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A Defence of Poetry
Often seen as a key to understanding Elizabethan poetry, Sidney's persuasive treatise follows the rules of rhetoric in presenting evidence of the virtues of poetry. Sidney argues with wit and irony that poetry is the art which best teaches what is good and true. This seems a fitting argument for this prominent experimental poet who himself is said to have represented 'life and action good and great'.
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1595
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About the author
Philip Sidney
307 books99 followersSir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent literary figures of the Elizabethan Age.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
October 27, 2015
This is probably still the best way to finish a Defense:
"But if - fie of such a but! - you be born so near the dull-making cataract of Nilus, that you cannot hear the planet-like music of poetry; if you have so earth-creeping a mind that it cannot lift itself up to look to the sky of poetry, or rather, by a certain rustical disdain, will become such a mome as to be a Momus of poetry; then, though I will not wish unto you the ass's ears of Midas, nor to be driven by a poet's verses, as Bubonax was, to hang himself; nor to be rimed to death, as is said to be done in Ireland; yet thus much curse I must send you in the behalf of all poets: - that while you live you live in love, and never get favor for lacking skill of a sonnet; and when you die, your memory die from the earth for want of an epitaph."
"But if - fie of such a but! - you be born so near the dull-making cataract of Nilus, that you cannot hear the planet-like music of poetry; if you have so earth-creeping a mind that it cannot lift itself up to look to the sky of poetry, or rather, by a certain rustical disdain, will become such a mome as to be a Momus of poetry; then, though I will not wish unto you the ass's ears of Midas, nor to be driven by a poet's verses, as Bubonax was, to hang himself; nor to be rimed to death, as is said to be done in Ireland; yet thus much curse I must send you in the behalf of all poets: - that while you live you live in love, and never get favor for lacking skill of a sonnet; and when you die, your memory die from the earth for want of an epitaph."
November 3, 2024
While the English word “apology” has come to mean expressing a penitent plea for forgiveness of some fault, the original Greek word, when it came into English as a loan word in the Middle Ages, had essentially the opposite meaning: it denoted a defense or justification of a particular idea or thing. It's used in that way to this day in academic circles, as with related words like “apologetics” or “apologist.” That's the sense in which the 26-year-old Elizabethan courtier, politician and man of letters Sir Philip Sidney (though he wouldn't actually be knighted until 1583) used the term in this treatise, written in 1580 but like all of his works only printed after his death. (This and his other works did circulate in manuscript form during his lifetime, however.) I read it in (I believe) 1999, as background reading for teaching high school-level British Literature as a home schooling parent.
Poetry as a literary form had been disparaged by Plato, whose writings had continued to be influential in European thought ever since ancient times, and were well-known to the Renaissance intellectuals of Sidney's time, which was characterized by expanded access to, and heightened interest in, classical thought. (Unlike Sidney, however, I've never read anything by Plato, so don't have firsthand knowledge of his critique.) The immediate provocation for Sidney's defense of the art, however, was a 1579 pamphlet by Stephen Gosson attacking poets and playwrights, The School of Abuse, Containing a Pleasant Invective against Poets, Pipers, Players, Jesters, &c.. An Oxford Univ. graduate well versed in the Greek and Latin languages and literature, Sidney structures his treatise (really, just a long essay) in the manner of a classical oration, and makes heavy use of ancient authorities and examples. An accomplished poet himself (he contributed significantly to the poetry of the Elizabethan Age), he brings a first-hand perspective to the subject; but no less importantly, he writes from the standpoint of a morally and spiritually earnest Christian, not a merely nominal one.
For Sidney, the goal of all earthly learning is “virtuous action.” Viewed from this principle, the value and legitimacy of any form of writing lies in the degree to which it inspires virtuous action, and the kinds of attitudes and feelings from which such action springs. Poetry's two biggest competitors, as it were, in this regard, are philosophical writings and written histories. The former presents abstract arguments for the validity of ethical principles; but they remain merely abstract without some kind of embodiment or presentation in realistic examples. History writing consists of myriad examples of real-life behavior; but because the historian is bound by fidelity to what actually happened, he/she cannot tailor the writing to illustrate particular moral lessons. Poetry can combine the best features of both, and does so in a way that's aesthetically pleasing to the reader. It will be seen that this applies particularly to narrative poetry --that is, to poetry which tells a story-- and with equal force to prose fiction as well as poetry; and indeed, Sidney includes the latter in his conception of “poetry,” since he explicitly denies that rhyme or verse structure is required in order for a work to qualify as such (though he allows that poets usually employ those features). His “apology,” then, is actually a defense of imaginative literature in general. He notes (and may be the first pundit to do so) that Christ's parables are in fact imaginative fictions which teach spiritual and moral truths by vivid story-form examples, and he also makes the point that the book of Psalms, a part of Divinely-inspired Scripture, is written as poetry, as indeed are many more parts of the Old Testament. Another point he makes is that poetry has historically been the original fountainhead of written literature in any European or Asian country that has a literature, and that in places where writing doesn't yet exist, oral poetry serves a preparatory function for developing the “pleasure in the exercises of the mind” necessary to value written literature. In Sidney's time, and well on into the 18th century, a major argument against any type of imaginative story-telling, in poetry or prose, is that it constitutes sinful “lying.” Sidney's rebuttal to this canard is that the writer in these cases is never affirming the drawn word pictures to be literally true; they're understood by the reader to be simply literary conceits. In this respect, they're no different than the hypothetical illustrations, metaphors, imaginary dialogues, etc. employed in the writings and everyday speech of people in all times and many walks of life, including Plato in his own writings. (There's much more contained here, but this summarizes the salient points as I see them.)
