We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

Come Sleep! Oh Sleep

Stella

If you're ever given an exam where you are required to identity the author of a poem, with no information other than the poem itself, and that poem contains the name "Stella," there's a 99.9999% chance that it's Sidney (just like if you get a poem about Lucy it's usually Wordsworth; if about Julia, it's Herrick; and so on). Sure, other poets have probably used the name Stella (though we can't think of one off hand, and we know everything), but it's not a distinguishing feature of anybody's poetry but Sidney's. The sonnet sequence from which "Come Sleep! O Sleep" is taken is called Astrophel and Stella, after all, and the name "Stella" is everywhere. Everywhere, Shmoopers. Just take a quick glance at Sonnets 5-13 to see what we mean.