The Major Works: Including Astrophil and Stella

by Philip Sidney, Katherine Duncan-Jones (Editor)

This authoritative edition brings together a unique combination of Sidney's poetry and prose--all the major writing, complemented by letters and elegies--that reveals the essence of his work and thinking.

Born in 1554, Sir Philip Sidney was hailed as the perfect Renaissance patron, soldier, lover, and courtier, but it was only after his untimely death at the age of thirty-one that his literary accomplishments were truly recognized. This collection ranges more widely through Sidney's works than any
previous volume and includes substantial parts of both versions of the Arcadia , The Defence of Poesy and the whole of the sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella .

Supplementary texts, such as his letters and the numerous elegies which appeared after his death, help to illustrate the whole spectrum of his achievements, and the admiration he inspired in his contemporaries.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Renaissance, Fiction, Literature, British Literature, 16th Century

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1590

About the author

Sir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent literary figures of the Elizabethan Age.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Ph.D. thesis, This Critical Age, showed how poetic criticism was not prose until Dryden. Before, especially in the sonnet tradition, and here in Sidney's Astrophil, the poems criticize other poets and poems:
Some lovers speak, when they their Muses entertain,
Of hopes begot by fear, of wot not what desires,
Of force of heavenly beams, infusing hellish pain,
Of living deaths, dear wounds, fair storms and freezing fires. (VI)
Sidney here taught Shakespeare; compare this to "My Mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun/ Coral is far more red than her lips' red…If haires be wires, black wires grow on her head" (#130).
DuBellay decades before wrote Contre Les Petraquistes, similarly critical, but not in sonnet form, in rime couee. And Andrew Marvell's "Unfortunate Lover" imitates DuBellay, like him avoiding sonnets here.
Years after my Ph.D., advised by Leonard Unger, I wrote (in a post-doc on Poet-Critics with Princeton's LL Lipking) on Sidney and Byron as critics in their poetry. If I had taught at a status school, that essay, and several others, would have been published, by learned editors who judge submission "by the return address"
(bruited at a NMLA convention!) But alas, it is unpublished, so only I still know what others could have learned.

By the way, the subject of two of my books, Giordano Bruno, met Sidney at Fulke Greville's house, and wrote about it in his Ash-Wednesday Supper, which includes a hilarious account of trying to get to Greville's via a leaky boat on the Thames, ending in the mud.

[شمس · Rating 4 out of 5]

I readily admit that I am often more serious than I should be at my age or in my present circumstances, yet I know from experience that I am never less given to melancholy when I am keenly applying the feeble powers of my mind to some arduous and difficult matter. —Letter to Hubert Languet (tr. from Latin)

'I would not change my joy for the empire of the world.' —Sidney, in 'The Manner of Sir Philip Sidney's Death' (Anonymous)
__________
It surges through the magical adagio of the lines; they have that depth of reverberation, like the sound of gongs beaten under water, which is sometimes characteristic of Sidney as of no other Elizabethan, not even Shakespeare. —Theodore Spencer

__________
The main attractions in this volume are Sidney's Sonnet sequence, Astrophil and Stella, and Sidney's excellent Apologia, The Defence of Poesy. Also included are Sidney's Certain Sonnets, extracts from both the Old & New Arcadia, some shorter poems, selections from Sidney's versions of the Psalms, a selection of his Letters, as well as some material by other persons included in an appendix; all completed with superb notes by Katherine Duncan-Jones.

Personally, I did not find what I read of the Old Arcadia to my taste. As well as the subject matter, I don't think the Elizabethan language and rhyming schemes helped very much. I could definitely see it's quality however, and it was (and in some ways likely remains) revolutionary; you can start to glimpse Sidney's talent for wordplay and experimentation, like in the Second Eclogue, where Philisides sings a poem and an 'Echo' responds by utilising the last word of each line.