My reading experience hasn't included many works of straightforward literary theory as such; this one and Caleb Thomas Winchester's Some Principles of Literary Criticism (1899) are in fact the only two. I really like the latter (which I've reviewed here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ). But it's fair to say that Winchester's approach to evaluating literary works concentrates solely on matters of technical artistry; it ignores the whole question of the moral and spiritual effect of the writing, and so lacks a critical component of assessment, though I didn't address that in my review. IMO, Sidney's work fills in that critical blank; and so it's a vital part of a full-orbed approach to understanding and critiquing literature.
At about 40 pages, this is a short read, and despite the Elizabethan diction, the argument is not hard to follow, even if one doesn't have firsthand acquaintance with the many examples and writers cited. The main stylistic irritant is the many untranslated Latin quotations, which educated readers in 1580 could translate for themselves, but which I can't. However, in the text I referred to for this review, the anthology Criticism: The Major Statements (St. Martin's Press, 1975), they're translated in footnotes, and the spellings in the text are modernized. (Because of its short length, this treatise isn't usually bound by itself.) In whatever edition you can find it, I'd recommend this as a worthwhile read for any serious student of literature in general, and English-language or Renaissance literature in particular.
Poetry as a literary form had been disparaged by Plato, whose writings had continued to be influential in European thought ever since ancient times, and were well-known to the Renaissance intellectuals of Sidney's time, which was characterized by expanded access to, and heightened interest in, classical thought. (Unlike Sidney, however, I've never read anything by Plato, so don't have firsthand knowledge of his critique.) The immediate provocation for Sidney's defense of the art, however, was a 1579 pamphlet by Stephen Gosson attacking poets and playwrights, The School of Abuse, Containing a Pleasant Invective against Poets, Pipers, Players, Jesters, &c.. An Oxford Univ. graduate well versed in the Greek and Latin languages and literature, Sidney structures his treatise (really, just a long essay) in the manner of a classical oration, and makes heavy use of ancient authorities and examples. An accomplished poet himself (he contributed significantly to the poetry of the Elizabethan Age), he brings a first-hand perspective to the subject; but no less importantly, he writes from the standpoint of a morally and spiritually earnest Christian, not a merely nominal one.
For Sidney, the goal of all earthly learning is “virtuous action.” Viewed from this principle, the value and legitimacy of any form of writing lies in the degree to which it inspires virtuous action, and the kinds of attitudes and feelings from which such action springs. Poetry's two biggest competitors, as it were, in this regard, are philosophical writings and written histories. The former presents abstract arguments for the validity of ethical principles; but they remain merely abstract without some kind of embodiment or presentation in realistic examples. History writing consists of myriad examples of real-life behavior; but because the historian is bound by fidelity to what actually happened, he/she cannot tailor the writing to illustrate particular moral lessons. Poetry can combine the best features of both, and does so in a way that's aesthetically pleasing to the reader. It will be seen that this applies particularly to narrative poetry --that is, to poetry which tells a story-- and with equal force to prose fiction as well as poetry; and indeed, Sidney includes the latter in his conception of “poetry,” since he explicitly denies that rhyme or verse structure is required in order for a work to qualify as such (though he allows that poets usually employ those features). His “apology,” then, is actually a defense of imaginative literature in general. He notes (and may be the first pundit to do so) that Christ's parables are in fact imaginative fictions which teach spiritual and moral truths by vivid story-form examples, and he also makes the point that the book of Psalms, a part of Divinely-inspired Scripture, is written as poetry, as indeed are many more parts of the Old Testament. Another point he makes is that poetry has historically been the original fountainhead of written literature in any European or Asian country that has a literature, and that in places where writing doesn't yet exist, oral poetry serves a preparatory function for developing the “pleasure in the exercises of the mind” necessary to value written literature. In Sidney's time, and well on into the 18th century, a major argument against any type of imaginative story-telling, in poetry or prose, is that it constitutes sinful “lying.” Sidney's rebuttal to this canard is that the writer in these cases is never affirming the drawn word pictures to be literally true; they're understood by the reader to be simply literary conceits. In this respect, they're no different than the hypothetical illustrations, metaphors, imaginary dialogues, etc. employed in the writings and everyday speech of people in all times and many walks of life, including Plato in his own writings. (There's much more contained here, but this summarizes the salient points as I see them.)
