophil and Stella by Philip Sidney

Love, born in Greece, of late fled from his native place,
Forc’d by a tedious proof, that Turkish harden’d heart
Is no fit mark to pierce with his fine pointed dart,
a. (And pleas’d with our soft peace, stayed here his flying race. )
But finding these north climes do coldly him embrace,
Not used to frozen clips, he strave to find some part
b. (Where with most ease and warmth he might employ his art: )
At length he perch’d himself in Stella’s joyful face,
Whose fair skin, beamy eyes, like morning sun on snow,
c. (Deceiv’d the quaking boy, who thought from so pure light )
Effects of lively heat must needs in nature grow.
d. (But she most fair, most cold, made him thence take his flight
To my close heart, where while some firebrands he did lay, )
e. (He burnt un’wares his wings, and cannot fly away.)

Answer 1

The correct answer is option letter E (He burnt un’wares his wings, and cannot fly away). Taken from the sonnet sequence “Astrophel and Stella” by Philip Sidney (1591), Sonnet 8 narrates the moment when Cupid travelled to England from his native home in Greece, since Greece has fallen under control of the Ottoman Empire. Cupid felt cold in this new territory and as soon as he saw Stella's brilliant face, he thought it was a source of heat, but it was not. Instead, her face was like “like morning sun on snow”, that is, it was bright but cold. The best line in the poem that describes the poetic speaker hopelessly in love is the one in letter E, since this option describes how Cupid's wings were burnt by the flames of Astrophel's desire for Stella. This event leaves Astrophel hopeless and uncertain of Stella’s capacity of loving, after Cupid's best efforts to live in her face.