An Apology for poetry
Sir Philip Sidney, (born November 30, 1554, Penshurst, Kent, England—died October 17,
1586, Arnhem, Netherlands), Elizabethan courtier, statesman, soldier, poet, and patron of
scholars and poets, considered the ideal gentleman of his day.
His works include Astrophel and Stella, The Defence of Poesy and The Countess of
Pembroke's Arcadia.
Publish: 1595 written: 1580
• Two editions
1. An Apology for poetry
2. Defence of poesie
• Greek apologia = an argument in defence
• Stephen Gosson "school of abuse" (1579)
• Genre: Literary criticism + Essay
Counted as first major critical essay in Renaissance England.
Masterpiece of Philip Sidney
Answer to all Philip's contemporaries who were against the poetry.
In this work Sidney regarded poetry as "Divine Music"
Philip Sidney in his "Apology for Poetry" reacts against the attacks made on poetry by the
puritan,Stephen Gosson. To Sidney, poetry is an art of imitation for a specific purpose, it is
imitated to teach and delight. According to him, poetry is simply a superior means of
communication and its value depends on what is communicated. So, even history when it is
described in a lively and passionate expression becomes poetic. He prefers imaginative
literature that teaches better than history and philosophy. Literature has the power to
reproduce an ideal golden world, not just the brazen world.
Seven parts:
1. “Exordium” or Introduction
2. Narration
3. Divisions
4. Examination
5. Refutation
6. Digression
7. "Peroration" or conclusion
Introduction:
• Tour
• John Pietro Pugliano
• The latter's passionate praise of horsemanship inspires
Narration:
• traces its ancient roots like Plato and Herodotus, used poetic style
• Ancient world : latin | Greek
, • Vates = prophet
• Poietes= maker
• definiton: that it is an imitative art that teaches its audience through pleasure and delight.
Division:
• Right poets
• Epic poetry
• Pastoral poetry
• Elegiac poetry
• Lyric
• Tragic
• Comic
• Satire
• Iambic
Examination
compare poetry with
Philosophy + History
Abstract + Concrete
Poetry
Refutation: Defends poetry against the charges made by Stephen Gosson
1. Poetry is a waste of time.
2. Poetry is the mother of lies.
3. It is the nurse of abuse.
4.Plato had rightly banished the poets fom his ideal Republic.
Digression
Conclusion
In “An Apology for Poetry,” Sir Philip
Sidney sets out to restore poetry to its rightful place among the arts. Poetry has gotten a bad
name in Elizabethan England, disrespected by many of Sidney’s contemporaries. But,
Sidney contends, critics of poetry do not understand what poetry really is: they have been
misled by modern poetry, which is frequently bad. If one understands the true nature of
poetry, one will see, as Sidney shows in his essay, that poetry is in fact the “monarch” of the
arts. Sidney does so by articulating a theory of poetry, largely drawn from classical sources,
as a tool for teaching virtue and the poet as a semi-divine figure capable of imagining a more
perfect version of nature. Armed with this definition,
Sidney proceeds to address the major criticisms made of the art of poetry and of the poets
who practise it, refuting them with brilliant rhetorical skill.
Following the seven-part structure of a classical oration, Sidney begins with an exordium, or
introduction. He tells an anecdote about horse-riding, noting that, like his riding instructor
Giovanni Pietro Pugliano, he will not dwell so much on the writing of poetry as the
contemplation and appreciation of it. Since he has become a poet, he feels obliged to say
something to restore the reputation of his unelected vocation.
Sir Philip Sidney, (born November 30, 1554, Penshurst, Kent, England—died October 17,
1586, Arnhem, Netherlands), Elizabethan courtier, statesman, soldier, poet, and patron of
scholars and poets, considered the ideal gentleman of his day.
His works include Astrophel and Stella, The Defence of Poesy and The Countess of
Pembroke's Arcadia.
Publish: 1595 written: 1580
• Two editions
1. An Apology for poetry
2. Defence of poesie
• Greek apologia = an argument in defence
• Stephen Gosson "school of abuse" (1579)
• Genre: Literary criticism + Essay
Counted as first major critical essay in Renaissance England.
Masterpiece of Philip Sidney
Answer to all Philip's contemporaries who were against the poetry.
In this work Sidney regarded poetry as "Divine Music"
Philip Sidney in his "Apology for Poetry" reacts against the attacks made on poetry by the
puritan,Stephen Gosson. To Sidney, poetry is an art of imitation for a specific purpose, it is
imitated to teach and delight. According to him, poetry is simply a superior means of
communication and its value depends on what is communicated. So, even history when it is
described in a lively and passionate expression becomes poetic. He prefers imaginative
literature that teaches better than history and philosophy. Literature has the power to
reproduce an ideal golden world, not just the brazen world.
Seven parts:
1. “Exordium” or Introduction
2. Narration
3. Divisions
4. Examination
5. Refutation
6. Digression
7. "Peroration" or conclusion
Introduction:
• Tour
• John Pietro Pugliano
• The latter's passionate praise of horsemanship inspires
Narration:
• traces its ancient roots like Plato and Herodotus, used poetic style
• Ancient world : latin | Greek
, • Vates = prophet
• Poietes= maker
• definiton: that it is an imitative art that teaches its audience through pleasure and delight.
Division:
• Right poets
• Epic poetry
• Pastoral poetry
• Elegiac poetry
• Lyric
• Tragic
• Comic
• Satire
• Iambic
Examination
compare poetry with
Philosophy + History
Abstract + Concrete
Poetry
Refutation: Defends poetry against the charges made by Stephen Gosson
1. Poetry is a waste of time.
2. Poetry is the mother of lies.
3. It is the nurse of abuse.
4.Plato had rightly banished the poets fom his ideal Republic.
Digression
Conclusion
In “An Apology for Poetry,” Sir Philip
Sidney sets out to restore poetry to its rightful place among the arts. Poetry has gotten a bad
name in Elizabethan England, disrespected by many of Sidney’s contemporaries. But,
Sidney contends, critics of poetry do not understand what poetry really is: they have been
misled by modern poetry, which is frequently bad. If one understands the true nature of
poetry, one will see, as Sidney shows in his essay, that poetry is in fact the “monarch” of the
arts. Sidney does so by articulating a theory of poetry, largely drawn from classical sources,
as a tool for teaching virtue and the poet as a semi-divine figure capable of imagining a more
perfect version of nature. Armed with this definition,
Sidney proceeds to address the major criticisms made of the art of poetry and of the poets
who practise it, refuting them with brilliant rhetorical skill.
Following the seven-part structure of a classical oration, Sidney begins with an exordium, or
introduction. He tells an anecdote about horse-riding, noting that, like his riding instructor
Giovanni Pietro Pugliano, he will not dwell so much on the writing of poetry as the
contemplation and appreciation of it. Since he has become a poet, he feels obliged to say
something to restore the reputation of his unelected vocation.