My reading experience hasn't included many works of straightforward literary theory as such; this one and Caleb Thomas Winchester's Some Principles of Literary Criticism (1899) are in fact the only two. I really like the latter (which I've reviewed here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ). But it's fair to say that Winchester's approach to evaluating literary works concentrates solely on matters of technical artistry; it ignores the whole question of the moral and spiritual effect of the writing, and so lacks a critical component of assessment, though I didn't address that in my review. IMO, Sidney's work fills in that critical blank; and so it's a vital part of a full-orbed approach to understanding and critiquing literature.
At about 40 pages, this is a short read, and despite the Elizabethan diction, the argument is not hard to follow, even if one doesn't have firsthand acquaintance with the many examples and writers cited. The main stylistic irritant is the many untranslated Latin quotations, which educated readers in 1580 could translate for themselves, but which I can't. However, in the text I referred to for this review, the anthology Criticism: The Major Statements (St. Martin's Press, 1975), they're translated in footnotes, and the spellings in the text are modernized. (Because of its short length, this treatise isn't usually bound by itself.) In whatever edition you can find it, I'd recommend this as a worthwhile read for any serious student of literature in general, and English-language or Renaissance literature in particular.
October 15, 2023
The last line
I’ve been wanting to read A Defence of Poetry for ages but had been put off by the pages and pages of dense text. This month it came up as a group read, it was the push I needed to read this.
I’m now glad I’ve read this, a few paragraphs / sections were difficult and took several attempts to read but mostly it was a fairly straightforward read.
In short, the essay champions poetry and poets, and says it’s the root of everything that makes us human, and the answer to a better society.
I’m not completely convinced by this but it’s a nice way to think about things, and I can think of many times the world around me comes to life when reading a poem, like this one:
Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.captures the essence of this essay by Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was married to Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein.
I’ve been wanting to read A Defence of Poetry for ages but had been put off by the pages and pages of dense text. This month it came up as a group read, it was the push I needed to read this.
I’m now glad I’ve read this, a few paragraphs / sections were difficult and took several attempts to read but mostly it was a fairly straightforward read.
In short, the essay champions poetry and poets, and says it’s the root of everything that makes us human, and the answer to a better society.
I’m not completely convinced by this but it’s a nice way to think about things, and I can think of many times the world around me comes to life when reading a poem, like this one:
so much dependsThe Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
Read
July 21, 2022Probably the highest banger-quote-per-paragraph density of anything I've read.
Hence the vanity of translation; it were as wise to cast a violet into a crucible that you might discover the formal principle of its color and odor, as seek to transfuse from one language into another the creations of a poet. The plant must spring again from its seed, or it will bear no flower—and this is the burden of the curse of Babel.
...
A poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds; his auditors are as men entranced by the melody of an unseen musician, who feel that they are moved and softened, yet know not whence or why.
...
It awakens and enlarges the mind itself by rendering it the receptacle of a thousand unapprehended combinations of thought. Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar; it reproduces all that it represents, and the impersonations clothed in its Elysian light stand thenceforward in the minds of those who have once contemplated them, as memorials of that gentle and exalted content which extends itself over all thoughts and actions with which it coexists.
...
The functions of the poetical faculty are twofold: by one it creates new materials of knowledge, and power, and pleasure; by the other it engenders in the mind a desire to reproduce and arrange them according to a certain rhythm and order which may be called the beautiful and the good. The cultivation of poetry is never more to be desired than at periods when, from an excess of the selfish and calculating principle, the accumulation of the materials of external life exceed the quantity of the power of assimilating them to the internal laws of human nature. The body has then become too unwidely for that which animates it.
...
Poetry is indeed something divine. It is at once the centre and circumference of knowledge; it is that which comprehends all science, and that to which all science must be referred. It is at the same time the root and blossom of all other systems of thought; it is that from which all spring, and that which adorns all; and that which, if blighted, denies the fruit and the seed, and withholds from the barren world the nourishment and the succession of the scions of the tree of life.
...
A man cannot say, “I will compose poetry.” The greatest poet even cannot say it; for the mind in creation is as a fading coal, which some invisible influence, like an inconstant wind, awakens to transitory brightness; this power arises from within, like the color of a flower which fades and changes as it is developed, and the conscious portions of our natures are unprophetic either of its approach or its departure.
...
But poetry defeats the curse which binds us to be subjected to the accident of surrounding impressions. And whether it spreads its own figured curtain, or withdraws life’s dark veil from before the scene of things, it equally creates for us a being within our being. It makes us the inhabitants of a world to which the familiar world is a chaos.
