Criticism-Sir Philip Sidney

M.
A English Study Material Sidney’s Apology for Poetry
Sir Philip Sidney

Sir Philip Sidney, for three centuries the type of the English gentleman, was the son of
Sir Henry Sidney, lord deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth, and Lady Mary Dudley,
daughter of the Duke of Northumberland. He was born at Penshurst, Kent, November
30, 1554, and was named after his godfather, Philip II of Spain, then consort of Queen
Mary. He was sent to Oxford at fourteen, where he was noted as a good student; and on
leaving the university he obtained the Queen’s leave to travel on the Continent. He went
to Paris in the train of the ambassador to France, saw much of court society there, and
was in the city at the time of the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Proceeding to Germany
he met, at Frankfort, the Protestant scholar Hubert Languet, with whom, though Languet
was thrice his age, he formed an intimate and profitable friendship. He went on to
Vienna, Hungary, Italy, and back by the Low Countries, returning to England at the age
of twenty, an accomplished and courtly gentleman, with some experience of practical
diplomacy, and a first-hand knowledge of the politics of the Continent.
Sidney’s introduction to the court of Elizabeth took place in 1575, and within two years
he was sent back to the Continent on a number of diplomatic commissions, when he
used every opportunity for the furthering of the interests of Protestantism. He seems
everywhere to have made the most favorable impression by both his character and his
abilities. During the years between 1578 and 1585 he was chiefly at court and in
Parliament, and to this period belong most of his writings. In 1585 he left England to
assume the office of Governor of Flushing, and in the next year he was mortally
wounded at the battle of Zutphen, dying on October 17, 1586. All England went into
mourning, and the impression left by his brilliant and fascinating personality has never
passed away.
Sidney’s literary work was all published after his death, some of it against his express
desire. The “Arcadia,” an elaborate pastoral romance written in a highly ornate prose
mingled with verse, was composed for the entertainment of his sister, the Countess of
Pembroke. The collection of sonnets, “Astrophel and Stella,” was called forth by Sidney’s
relation to Penelope Devereux, daughter of the Earl of Essex. While they were both little
more than children, there had been some talk of a marriage between them; but evidence
of any warmth of feeling appears chiefly after Penelope’s unhappy marriage to Lord Rich.
There has been much controversy over the question of the sincerity of these remarkable
poems, and over the precise nature of Sidney’s sentiments toward the lady who inspired
them, some regarding them as undisguised outpourings of a genuine passion, others as
mere conventional literary exercises. The more recent opinion is that they express a
platonic devotion such as was common in the courtly society of the day, and which was
allowed by contemporary opinion to be compatible with the marriage of both parties.
In 1579 Stephen Gosson published a violent attack on the arts, called “The School of
Abuse,” and dedicated it without permission to Sidney. It was in answer to this that
Sidney composed his “Defense of Poesy,” an eloquent apology for imaginative literature,
not unmingled with humor. The esthetic theories it contains are largely borrowed from
Italian sources, but it is thoroughly infused with Sidney’s own personality; and it may be
regarded as the beginning of literary criticism in England.
Sir Philip Sidney’s Apology for Poetry
Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 1