I enjoyed the more readable Astrophil and Stella much more, and this would probably be the most accessible way to introduce yourself to Sidney.

But, in my opinion, Sidney's masterwork is the Defence of Poesy; his artistry with words really comes across in this passionate, dense, and very humorous exhortation. Sidney's wit is fully unleashed, accusing Plato himself of hypocrisy, claiming that Socrates was a poet, and quoting and referencing extensively from Ancient sources to refute Plato's infamous stance on Poetry and Poets. If you read one thing from Sidney, make it this.

The selections from his Letters are a great inclusion, and really humanise and bring to life this figure who, especially in this day and age, can seem very inaccessible, oldfangled, and, antiquated.
__________
Her cherry lips, milk hands and golden hair (Lamon's Tale)

Thy fair hair my heart enchained (Certain Sonnets, 27)

O when will men leave off to judge by hair (Old Arcadia, First Eclogue)

Her naked leg, more white than whitest snow. (Old Arcadia, First Eclogue)

Milk hands, rose cheeks, or lips more sweet, more red (Astrophil and Stella, 91)
_____
Then let thy mind with better books be tamed (Old Arcadia, First Eclogue)

Dig deep with learning's spade. (Astrophil and Stella, 21)

For while the mind is thus, as it were, drawn out of itself, it cannot turn its own sight inward to examine itself thoroughly, a task to which no other that men can undertake may be compared. (Letter to Hubert Languet, tr. from Latin)

Good is not good, because better is better. (The Defence of Poesy)

Of Greek I wish to take in only enough for a proper understanding of Aristotle, for though translations are made almost every day I suspect that they do not express the author's meaning clearly and aptly enough. Besides, I am very much ashamed to be following the little sidestreams, as Cicero puts it, while disregarding the main source. (Letter to Hubert Languet, tr. from Latin)

Be sure therefore of his knowledge, of whom you desire to learn; taste him well before you drink too much of his doctrine. (Letter to Robert Sidney)

As soon as I return to Venice I shall have my portrait painted either by Paolo Veronese or by Tintoretto, who hold by far the highest place in the art at present. (Letter to Hubert Languet, tr. from Latin; Sidney did in fact have a (now lost) portrait painted by Paolo Veronese)
_____
. . . men, in times of extreme afflictions, did comfort and support themselves with the remembrance of their former life . . . 'It is not so,' said he, 'in me. I have no comfort that way. All things in my former life have been vain, vain, vain.' (The Manner of Sir Philip Sidney's Death, Anonymous)

[Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

became tiresome after a while..i got what he was saying after the 5th sonnet so the remaining 26 were quite redundant :/

((me, realising the entire sonnet sequence consists of 108 sonnets: *faint*))

also, virginia woolf once said that no decent man ought to read shakespeare's sonnets because it was like listening at keyholes. @sidney literally no one needs to know about your boiling sprites or Queen Virtue's court (which some call Stella's face). keep your lustful desires to yourself!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure how I'd feel if the bloke I was once engaged to wrote me 108 sonnets and 11 songs - just before he went and married someone else. And kept calling me Stella!?!
Seriously though, the range of themes and topics is stunning and the descriptions are beautifully realised. One to take your time over so maybe on you "100 books to read before..." list

[Archie Hamerton]

philip sidney can eat my ass

[Hannah Polley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a huge Sidney fan and I skimmed this rather than read it. I can't really think of anything I particularly enjoyed unfortunately. Not one for me.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty loverboy pre-Shakespeare is pretty iconic tbh

[Brian Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though Sir Philip Sidney is usually banished to the nether regions of Renaissance poetry or worser still, confined to an obligatory sonnet in anthologies, those who love the flourishing of poetry in the English Renaissance know of Sidney and his achievements. Like too many poets, cut short at the young age of 31, we often wonder what might have been. Nonetheless, Sidney left behind a number of remarkable, original sonnets, included in this volume, as well as the extraordinary sonnet sequence "Astrophil and Stella" - whose names translated mean "lover of the sky" and "Star", and the superb prose essay "A Defense of Poesy".