...
They measure the circumference and sound the depths of human nature with a comprehensive and all-penetrating spirit, and they are themselves perhaps the most sincerely astonished at its manifestations; for it is less their spirit than the spirit of the age. Poets are the hierophants of an unapprehended inspiration; the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present; the words which express what they understand not; the trumpets which sing to battle, and feel not what they inspire; the influence which is moved not, but moves. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.
April 20, 2018
But what, shall the abuse of a thing make the right use odious?
Who is it that ever was a scholar that doth not carry away some verses of Virgil, Horace, or Cato, which in his youth he learned, and even to his old age serve him for hourly lessons?
__________
In this short, and very dense, Apologia , Sidney sets out to refute Plato’s position that Poets and Poesy have no place in an ideal Republic. Drawing from his wide reading and scholarly wit, the dense, humorous, and witty result, is nothing short of spectacular.
Along with Aristotle’s Poetics , an essential exploration of literary theory.
I read this from the Oxford World Classics Collection, Sir Philip Sidney: The Major Works, which contains excellent notes by Katherine Duncan-Jones.
For those of you who incline with Plato's view, Sidney has a little something to say to you . . .
__________
I conjure you all that have had the evil luck to read this ink-wasting toy of mine, even in the name of the Nine Muses, no more to scorn the sacred mysteries of poesy; no more to laugh at the name of poets, as though they were next inheritors to fools; no more to jest at the reverend title of “a rhymer;” but to believe, with Aristotle, that they were the ancient treasurers of the Grecian’s divinity; to believe, with Bembus, that they were the first bringers in of all civility; to believe, with Scaliger, that no philosopher’s precepts can sooner make you an honest man, than the reading of Virgil; to believe, with Clauserus, the translator of Cornutus, that it pleased the heavenly deity by Hesiod and Homer, under the veil of fables, to give us all knowledge, logic, rhetoric, philosophy natural and moral, and “quid non?” to believe, with me, that there are many mysteries contained in poetry, which of purpose were written darkly, lest by profane wits it should be abused; to believe, with Landin, that they are so beloved of the gods that whatsoever they write proceeds of a divine fury. Lastly, to believe themselves, when they tell you they will make you immortal by their verses. Thus doing, your names shall flourish in the printers’ shops: thus doing, you shall be of kin to many a poetical preface: thus doing, you shall be most fair, most rich, most wise, most all: you shall dwell upon superlatives: thus doing, though you be “Libertino patre natus,” you shall suddenly grow “Herculea proles,”
“Si quid mea Carmina possunt;”
thus doing, your soul shall be placed with Dante’s Beatrix, or Virgil’s Anchisis. But if (fie of such a but!) you be born so near the dull-making cataract of Nilus, that you cannot hear the planet-like music of poetry; if you have so earth-creeping a mind, that it cannot lift itself up to look to the sky of poetry, or rather, by a certain rustical disdain, will become such a Mome, as to be a Momus of poetry; then, though I will not wish unto you the ass’s ears of Midas, nor to be driven by a poet’s verses, as Bubonax was, to hang himself; nor to be rhymed to death, as is said to be done in Ireland; yet thus much curse I must send you in the behalf of all poets; that while you live, you live in love, and never get favour, for lacking skill of a sonnet; and when you die, your memory die from the earth for want of an epitaph.
February 19, 2018
I just couldn't get behind this one. I had to read it for my university course and while I do think some of my dislike comes from my lack of knowledge of the references he was making - that could not be all of it. I've read and enjoyed works where I cannot understand all of the references before.
I simply was bored, from beginning to end. I didn't always agree with all of the statements he made. And while I can tell that he is being critical and presenting his arguements fairly well, it didn't move me in any way.
All in all: meh. I can't really recommend this one to anyone.
I simply was bored, from beginning to end. I didn't always agree with all of the statements he made. And while I can tell that he is being critical and presenting his arguements fairly well, it didn't move me in any way.
All in all: meh. I can't really recommend this one to anyone.
November 5, 2023
Others have tried to build upon what Percy Shelley--with the help of Mary Shelley--said in this incomplete work describing the poetical nature of language. Jorge Borges tried to build upon ideas but only grasped at ideas in his lecture series printed as This Craft of Verse. Laurence Perrine developed a textbook standard in rhetoric and comp classes for at least 10 editions:
Literature: Structure, Sound, & Sense.
But Percy was first. He reached for the literary stars, telling us who they were, striving to descrive what may be their significance.
Having read the detailed worthwhile and mind-expanding Poetics by Aristotle, I am glad to have reread A Defense of Poetry. I do not have too many assignments found here, just enough. I will read and reread somenofnthe poets Shelley groups together: Homer, Dante, Milton. I still feel as though I have completed for my lifetime my study of Homer. Yet Info want to reread and read more of Dante and Milton. . . . Onwards. . . .