M.A English Study Material Sidney’s Apology for Poetry
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 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.
Charges of Stephen Gossen
(a) Poetry is the waste of time.
(b) Poetry is mother of lies.
(c) It is nurse of abuse.
(d) Plato had rightly banished the poets from his ideal world.
Sidney’s Reply to the Charges
Poetry is the source of knowledge and a civilizing force, for Sidney. Gossoon attacks on
poetry saying that it corrupts the people and it is the waste of time, but Sidney says that
no learning is so good as that which teaches and moves to virtue and that nothing can
both teach and amuse so much as poetry does. In essay societies, poetry was the main
source of education. He remembers ancient Greek society that respected poets. The
poets are always to be looked up. So, poetry is not wasted of time.
To the second charge, Sidney answers that poet does not lie because he never affirms
that his fiction is true and can never lie. The poetic truths are ideal and universal.
Therefore, poetry cannot be a mother of lies.
Sidney rejects that poetry is the source of abuses. To him, it is people who abuses
poetry, not the vice- versa. Abuses are more nursed by philosophy and history than by
poetry, by describing battles, bloodshed, violence etc. On the contrary, poetry helps to
maintain morality and peace by avoiding such violence and bloodsheds. Moreover it
brings light to knowledge.
Sidney views that Plato in his Republic wanted to banish the abuse of poetry not the
poets. He himself was not free from poeticality, which we can find in his dialogues. Plato
never says that all poets should be banished. He called for banishing only those poets
who are inferior and unable to instruct the children.
For Sidney, art is the imitation of nature but it is not slavish imitation as Plato views.
Rather it is creative imitation. Nature is dull, incomplete and ugly. It is artists who turn
dull nature in to golden colour. He employs his creative faculty, imagination and style of
presentation to decorate the raw materials of nature. For Sidney, art is a speaking
picture having spatiotemporal dimension. For Aristotle human action is more important
but for Sidney nature is important.
Artists are to create arts considering the level of readers. The only purpose of art is to
teach and delight like the whole tendency of Renaissance. Sidney favours poetic justice

that is possible in poet's world where good are rewarded and wicked people are
punished.
Plato's philosophy on ' virtue' is worthless at the battlefield but poet teaches men how to
behave under all circumstances. Moral philosophy teaches virtues through abstract
examples and history teaches virtues through concrete examples but both are defective.
Poetry teaches virtue by example as well as by percept (blend of abstract + concrete).
The poet creates his own world where he gives only the inspiring things and thus poetry
holds its superior position to that of philosophy and history.
In the poet's golden world, heroes are ideally presented and evils are corrupt. Didactic
effect of a poem depends up on the poet's power to move. It depends up on the affective
quality of poetry. Among the different forms of poetry like lyric, elegy, satire, comedy
etc. epic is the best form as it portrays heroic deeds and inspires heroic deeds and
inspires people to become courageous and patriotic.
In this way, Sidney defines all the charges against poetry and stands for the sake of
universal and timeless quality of poetry making us know why the poets are universal
genius.
Main Ideas in ‘An Apology for Poetry’ and its Significance
An Apologie for Poetrie may for purposes of convenience be divided into sixteen sections.
1. The Prologue
Before launching a defence of poetry, Sidney justified his stand by referring in a half-
humorous manner to a treatise on horseman-ship by Pietro Pugliano. If the art of
horsemanship can deserve such an eloquent eulogy and vindication, surely poetry has
better claims for eulogy and vindication. There is a just cause to plead a case for poetry
since it has fallen from the highest estimation of learning to be ‘the laughing stock of
children.’
2. Some Special Arguments in Favour of Poetry
Poetry has been held in high esteem since the earliest times. It has been ‘the first light-
giver to ignorance.’ The earlier Greek philosophers and historians were, in fact, poets.
Even among the uncivilized nations, in Turkey, among the American Indians, and m
Wales, poetry enjoys an undiminishing popularity. To attack poetry is, therefore, to cut
at the roots of culture and intelligence.
3. The Prophetic Character of Poetry
The ancient Romans paid high reverence to the poet by calling him Vates, which means
a Diviner, a Prophet, or a Foreseer. The etymological origin of Greek word ‘poet’ is
Poiein, and this means ‘to make’. Hence the Greeks honour the poet as a maker or
creator. This suggests the divine nature of poetry.
4. The Nature and Function of Poetry
Poetry is an art of ‘imitation’ and its chief function is to teach and delight. Imitation does
not mean mere copying or a reproduction of facts. It means a representing or
transmuting of the real and actual, and sometimes creating something entirely new. The

