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.