Literature: Structure, Sound, & Sense.
But Percy was first. He reached for the literary stars, telling us who they were, striving to descrive what may be their significance.
Having read the detailed worthwhile and mind-expanding Poetics by Aristotle, I am glad to have reread A Defense of Poetry. I do not have too many assignments found here, just enough. I will read and reread somenofnthe poets Shelley groups together: Homer, Dante, Milton. I still feel as though I have completed for my lifetime my study of Homer. Yet Info want to reread and read more of Dante and Milton. . . . Onwards. . . .
February 2, 2019
“La poesia solleva il velo dalla nascosta bellezza del mondo”
In Difesa della Poesia è un elogio alla poesia in ogni sua forma. “Anche una parola sola potrebbe essere una scintilla di pensiero inestinguibile” È un elogio alla bellezza, a quella bellezza che salverà il mondo. È un saggio che ci ricorda che la poesia è utile e lo è soprattutto in epoche in cui il nostro essere è svuotato e inaridito dalla realtà. Questo saggio contiene messaggi validi ancora oggi, soprattutto oggi, quando sembriamo esserci dimenticati quanto sia fondamentale per noi essere umani la poesia e l'immaginazione, quanto faccia bene a noi e agli altri. I discorsi sull'utilità dell'immaginazione per la nostra morale mi hanno ricordato moltissimo “La Repubblica dell'immaginazione” di Azar Nafisi. Sono passati quasi 200 anni, ma il punto rimane sempre quello: non siamo niente senza arte.
“Non c'è periodo migliore per la coltivazione della poesia, di quelli nei quali per un eccesso del principio egoistico e calcolatore, l'accumulazione dei materiali della vita esteriore supera la capacità di assimilarli alle leggi interiori della natura umana. Il corpo è diventato troppo ingombrante per ciò che lo anima.”
In Difesa della Poesia è un elogio alla poesia in ogni sua forma. “Anche una parola sola potrebbe essere una scintilla di pensiero inestinguibile” È un elogio alla bellezza, a quella bellezza che salverà il mondo. È un saggio che ci ricorda che la poesia è utile e lo è soprattutto in epoche in cui il nostro essere è svuotato e inaridito dalla realtà. Questo saggio contiene messaggi validi ancora oggi, soprattutto oggi, quando sembriamo esserci dimenticati quanto sia fondamentale per noi essere umani la poesia e l'immaginazione, quanto faccia bene a noi e agli altri. I discorsi sull'utilità dell'immaginazione per la nostra morale mi hanno ricordato moltissimo “La Repubblica dell'immaginazione” di Azar Nafisi. Sono passati quasi 200 anni, ma il punto rimane sempre quello: non siamo niente senza arte.
“Non c'è periodo migliore per la coltivazione della poesia, di quelli nei quali per un eccesso del principio egoistico e calcolatore, l'accumulazione dei materiali della vita esteriore supera la capacità di assimilarli alle leggi interiori della natura umana. Il corpo è diventato troppo ingombrante per ciò che lo anima.”
October 26, 2010
This is a difficult read, but a good one. I really love that, when Sidney was writing, "arts" and "sciences" acted almost as synonyms, and each could be used to describe "the different branches of knowledge and/or learning." Maybe if we still thought in that way today, humanities departments at universities wouldn't be in danger of eradication.
Also, I love that this was published under two different titles, the second being "an apology for poetry." Way to appeal to two camps by writing one thesis, Sidney.
I wish we had discussed this in class for more than two minutes, but it's definitely something I will want to read again when I have more time to study literary theory.
Also, I love that this was published under two different titles, the second being "an apology for poetry." Way to appeal to two camps by writing one thesis, Sidney.
I wish we had discussed this in class for more than two minutes, but it's definitely something I will want to read again when I have more time to study literary theory.
February 4, 2015
"A poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds; his auditors are as men entranced by the melody of an unseen musician, who feel that they are moved and softened, yet know not whence or why."
"Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted."
"Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted."
August 29, 2016
Read as part of Sidney's 'The Defence of Poesy' and Selected Renaissance Literary Criticism, ed. Gavin Alexander (Penguin 2004)
April 19, 2018
This text goes under 2 different titles, "A Defence of Poetry" and "Apology for Poetry." The author gave the text 2 opposing titles and sent it off to 2 different publishers on the same day. You know, to fire up a debate! It deserves 5 stars just for being so gutsy and clever!
His writing is witty at times with many references to figures from bygone days. He also wrote Astrophil and Stella, a sonnet sequence with semi-autobiographical elements where he tries about 108 different times to woo the same lady and is rejected each time. Until, he finally resorts to song.
I highly recommend the Penguin Edition that contains this Defensive gem of a read. Included with Sidney's Defence are other key players in literary criticism of the time.
