I enjoyed today’s reading of Sir Philip Sidney’s Sonnet IX (Astrophel and Stella). I was intrigued by Professor Crawford’s comments on the movement from the external to the internal, in other words, how descriptions move from the skin, to the lips, through the mouth, and lastly out from the eyes. I also felt the sonnet functioned effectively in delivering the reader from the visual to the tactile. I was stuck (more like I tripped) on one line in particular:
12. “Of touch they are, that without touch, doth touch”
That’s a lot of touching, don’t you think? It must be important! I felt this line delivered more of that “aha!” moment than the couplet. If we are to take it that Astrophel is the speaker, he is essentially saying without Stella touching him, he is stimulated (sexually, I imagine), but cannot touch her back. Tragic, really, and we’re reminded of it when the word “touch” returns in the last line of the poem.
14. “Of touch they are, and poor I am their straw”
In this line, he refers to touch powder, that is, a highly flammable substance that ignites quickly through physical contact (say, with a straw). Sidney compares his physical, erotic, explosive reactions to their touch-less contact, with combustion.
That’s a pretty big compliment.
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