poet, so Sidney declares, “lifted up with the vigour of his own invention, doth
grow in effect another nature, in making things either better than Nature
bringeth forth, or, quite a new, forms such as never were in Nature, as the
Heroes, Demigods, Cyclops, Chimeras, Furies, and such like.”
Commenting on the creative powers of the poet, Sidney further states: “Nature never
set forth the earth in so rich tapestry as divers poets have done, neither with
pleasant rivers, fruitful trees, sweet smelling flowers, nor whatsoever else may
make the too much loved earth more lovely. Her world is brazen, the poets only
deliver a golden.”
5. The Three Kinds of Poetry
The three kinds of poetry, according to Sidney, are : (a) Religious poetry, (b)
Philosophical poetry, and (c) Poetry as an imaginative treatment of life and nature. He
calls special attention to the third class of poets, for ‘these be they that, as the first and
most noble sort may justly be termed vates.’ They ‘most properly do imitate to teach
and delight, and to imitate borrow nothing of what is, has been, or shall be, but range,
only with learned discretion, into the divine consideration of what may be, and should
be.’
6. Various Sub-divisions of the Third Kind of Poetry
Poetry proper may further be divided into various species—the heroic, lyric, tragic,
comic, satiric, iambic, elegiac, pastoral and others. Poets generally make use of verse to
apparel their poetical inventions. But 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.’
7. Superiority of Poetry to Philosophy and History
In the promotion of virtue, both philosophy and history play their parts. Philosophy deals
with its theoretical aspects and teaches virtue by precept. History teaches practical
virtue by drawing concrete examples from life. But poetry gives both precepts and
practical examples. Philosophy, being based on abstractions, is ‘hard of utterance and
mystery to be conceived.’ It cannot be a proper guide for youth. On the other hand, the
historian is tied to empirical facts that his example drags no necessary consequence.
Poetry gives perfect pictures of virtue which are far more effective than the mere
definitions of philosophy. It also gives imaginary examples which are more instructive
than the real examples of history. The reward of virtue and the punishment of vice is
more clearly shown in Poetry than in History. Poetry is superior to Philosophy in the
sense that it has the power to move and to give incentive for virtuous action. It presents
moral lessons in a very attractive form. Things which in themselves are horrible as cruel
battles, unnatural monsters, are made delightful in poetic imitation. Poet is, therefore,
the monarch of all sciences. ‘For he doth not only show the way but giveth so sweet a
prospect into the way, as will entice any man to enter into it.’ The poet does not begin
with obscure definitions which load the memory with doubtfulness, ‘but he cometh to
you with words set in delightful proportion, either accompanied with, or prepared for, the
well enchanting skill of music; and with a tale forsooth he cometh unto you, with a tale
which holdeth children from play, and old men from the chimney corner. And pretending
no more, doth intend the winning of the mind from wickedness to virtue.

8. Various Species of Poetry
The pastoral poetry treats of the beauty of the simple life, and sometimes, of the
miseries of the people under hard Lords. Why should it be disliked? Elegiac poetry deals
with the weakness of mankind and wretchedness of the world. It should evoke pity
rather than blame. Satiric poetry laughs at folly, and iambic poetry tries to unmask
villainy. These also do not deserve to be condemned.
Nobody should blame the right use of comedy. Comedy is an imitation of the common
errors of our life presented in a ridiculous manner. It helps men keeping away from such
errors. Tragedy, which opens the greatest wounds in our hearts, teaches the uncertainty
of this world. Nobody can resist the ‘sweet violence’ of a tragedy.
The lyric which gives moral precepts and soars to the heavens in singing the praises of
the Almighty, cannot be displeasing. Nor can the epic or heroic poetry be disliked
because it inculcates virtue to the highest degree by portraying heroic and moral
goodness in the most effective manner. Sidney asserts that the heroical is ‘not only a
kind, but the best and most accomplished kind of poetry.’
9. Main Objections Brought Against Poetry by its Enemies
A common complaint against poetry is that it is bound up with ‘rhyming and versing’. But
verse is not essential for poetry. ‘One may be a poet without versing, and a versifier
without poetry’ Verse is used for convenience. It produces verbal harmony and lends
itself easily to memorizing. It is the only fit speech for music. It adds to words a
sensuous and emotional quality.
10. Four Chief Objections to Poetry
There are some more serious objections to poetry, namely:
(a) That there being many other more fruitful knowledges, a man might better
spend his time in them than in this;
(b) That it is the mother of lies :
(c) That it is the nurse of abuse, infecting us with many pestilent desires; and,
(d) That Plato had banished poets from his ideal republic.
11. Replies to These Objections
Sidney dismisses the first charge by saying that he has already established that ‘no
learning is so good as that which reacheth and moveth to virtue, and that none can both
teach and move thereto so much as poetry.’
His answer to the second objection that poets are liars is that of all writers under the sun
the poet is the least liar. The Astronomer, the Geometrician, the historian, and others,
all make false statements. But the poet ‘nothing affirms, and therefore never lieth,’ his
aim being ‘to tell not what is or is not, but what should or should not be.’ So what he
presents is not fact but fiction embodying truth of an ideal kind.
The third charge against poetry is that its entire species are infected with love themes
and amorous conceits, which have a demoralising effect on readers. To this charge