In the early court of Elizabeth, it was Sidney and to a lesser extent George Gascoigne, who developed the English sonnet from the Petrarchan form and made it uniquely English. In fact, Sidney makes the argument for English as the primary language of poetry in his "Defense". But to read "Astrophil" is to feel the various guises of romantic love and frustration in their courtly guises. Shakespeare's sonnets only exist because Sidney paved the way. Their superb wit and wordplay was an amateur obsession with Sidney, until he found himself suddenly being overcome by his skill and finding some recognition.

"A Defense of Poesy" is nothing less than one of the most essential essays on poetry ever written. In a time when poetry was despised as effeminate, scandalous, and low-bred, confined mostly to amateur scribblings and the notorious theatres, Sidney makes the case for its essentialness in our lives, rejecting the dichotomy of high philosophy vs. low poetry, and reinforcing the wisdom imparted throughout the age by the open ended art of poetic license. Where history and philosophy seek answers, poetry rejects answers. I recently was told by a high placed district school official, to the faces of English teachers: "Why do we bother teaching that poetry crap? It's a waste of time". Sidney would roundly and throughly thrash him with this collection of essential poetry, a highly reasoned defense against such a person. Essential for those devoted to the art of poetry.

[Liam Guilar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good selection of Sidney's work. (Who?)

Given the quality of writing in English produced towards the later part of Elizabeth 1's reign, it's easy to forget how little of interest was being written at the start of it.

For Sidney and his generation there were two pressing problems: was writing poetry or fiction (the two are included in his term poesy) an activity that could be taken seriously and indulged in by an educated adult, or just a frivolous activity of the school and the bed room, and if it were possible to take it seriously, was it possible to write poesy in English that would equal its continental and classical competitors or should English writers write in Latin or Italian or French. The fact that the Defence was written in English was a bold move that is easily overlooked.

This collection plays out that debate and shows how Sidney and his "friends" made it possible for first Spenser and then ......everyone else.....to write poetry in English again.

In this volume there are examples of the occasional, instantly forgettable poetry that was written for court entertainments in the dead years after Wyatt's death.

The book also contains "The Defense or Poesy/Apology for Poesy" which is essential reading for anyone interested in English poetry and makes far more sense than Shelley's waffle. It's complete here, though the marvelous Shepherd/Maslen MUP edition is essential if you're interested in it.

Sidney was arguing not just for the value of imaginative fiction, but for the possibility of it being written in English. It's easy to forget what an act of faith that was: looking over his shoulder he could see Wyatt, and then little until Chaucer. Looking around him he could only see "base servile men rewarded of the printer" whose immoral subject matter needed to be ignored if a case were to be made. He didn't live to see the great flowering of what we think of as "Elizabethan Literature".

The Defense is not an easy read, (Tudor Prose often reads like the enthusiastic scribbling of a newly literate seven year old) but Sidney's sentences are measured and often witty, and worth the effort to anyone interested in the history of poetry.

Part of the fun of reading the Defence is the fact that while Sidney was passionately advocating a case, exactly what that case was is famously inconsistent, and while he argued for the moral value of a poetry that might delight and instruct and lead men towards good, his own most famous composition, the sonnet sequence "Aristophil and Stella" is a record, real or imagined, of an adulterous love affair.

Scholars might tie themselves up in knots trying to reconcile the paradox, but it's not necessary. It's possible Sidney discovered the limit of his own morality in the dazzling form of Penelope Devreaux, Lady Rich. It's also possible the whole sequence was a private game neither took too seriously. Take your pick.
Whatever the biographical truth, the sequence is one of the first sonnet sequences in English, and possibly the best. It's printed in full here and the fact that the book contains both The Defense and the sequence in one edition makes it very portable and very useful.