Sidney's The Defence of Poesy and Selected Renaissance Literary Criticism
If you enjoy Sidney's wit, Peacock's Peacock's Four Ages of Poetry; Shelley's Defence of Poetry; Browning's Essay on Shelley may leave you on the floor in laughter. (Well, I'm exaggerating a bit.)
His writing is witty at times with many references to figures from bygone days. He also wrote Astrophil and Stella, a sonnet sequence with semi-autobiographical elements where he tries about 108 different times to woo the same lady and is rejected each time. Until, he finally resorts to song.
I highly recommend the Penguin Edition that contains this Defensive gem of a read. Included with Sidney's Defence are other key players in literary criticism of the time.
Sidney's The Defence of Poesy and Selected Renaissance Literary Criticism
If you enjoy Sidney's wit, Peacock's Peacock's Four Ages of Poetry; Shelley's Defence of Poetry; Browning's Essay on Shelley may leave you on the floor in laughter. (Well, I'm exaggerating a bit.)
February 11, 2014
Gosson and the Puritan likes of him charged poetry with depravity and leading people astray etc. Sidney counters that it is not poetry that should be blamed but the amateur poets who don't know how to write good stuff. Poetry is simply a medium. He gives many examples to substantiate his argument and does it very nicely. Also, Sidney suggests that Plato held poetry in great esteem and it was only the 'abuse' of poetry in his time that led him to banish poets from his Republic. Poetry, in itself, is not evil or anything, believes Sidney. It is simply the terrible use of it and for that poets must be blamed, not the divine art of poetry. And if someone still doesn't like it, then Sidney, in the last lines of his apology sends forth a curse to all such dull souls:
"... yet thus much curse I send you in the behalf of all poets: that while you live in love, and never get favour, for lacking skill of a sonnet; and when you die, your memory die from the earth, for want of an epithet."
Haha! Seriously?! After reading Gosson and now Sidney, I'm not sure whether I should take Elizabethan criticism seriously anymore.
"... yet thus much curse I send you in the behalf of all poets: that while you live in love, and never get favour, for lacking skill of a sonnet; and when you die, your memory die from the earth, for want of an epithet."
Haha! Seriously?! After reading Gosson and now Sidney, I'm not sure whether I should take Elizabethan criticism seriously anymore.
January 24, 2021
Reading this essay has made me gain an utterly different perspective of poetry. I have always thought about poetry as something you read for delight, and nothing more. But when reading Shelly’s views and ideas about poetry I could see how poetry is present in every aspect of life. How it’s related to the past the present and the future, how it affects our thinking and perception of the world, and inspires humans in different fields.
“What would have been the moral condition of the world if neither Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Calderon, Lord Bacon, nor Milton had ever existed; if Raphael and Michael Angelo had never been born; if the Hebrew poetry had never been translated... The human mind could never, except by the intervention of these excitements, have been awakened to the invention of the grosser sciences, and the application of the analytical reasoning to the aberrations of society, which it is now attempted to exalt over the direct expression of the inventive and creative faculty itself”
“Non merita nome di creatore, se non Iddio ed il Poeta.”
“What would have been the moral condition of the world if neither Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Calderon, Lord Bacon, nor Milton had ever existed; if Raphael and Michael Angelo had never been born; if the Hebrew poetry had never been translated... The human mind could never, except by the intervention of these excitements, have been awakened to the invention of the grosser sciences, and the application of the analytical reasoning to the aberrations of society, which it is now attempted to exalt over the direct expression of the inventive and creative faculty itself”
“Non merita nome di creatore, se non Iddio ed il Poeta.”
March 5, 2017
Another essay I had to re-read for college, another essay I enjoyed more the second time.
February 13, 2020
Really interesting insight into early literary criticism as well as the influence of classical literature and ideas in the Renaissance.
April 2, 2018
I was pleasantly surprised by how familiar this was - one of those situations where you go, "Oh, this is where that comes from!"
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April 7, 2024mis partes favoritas "I think, and I think I think rightly" y "good is not good because better is better"
June 17, 2025
“Reason is to imagination as the instrument to the agent, as the body to the spirit, as the shadow to the substance.”
May 24, 2020
Let’s fight using books. That is just what Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) did to get back at his acquaintance Stephen Gosson, whose book - The School of Abuse - was dedicated to Sidney (without his consent, hence the jab). What ensued was “the first landmark of literary criticism in English” (Leitch 323).
The Defence of Poesy (or An Apology for Poetry) (1580) was written, well, to defend the importance of poetry in society. Why is poetry necessary for society?
The Defence of Poesy can be roughly divided into three parts. The first part concerns how poetry is better than philosophy, history, and other disciplines. Sidney begins by stating how poets were called “vates” (prophets) in Rome, and poetry was known as “poiein” (to make) in Greece (Leitch 329-330). What distinguishes poetry from philosophy and history is that poetry seeks to “delight and teach,” rather than simply teach and say what is what. Sidney says this is crucial because “for who will be taught if he be not moved with desire to be taught[?]” (Leitch 333, 340).
