“Loving in Truth” is the first in Philip Sidney’s sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella. The name of the sonnet sequence echoes the romance of their rapport: of Philip Sidney and his lady love, Penelope Devereux. “Astro” in Greek means “star,” while “phel” or “phil” implies love .The word ‘stella’ in Latin signifies ‘star’. Therefore, Sidney is a star-lover, his star being his Stella. He orbits around the luminous Stella, who radiates him with her love and warmth. The poet and his beloved together as a couple represent the Greco-Roman concord of feeling and form. This classical sensibility was revived during the Renaissance and Sidney exemplifies the same in his sonnet. This sonnet is written in a hexam¬eter, consisting of six two-syllable feet per line.

The poet asserts that being truly and sincerely in love with his lady love he attempts to capture his love for her in verse. He desires to consecrate his love in poetry so that his beloved would comprehend his agony. The poet juxtaposes two complementary entities in the phrase “pleasure of my pain” to signify the bitter-sweet reality of the feeling of love. The pleasure might enable her to read his poetry; poetry may impart her with knowledge.…