The editor, Katherine Duncan-Jones also wrote a biography of Sidney, "SIr Philip Sidney, Courtier poet" which is well worth reading. Her knowledge of the man's life gives substance to her notes in this volume.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philip Sidney, nephew of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (and Elizabeth's favourite) has become for us, as for at least some of his contemporaries, the epitome of the Renaissance courtier. However he is a far more complex and ambiguous figure than that (see, for example, the excellent Stewart biography Sir Philip Sidney: A Double Life). This excellent collection, edited and introduced by Duncan-Jones, herself a renowned Sidneian, is a superb introduction to the contradictions of this immensely intelligent, cultured, and yet slippery man.

This contains his early writings, the eclogues from the 'Old' Arcadia, the full Defense of Poetry, the full Astrophil and Stella, prose excerpts from the 'new' Arcadia, and a handful of psalms. It is rounded off with a few of Sidney's own letters (about 15 or so) and a short appendix which includes some very (very) brief writings about Sidney's death.

Duncan-Jones is unobstrusive in her commentary but the serious student will need to consult other secondary literature. The letters are fascinating and this section could have been much longer as it's difficult to get an affordable copy of Sidney's correspondance.

However, the full Defense and Astrophil make this a bargain at the price. For the Sidney student, do also get the Oxford 'old' Arcadia with this (The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia), as the intersections between the epic/pastoral romance of that, and the Petrarchan Astrophil really do need to be read in conjunction.

[Jacob Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once I had a friend who got himself, somehow, into an intense argument that Sidney should be thought of primarily as a noble aristocrat and adventurer, and that his writings were subordinate to this image & should be treated as such; it's hard for me to say whether reading this volume refuted or vindicated my friend. His writings really don't reflect anything of his knightly errantry, but nor do they show a particular aesthete -- he argues in one of the Stella poems that he himself is no poet, being instead a lover forced to verse by circumstance, and refers to himself as something of an amateur enthusiast in the Defence of Poetry. Aside from a couple of knock-offs (being unremarkable in my opinion), he seems to have committed himself in earnest to the Arcadian books, whose genre I really don't know how to specify, and the Astrophil and Stella sonnets. Aside from a few excerpts of the main prose narratives, this book mostly collects the Arcadian eclogues, which are long and rambling scenes that seem to anticipate a fair bit of Spenser's Shepherde Catalogue and Shakespeare's pastoral comedies, mostly exchanging of intricately written and well-learned comic folky poetry in a very unstructured way, from top to bottom. Perhaps in accordance with his argument in the Defense o Poetry, subordinating philosophy to poetry, Sidney is vastly less cerebral than his successors, lacking Shakespeare's interest in semblance, Spenser's cosmologies, or anything near to Donne; nor does he feature the requisite formal tightness these poets all had mastered, having a more freely discursive style of poetry centered more around vague songs and favorite albeit thin images. Naturally, this is not to criticize Sidney, but rather to recognize the neoclassically pornographic style in these writings, and perhaps justify my feeling that this looser sensibility makes his prose much more satisfying than some of his verse, clearly taking pleasure less in condensed organization than in creative diction and long, rambling syntax (perhaps, in a way, like the disorganized thoughts of this review I'm writing after a week of poor sleep).

Astrophil and Stella, in some ways, is quite the opposite; he is quite loyal to the rules of sonnets and pre-figures Shakespeare's (being, after all, one of Will's main influences) in their repetitive rearranging of favorite images, ur-phenomena, and metaphors; he also tends to employ a lot of Italian style fixations, particularly in terms of classical or topical allusion. All the same, I think these poems too are more or less no less pornographic, in the above sense; their adhesion to form is more of stern discipline than particularly meaningful (as with the other Elizabethan poets), and his ruminations over the unrequited love are presented with distance, rather than the viscerality of, say, Donne's love poems. One can cite, perhaps, the Defense of Poetry to say that Sidney might well have thought of these poems less as personal expression than as noble efforts via the pure art of verse -- and though he felt his own works were imperfect, there are some splendid poems about eyes and images, and the final sonnets about the night are similarly ecstatic to me.

