Sonnet 31: With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb'st the skies! by Philip Sidney - Summary

In this sonnet, our lover, Astrophel, broods in his self-pitying state of love. In a fine example of Pathetic fallacy, he begins to attribute his love-stricken emotions to the moon.

It is nighttime, the moon shines right above in the sky. The narrator, as a lover, relates to the moon and calls him a failed lover like him. The moon's pale appearance signifies to him an illness or a dejection that afflicts the moon. It amazes Astrophel that Cupid, the angel of love, has the strength to shoot his enchanted arrows at a celestial body such as the Moon.

Being an experienced lover, Astrophel has eyes that long for love. He can straightaway recognize anyone who burns in love like him, and the moon's desolate state is something he himself has, so he knows and understands the sad state of the moon.

He further asks Moon whether, among its inhabitants, being in deep love is a sign of foolishness. He wonders whether beautiful ladies on the moon are more conceited than the ones over here on earth. He questions whether, like earthly women, they, too love the idea of being loved by someone but do not reciprocate the love.

He alleges that the earthly beauties are ungrateful; they are misled to call it their "virtue". Could it be that women on the moon, too, uphold this trait as a virtue?

In simple words, Sidney belonged to the nobility in the Elizabethan age. He depicts the conventions of upper-class women. They had to maintain the act and not fall prey to any man's charm easily. They maintained their pride, and it's obvious that no woman detests attention from suitors, but what is easily attainable is not valued much, so they kept the facade of not being easily approachable by men.