There is no physical setting described in the poem, but it is quite clear that the speaker finds himself overwhelmed by the prospect of writing something good enough to woo his beloved. As such, the central setting of the poem is within the speaker's own tortured mind as he describes the challenge of the writing process, the feelings of unrequited loved, and the anxiety of reading others' work while he is trying to write sonnets of his own. The majority of Astrophil and Stella takes place in Astrophil's mind, making him a quite unreliable narrator as he describes the interactions between himself and Stella as well as his perception of their relationship status.