This all seem, from my characterization, to leave Sidney as an early romantic, perhaps like a Wallace Stevens with courtly chivalry in place of work at the insurance form. As for the problem that I seem to have posed here, the distinction between (in more cynical terms) stuffily philosophic verse and daintily pornographic poesie -- who can say?

[Zayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only read two poems, the one most famous Astrophil and Stella. I, again originally read it for a college course, and one would probably need to read this as well as The Canterbury Tales, maybe even William Shakespeare. I know I will have to read William Shakespeare for this British Lit class I'm taking right now. It's a great class, but I wish we would not have to read Macbeth, Hamlet, and The Tempest back-to-back-to-back since I've read them all so many times already. Anyway, I only read Astrophil and Stella and it is seriously another great piece of literature, but as my professor pointed out, this Astrophil character is kinda stalkerish, he's madly in love with woman he can't obtain and through these sort of romantic and over-dramatic thoughts one may come to a realization that he is just longing for the one he can't obtain, this is kind if Sydney's way of calling out the rich or higher-ups and saying, you're all greedy and take what you want including others lovers, simply making them just another piece to the rich persons greedy puzzle. Anyway, I thought both poems I were great and although entirely over-dramatic, remember that this time in the Early Modern era was a time where many were doing this similar romantic, dramatic style (Shakespeare). I'd recommend to read at least Astrophil and Stella, it shouldn't take you more than an hour to read it.

[andorfan]

Contains one of the best poems ever written about writer's block (more or less symbolic, however, of the entire writing endeavour).

"Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,
That she, dear she, might take some pleasure of my pain,
Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,
Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain,
I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe;
Studying inventions fine her wits to entertain,
Oft turning others' leaves, to see if thence would flow
Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sunburn'd brain.
But words came halting forth, wanting invention's stay;
Invention, Nature's child, fled step-dame Study's blows;
And others' feet still seem'd but strangers in my way.
Thus great with child to speak and helpless in my throes,
Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
'Fool', said my Muse to me, 'look in thy heart and write.'"

I think Sidney is criminally under-read in comparison to the other "greats" of the English Renaissance canon (i.e. Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, etc.). Or if I'm delusional here and people do actually read him at home, then he is underquoted or at least not talked about enough.

[S-J · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Phil was a Puritan, Astrophil and Stella must have been pre-conversion. Plenty to make you blush in here!

[Fiza]

i enjoyed this but it was very tedious at times. my favourite is sonnet 30

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the premier English Renaissance poets, Sidney left behind a wealth of material unknowingly written during his short life. His “Defence of Poesy” is an early and essential essay on poetry in general. My favorite selections are as follows:

Certain Sonnets

I
Since, shunning pain, I ease can never find;
Since bashful dread seeks where he knows me harmed;
Since will is won, and stopped ears are charmed;
Since force doth faint, and sight doth make me blind;
Since loosing long, the faster still I bind;
Since naked sense can conquer reason armed;
Since heart in chilling fear with ice is warmed;
In fine, since strife of thought but mars the mind:
I yield, O love, unto thy loathed yoke,
Yet craving law of arms, whose rule doth teach
That hardly used, whoever prison broke,
In justice quit, of honour made no breach:
Whereas, if I a grateful guardian have,
Thou art my lord, and I thy vowed slave.

