The question I propose to discuss is that of the autobiographical element in Sidney's sonnet sequence, Astrophel and Stella. The discussion appears in all the older important studies of Sidney: those of Grosart, Symonds, Pollard, Fox-Bourne, Lee, Drinkwater, and Wallace, as well as in the two recent biographies by Miss Denkinger and Mrs. Wilson, and the study by Dr. Purcell. But the verdict of these critics is divided. Also in my belief I have found certain new and valid arguments that the sonnets are not autobiographical; that is, that they do not record a deeply felt love of Sidney for Stella.