Summary

Sonnet 21 introduces the character of the "friend," an unnamed entity to whom Astrophel addresses a number of poems throughout the sequence. The friend counsels Astrophel through his all-consuming love by scrutinizing his own poetry, maintaing that Astrophel's lines "like bad servants show, / My wits, quick in vain thoughts, in virtue lame" (3-4). Following the sonnet to the friend, Astrophel continues to dwell on Stella's face and physical appearance, describing her as "sun-kissed" (22.14), and the part of his thoughts that "hath neither stop nor start" (23.13).

Sonnet 24 familiarizes the reader with the motif that many sonneteers of the early modern period, including Shakespeare, use in their sequences: that of money, wealth, and riches. "Rich fools there be," the speaker opens, "whose base and filthy heart / Lies hatching still the goods wherein they flow" (1-2), condemning those who are wealthy for their "breeding want" (4) and greed...