25
When to my deadly pleasure,
When to my lively torment,
Lady, mine eyes remained,
Joined, alas, to your beams,
With violence of heavenly
Beauty tied to virtue,
Reason abashed retired,
Gladly my senses yielded.
Gladly my senses yielding
Thus to betray my heart’s fort
Left me devoid of all life.
They to the beamy suns went,
Where, by the death of all deaths,
Find to what harm they hastened;
Like to the silly sylvan
Burned by the light he best liked,
When with a fire he first met.
Yet, yet, a life to their death,
Lady, you have reserved;
Lady, the life of all love;
For though my sense be from me,
And I be dead, who want sense;
Yet do we both live in you;
Turned anew by your means
Unto the flower that aye turns,
As you, alas, my sun bends.
Thus do I fall, to rise thus;
Thus do I die, to live thus;
Changed to a change, I change not.
Thus may I not be from you;
Thus be my senses on you;
Thus what I think is of you;
Thus what I seek is in you;
All what I am, it is you.

The Old Arcadia – The Second Eclogues

Reason. Can Reason then a tyrant counted be?
Passion. If Reason will that Passions be not free.
Reason. But Reason will that Reason overn most.
Passion. And Passion will that Passion rule the roast.
Reason. Your will is will; but Reason reason is.
Passion. Will hath his will when Reason’s will doth miss.
Reason. Whom Passion leads unto his death is bent.
Passion. And let him die, so that he die content.
Reason. By nature you to Reason faith have sworn.
Passion. Not so, but fellowlike together born.
Reason. Who Passion doth ensue lives in annoy.
Passion. Who Passion doth forsake lives void of joy.
Reason. Passion is blind, and treads an unknown trace.
Passion. Reason hath eyes to see his own ill case.

Astrophil and Stella

35
What may words say, or what may words not say,
Where truth itself must speak like flattery?
Within what bounds can one his liking stay,
Where nature doth with infinite agree?
What Nestor’s counsels can my flames allay,
Since reason’s self doth blow the coal in me?
And ah, what hope that hope should once see day,
Where Cupid is sworn page to chastity?
Honour is honoured, that thou dost possess
Him as thy slave; and now long needy fame
Doth even grow rich, naming my Stella’s name.
Wit learns in thee perfection to express;
Not thou by praise, but praise in thee is raised;
It is a praise to praise, when thou art praised.

80
Sweet swelling lip, well may’st thou swell in pride,
Since best wits think it wit thee to admire;
Nature’s praise, virtue’s stall, Cupid’s cold fire,
Whence words, not words, but heavenly graces slide;
The new Parnassus, where the muses bide;
Sweetener of music, wisdom’s beatifier;
Breather of life, and fastener of desire,
Where beauty’s blushin honour’s grain is dyed.
Thus much my heart compelled my mouth to say:
But now, spite of my heart, my mouth will stay,
Loathing all lies, doubting this flattery is,
And no spur can his resty race renew,
Without how far this praise is short of you,
Sweet lip, you teach my mouth with one sweet kiss.

The Defence of Poesy

For conclusion, I say the philosopher teacheth, but he teacheth obscurely, so as the learned only can understand him, that is to say, he teacheth them that are already taught; but the poet is the food for the tenderest stomachs, the poet is indeed the right popular philosopher, whereof Aesop’s tales give good proof: whose pretty allegories, stealing under the formal tales of beasts, make many, more beastly than beasts, begin to hear the sound of virtue from these dumb speakers.

See my other reviews here!

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The heart of this collection of Sidney's major works is, of course, Astrophil and Stella, a brilliant exploration of the emotional and psychological progress not only only of a love affair, but also of the writing of a love affair, that encompasses many of the philosophical and literary concerns of its day - most prominently, the conflict between romantic/sexual and Platonic love - while feeling remarkably "modern": something akin to a novel in verse. Also to be found here is the complete text of The Defence of Poesy, Sidney's fascinating and highly readable essay on the virtues of poetry (which includes fiction), as well as some extracts from The New Arcadia (I wanted more of this), the poetry from The Old Arcadia (much better read in the context of that work as a whole, reviewed here), and the rest of Sidney's verse, which I found to be rather variable in quality: his translations of the Psalms are excellent, but there is nothing in the Certain Sonnets that even comes close to Astrophil and Stella. Duncan-Jones also includes an interesting selection of Sidney's letters, which makes this book an illuminating companion to her own biography of Sidney, Sir Philip Sidney, Courtier Poet. As with some other volumes in this series (such as that dealing with the works of John Donne), this comprehensive approach means that the book loses a little in depth for what it gains in breadth. There are plenty of useful explanatory notes, but they contain some puzzling omissions: does the word "mich" in AS 46, for example, really not require a gloss? All in all, though, a thoroughly rewarding volume.