The second part answers various objections to poetry. These objections are:
1) that there are “other more fruitful knowledges” than poetry.
To which Sidney says, “If . . . no learning is so good as that which teacheth and moveth to virtue, and [if that is] . . . poetry, then . . . [there] cannot be . . . a more profitable [work]” (Leitch 348).
2) poetry is “the mother of lies.”
Sidney argues, “the poet is the least liar . . . he nothing affirms, and therefore never lieth.” But what about discussing false information? Even if he “recount things not true . . . he telleth them not for true,” so he does not lie. (Leitch 348, 349).
3) poetry is “the nurse of abuse” (inspiring us to have sinful desires) (Leitch 348).
To this Sidney claims that it is not “poetry [that] abuseth man’s wit, but that man’s wit [that] abuseth poetry” (Leitch 350). There is no bad poetry, but bad poets who create bad work. Plato, too, did not want to banish poetry, only “the abuse” of it (Leitch 353, and which, on page 354, leads Sidney to believe that Plato highly honors poetry).
The third part looks at English literature and poetry in Sidney’s lifetime. Basically, it is not so good like in other nations. Some say England would not be able to produce such work because the English language at the time was very “mingled,” having a lot of Latin, French, and other sources present in it. To which Sidney says, “Why not so much the better, taking the best of both the other?” (Leitch 360).
My opinions:
I commend Sidney for emphasizing the importance of delight in learning. It seems true that we learn better when we experience pleasure in the learning process. I've learned more Czech when laughing with my mother-in-law than I've ever learned in any textbook.
Is Sidney convincing in his claims about Plato (that banishing the abuse of poetry is honorable)? Well, it is a noble task to try and prevent misinformation from spreading. However, this begs the question that is all the more relevant today: who determines what is misinformation? This enters the dangerous pit of censorship, and who determines what, and why. Everyone, even Plato, even Sidney, has biases. I applaud Sidney for arguing that Plato had good intentions; in fact, many of us have good intentions. However, what I would have liked to hear more from Sidney is about potential consequences of those intentions. Even the best of intentions can breed bad consequences. It seems here that Plato’s good intentions override potential consequences, but I am not fully convinced by this personally.
Recommendation/rating:
Overall, I would recommend this text. The general message on why poetry is important is very useful for anyone who is wanting to learn more about literary criticism and how to think about and wrestle with many ideas and issues raised in any book.
I gave this text 3/5 stars. I liked it because I study literature, and I want to know more about literary criticism and how that has developed throughout time. However, it’s kind of difficult to read (1500s Early Modern English, horribly long paragraphs sometimes, lots of Greek/Roman references, but with footnotes).
Sources I used in this review:
Leitch, Vincent B., editor. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. W. W. Norton & Company, 2001.
The Defence of Poesy (or An Apology for Poetry) (1580) was written, well, to defend the importance of poetry in society. Why is poetry necessary for society?
The Defence of Poesy can be roughly divided into three parts. The first part concerns how poetry is better than philosophy, history, and other disciplines. Sidney begins by stating how poets were called “vates” (prophets) in Rome, and poetry was known as “poiein” (to make) in Greece (Leitch 329-330). What distinguishes poetry from philosophy and history is that poetry seeks to “delight and teach,” rather than simply teach and say what is what. Sidney says this is crucial because “for who will be taught if he be not moved with desire to be taught[?]” (Leitch 333, 340).
The second part answers various objections to poetry. These objections are:
1) that there are “other more fruitful knowledges” than poetry.
To which Sidney says, “If . . . no learning is so good as that which teacheth and moveth to virtue, and [if that is] . . . poetry, then . . . [there] cannot be . . . a more profitable [work]” (Leitch 348).
2) poetry is “the mother of lies.”
Sidney argues, “the poet is the least liar . . . he nothing affirms, and therefore never lieth.” But what about discussing false information? Even if he “recount things not true . . . he telleth them not for true,” so he does not lie. (Leitch 348, 349).
3) poetry is “the nurse of abuse” (inspiring us to have sinful desires) (Leitch 348).
To this Sidney claims that it is not “poetry [that] abuseth man’s wit, but that man’s wit [that] abuseth poetry” (Leitch 350). There is no bad poetry, but bad poets who create bad work. Plato, too, did not want to banish poetry, only “the abuse” of it (Leitch 353, and which, on page 354, leads Sidney to believe that Plato highly honors poetry).
The third part looks at English literature and poetry in Sidney’s lifetime. Basically, it is not so good like in other nations. Some say England would not be able to produce such work because the English language at the time was very “mingled,” having a lot of Latin, French, and other sources present in it. To which Sidney says, “Why not so much the better, taking the best of both the other?” (Leitch 360).
