Summary

The next group of sonnets begins by dwelling on Stella's eyes and the looks she gives to Astrophel. "Stella looked on," he says at the end of Sonnet 41, "and from her heavenly face / Sent forth the beams, which made so fair my race" (13-14). Once again, the Beloved's eyes are configured as stars - specifically the sun - endowed with the power to transform the world below. The speaker continues this metaphor in Sonnet 42, addressing the Beloved's eyes directly: "O eyes, which do the spheres of beauty move," the sonnet begins, "Whose beams be joys, whose joys all virtues be" (1-2). This focus on Stella's eyes allows the speaker to begin to dwell on other parts of her, namely the "Fair eyes, sweet lips, dear heart" (1) that open Sonnet 43 and continue to be discussed throughout the sequence.

As the speaker transitions into more...