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thus great with child to speak and helpless in my throes,
Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite,
"Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart, and write."

Astrophil and Stella is a truly gorgeous sonnet sequence. Sonnet 45 is my favorite of the bunch because of its clever, beautiful, and meta conceit and the way that it asserts Sidney's own important beliefs about the power of poetry and example:

Stella oft sees the very face of woe
Painted in my beclouded stormy face:
But cannot skill to pity my disgrace,
Not though thereof the cause herself she know:

Yet hearing late a fable, which did show
Of lovers never known, a grievous case,
Pity thereof gat in her breast such place
That, from that sea deriv'd, tears' spring did flow.

Alas, if fancy drawn by imag'd things,
Though false, yet with free scope more grace doth breed
Than servant's wrack, where new doubts honor brings;

Then think, my dear, that you in me do read
Of lovers' ruin some sad tragedy:
I am not I, pity the tale of me.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sidney's 'Apology for Poetry': A bunch of awesome stuff said in the most boring and overly long prose imaginable. If you have the patience to sift through it for the main points, you'll be rewarded, but not many people have that sort of patience.

The last line is awesome, though. Basically, he's all - and I'm paraphrasing here - "For those of you who don't like fiction and poetry and think it worthless and harmful, I'm not going to pick a fight with you or anything, but I hope you fall in love a shit ton but never actually get any, because you need fucking poetry for that shit, but you won't have any because you're an idiot, and oh also, "may your memory die from the earth for want of epitaph."' That last part was a direct quote because it's so awesome and bad-ass I didn't even need to change it.

('Astrophil and Stella' and 'The Arcadia' are also mildly interesting, and his sonnets are okay, but I only had to re-read 'The Apology' for my exams, so that's what got reviewed.)

[First read, October 2004]

[Edward Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is really only on Astrophil and Stella; I haven't read the rest of the book and don't know when I might. I don't like reading anything that has been abridged, and so I deliberately avoided the selections in this volume from Sidney's Arcadia, which is his other major work.

Astrophil and Stella is a sonnet sequence dedicated to Sidney's illicit longings for a certain married lady. It is psychologically penetrating, but also a virtuoso experimental work in which Sidney comments on the literary styles of his day. As with Spenser, one gets the feeling reading Sidney that one is watching the modern English language take shape right before one's eyes; one feels its potential.

[Karine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose to write my essay on this so I must have liked it? Right? Well, I did like it, and I thought it was very well written (Astrophil and Stella, that is) but the only issue I had with it was that it was too long. WAY too long. Apart from that it was actually surprisingly easy to read and write about, and I enjoyed the piece as a whole. Not bad, Sidney, not bad.

[M-L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, so this was on my reading list for uni. 'Astrophil & Stella' and 'The Defence of Poesy'. 'Astophil and Stella' was very enjoyable. I cannot express truly enough my adoration of the 'Eighth Song' which I could read over and over until it is so etched on my memory. However, 'The Defence of Poesy' left me with little to desire which is why I can only give this three stars.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another read for Literature class. This will never be one of my favorites, Sidney's work bores me to tears.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bits of Sidney's stuff are really good; bits are not. Mostly talking Astrophil and Stella here - some beautiful sonnets, some that are okay, some that are a bit naff. That's okay PhilSid, I think that's the case for everyone.

This was more of a reread, but I put in lots of effort so am taking credit.