My opinions:
I commend Sidney for emphasizing the importance of delight in learning. It seems true that we learn better when we experience pleasure in the learning process. I've learned more Czech when laughing with my mother-in-law than I've ever learned in any textbook.
Is Sidney convincing in his claims about Plato (that banishing the abuse of poetry is honorable)? Well, it is a noble task to try and prevent misinformation from spreading. However, this begs the question that is all the more relevant today: who determines what is misinformation? This enters the dangerous pit of censorship, and who determines what, and why. Everyone, even Plato, even Sidney, has biases. I applaud Sidney for arguing that Plato had good intentions; in fact, many of us have good intentions. However, what I would have liked to hear more from Sidney is about potential consequences of those intentions. Even the best of intentions can breed bad consequences. It seems here that Plato’s good intentions override potential consequences, but I am not fully convinced by this personally.
Recommendation/rating:
Overall, I would recommend this text. The general message on why poetry is important is very useful for anyone who is wanting to learn more about literary criticism and how to think about and wrestle with many ideas and issues raised in any book.
I gave this text 3/5 stars. I liked it because I study literature, and I want to know more about literary criticism and how that has developed throughout time. However, it’s kind of difficult to read (1500s Early Modern English, horribly long paragraphs sometimes, lots of Greek/Roman references, but with footnotes).
Sources I used in this review:
Leitch, Vincent B., editor. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. W. W. Norton & Company, 2001.
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March 10, 2024helal ağabey çok güzel savunmuşsun şiiri 👏 👏 👏
September 13, 2019
I had to read this book for one of my university courses so I find it surprising that I didn’t hate it.
I’m not a native English speaker and the language in this book at times made me question my reading skills. Also I didn’t get all the references Sidney was making which added to the overall confusion. Sometimes he said contradictory things just to get his point across and that was annoying. The digressions that were supposed to move the reader and make him more engaged usually threw me off track.
But, I have to admit it wasn’t totally bad. I understand where Sidney was coming from and I agree with some of his points. I think the text was smart.
I’m not a native English speaker and the language in this book at times made me question my reading skills. Also I didn’t get all the references Sidney was making which added to the overall confusion. Sometimes he said contradictory things just to get his point across and that was annoying. The digressions that were supposed to move the reader and make him more engaged usually threw me off track.
But, I have to admit it wasn’t totally bad. I understand where Sidney was coming from and I agree with some of his points. I think the text was smart.
February 17, 2012
Possibly my second favorite book next to Paradise Lost. The introduction is brilliant, and the text itself validates my love of the written word. Thank you, Sir Philip Sidney.
February 14, 2013
Just read this in the new R.W. Maslen edition, which I highly recommend for the phenomenal notes and introductory material.
October 11, 2014
Filled with wit and beautifully intelligent observations. Be at ease world, poets are here to rule you all.
May 1, 2015
*Read for College*
The only reason I read this is because I had to read this for college, and to be honest, it didn't move me or or anything.
The only reason I read this is because I had to read this for college, and to be honest, it didn't move me or or anything.
March 11, 2021
solid proof that poets and poetry is the crux of civilisation, just as relevant to a reader in 2021 as in 1840
January 30, 2024
The book "An Apology for Poetry" is written by great literary critic of Elizabethan era ,Sir Philip Sidney,who condemned all those charges that labelled by puritan Stephan Gosson in which he proved poetry as a right form of art in beautiful and convincing manner by giving different and strong references.
According to him poetry is not mother of lies as it's a source of truthfulness further Stephen Gosson accused poetry that it is waistage of time but Sydney considered it best form of learning.Moreover,he gives example from established work to prove his point that Plato's own book published in poetic form instead he was philosopher due to this reference he condemn poetry of being charge that Plato rightly banish poets from his Ideal word.
Although there are some limitations in his work but due to his amazing work he considered as a great literary critic.
According to him poetry is not mother of lies as it's a source of truthfulness further Stephen Gosson accused poetry that it is waistage of time but Sydney considered it best form of learning.Moreover,he gives example from established work to prove his point that Plato's own book published in poetic form instead he was philosopher due to this reference he condemn poetry of being charge that Plato rightly banish poets from his Ideal word.
Although there are some limitations in his work but due to his amazing work he considered as a great literary critic.
November 24, 2025
“…they go very near to ungratefulness, to seek to deface that which, in the noblest nations and languages that are known, has been the first light-giver to ignorance, and first nurse, whose milk by little and little enabled them to feed afterwards of tougher knowledges. And will they now play the hedgehog, that, being received into the den, drove out his host?”
i aspire to yap as much about things i love as this guy has yapped about poetry
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i aspire to yap as much about things i love as this guy has yapped about poetry
x
October 24, 2017
Minor great thoughts hidden within paragraphs of incomprehensible clutter :D
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