Summary

Sonnet 61 begins with a slight inversion of the martial metaphor Sidney has made use of so far. Rather than compare the Beloved to a fortress, this sonnet asserts that the speaker is now in the midst of "conquering" the Beloved in some capacity. "Oft with true sighs, oft with uncalled tears," the speaker says, "Now with slow words, now with dumb eloquence, / I Stella's eyes assail, invade her ears" (1-3). The speaker delineates between the past (the previous 60 sonnets) and the present, in which his laments and complaints - sighs and tears - have been converted to action in closer proximity to the Beloved. In Sonnet 62, the two have moved even closer together as the speaker asserts that the Beloved has actually confessed to loving him back: "I joyed, but straight thus watered was my wine, / That love she did, but...