Astrophil and Stella

I have to admit that this reading was a little painful for me to read. However, it was probably not as painful as watching someone you love get married to someone else. It’s interesting to me that the names he chose mean star and star-lover. He most definitely has to watch his love Penelope from afar such as one does with a star.
I used to write poetry quite a bit and often I did so in times of high emotion or frustration. Love, especially unrequited love, is definitely something that would cause these two emotions. This being the case it is not very hard to imagine that Sidney based Astrophil and Stella on the situation he had with Penelope. I also looked up Penelope Rich on the internet and the description I found of her was of dark eyes and blonde hair, which matches Stella’s description in sonnet’s 7 and 9.
I read through sonnet 37 and it most definitely mentions the word rich a time or two. What I noticed the most was what was in the first few lines:

My mouth doth water, and my breast doth swell,
My tongue doth itch, my thoughts in labor be.

These physical discomforts are things that could be seen in someone suffering heartache. Sometimes people who have suffered heartache refuse to eat among other things. Where it says ‘my mouth doth water’ it gives me the impression of Astrophil (or Sidney) thirsting to be with Stella (Penelope). ‘My thoughts in labor be’ shows someone who is lost in their head, someone who has a great deal to be thinking about