Laura on Sir Philip Sidney

Sir Philip Sidney (Laura Laudeman)

An Apology for Poetry is a treatise written by Sir Philip Sidney and published in 1595 that tries to persuade its audience of the value and virtue of poetry. It is often credited as the most important piece of literary criticism written by an Englishman during the Elizabethan period. In it, Sidney utilizes his Humanist, classical education and presents his argument in the traditional seven-part rhetorical structure.

            Sir Philip Sidney himself was an English poet born in 1554. Apology is his most famous work; other works of his include Astrophel and Stella, a sequence of sonnets, and The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia, a work of prose. Sidney was elected to Parliament when he was eighteen years old. In addition to his political career, he was a soldier. A staunch Protestant, he died at the age of thirty-one as a result of an injury sustained at the Battle of Zutphen, fighting for the Protestant cause against the Catholic Spanish. His Protestantism is reflected in Apology for Poetry.         

            Many scholars believe that Apology for Poetry was motivated, at least in part, by The School of Abuse, an essay written by English satirist Stephen Gosson which condemned drama and poetry for encouraging disorder and vulgarity in society. In it, Gosson lays four major charges against poetry: that it is a waste of time, that it is “the mother of lies,” that it is “the nurse of abuse,” and that Plato himself banished poets from his ideal world.

            Sidney begins his treatise by justifying his defense of poetry. He refers to a treatise on horsemanship by Pietro Pugliano, and concludes that if the subject of horses deserves eulogizing and vindication, then surely poetry, which has become “the laughing stock of children,” deserves such treatment, too. He goes on to point out that poetry was held in high esteem in ancient times; after all, the early Greek philosophers and historians were poets. Sidney argues that poetry was “the first light-giver to ignorance.” Even in uncivilized ancient cultures, poetry flourished.

            Sidney goes on to argue that poetry is divine in nature, citing the way in which the Romans addressed poets as well as the etymological origin of the word “poet.” Sidney notes that the Romans called poets “Vates,” which means diviner, prophet, or foreseer. The Greek origin of the word “poet,” he says, is “poiein,” meaning “to make.” Sidney interprets this as the Greek recognition of poets as divine creators. He continues in the vein of classical thought, acknowledging that poetry is an iteration of Aristotle’s mimesis. But poetry, he contends, is not a counterfeit or less-perfect reproduction of truth; instead, it is the elevation of truth: "Either better than nature [poetry] bringeth forth, or, quite anew, forms such as never were in nature.”

            Next, Sidney divides poetry into three main categories: religious, philosophical, and “right.” “Right” poetry, as he defines it, contains a hierarchy of subtypes, with “the most notable” heroic poetry at the top, followed by lyric, tragic, comic, iambic, elegiac, and pastoral poetry. Sidney also points out in this section that verse is “an ornament and no cause to poetry, since there have been many most excellent poets that never versified, and now swarm many versifiers that need never answer to the name of poets.” He also describes the purposes that each of the subtypes of “right” poetry should aim to achieve. Satiric poetry, for example, should mock folly, and comic poetry should teach a lesson in addition to being funny. 

            Sidney argues that poetry is superior to philosophy and history. He says that the former is abstract and moralizing and lacks beauty and style, while the latter can only present objective facts which may be warped to serve the purposes of vice. It is restricted and can also, like philosophy, be dull. Poetry, because it “delights” as it teaches and because it can present an idealized and more engaging version of events, is superior. Poetry, unlike the other two, has the power to lead men to virtue.

            In his refutation, Sidney addresses the four objections to poetry that Gannon presented in School of Abuse. He dismisses the notion that poetry is a waste of time, as “no learning is so good as that which reach and move to virtue, and that none can both teach and move there to so much as poetry.” In response to the charge that poets are liars, he alleges that poets do not lie, as they never claim to affirm anything as the truth. Astronomers, geometricians, historians, and others lie, but the poet merely presents what should and should not be, rather than what definitively is and is not. To the charge that poetry is the “nurse of abuse,” plaguing society with themes of immoral amorous pursuits, Sidney replies that poetry does not abuse man, but rather, man abuses poetry. If a poem is flawed, it is the fault of the human, and therefore prone to error, poet himself. Imperfect or immoral poetry is the result of poor poets misusing the artistic form. He finally addresses Plato’s banishing of poets. Sidney claims that Plato did not intend to banish poetry as a whole; rather, he took issue with bad poets who misused poetry for their own purposes, rather than a higher purpose that served God and society. Sidney then wonders why poetry is not so honored in England as it is elsewhere in the world, and determines that it is because poetry has come to be represented by “base men with servile wits.”

            Before concluding his treatise by reiterating all of his former points, Sidney evaluates English poetry, beginning with Chaucer and extending to Sidney’s own time. According to him, few quality poems have been written since the time of Chaucer. He praises Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, as well as Edmund Spenser’s The Shepherd’s Calendar. He says that English lyric poetry and sonnets are poorly written and filled with artificial emotion, however. 

Sources:

Behela, Dr. Anita. Sir Philip Sidney: "An Apology for Poetry" (ENG). YouTube, University of                  Delhi, 5 June 2017.

Harvey, Elizabeth D. “Sidney, Sir Philip.” The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory &                         Criticism. 25 November 2005.

“Sir Philip Sidney.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2018, www.poetryfoundation.org/                poets/philip-sidney.