Sidney replies that poetry does not abuse man’s wit, it is man’s wit that abuseth poetry.
All arts and sciences misused bad evil effects, but that did not mean that they were less
valuable when rightly employed. Shall the abuse of a thing make the right use odious?
Certainly not.
Sidney is rather perplexed at the last charge, namely Plato’s rejection of poetry. He
wonders why Plato found fault with poetry. In fact, Plato warned men not against poetry
but against its abuse by his contemporary poets who filled the world with wrong opinions
about the gods. So Plato’s objection was directed against the theological concepts. In
Ion, Plato gives high and rightly divine commendation to poetry. His description of the
poet as ‘a light winged and sacred thing’ in that dialogue reveals his attitude to poetry.
In fact by attributing unto poetry a very inspiring of a divine force, Plato was making a
claim for poetry which he for his part could not endorse. Not only Plato but, Sidney tells
us, all great men have honoured poetry.
12. Why is Poetry not honoured in England as it is elsewhere?
Why has England grown so hard a step-mother to Poets? Asks Sidney. He thinks that it
is so because poetry has come to be represented by ‘base men with servile wits’ or to
men who, however studious, are not born poets. He says that ‘a poet no industry can
make, if his own genius be not carried unto it’. Another cause is the want of serious
cultivation of the Poetic Art. Three things necessary for producing good poetry are Art,
Imitation, and Exercise which are lacking in the present generation of poets.
13. A Brief Review of the State of Poetry in England from Chaucer to Sidney’s
own Time
Sidney says that few good poems have been produced in England since Chaucer.
Chaucer did marvellously well in Troilus and Cresseida. The Mirrour of Magistrates also
contains some beautiful passages. Earl of Surrey’s Lyrics also deserve praise. Spenser’s
The Shepherds Calender is worth reading. English lyric poetry is scanty and poor. Love
lyrics and sonnets lack genuine fire and passion. They make use of artificial diction and
swelling phrases.
14. Condition of Drama
The state of drama is also degraded. The only redeeming tragedy is Gorboduc which
itself is a faulty work. A tragedy should be tied to the laws of poetry and not of history. A
dramatist should have liberty to frame the history to his own tragical convenience. Again
many things should be told which cannot be shown on the stage. The dramatists should
know the difference between reporting and representing. They should straightway
plunge into the principal point of action which they want to represent in their play. There
should be no mingling of tragedies and comedies; English comedy is based on a false
hypothesis. It aims at laughter, not delight. The proper aim of comedy is to afford
delightful teaching, not mere coarse amusement. Comedy should not only amuse but
morally instruct.
15. Advantages of the English Language
The English language has some definite advantages. It is appreciable for its adaptability
to ancient and modern systems of versification. It admits both the unrhymed
quantitative system of the ancient poetry and the rhyme peculiar to modern language.

16. Summary
Poetry is full of virtue-breeding delightfulness. It is void of no gift that ought to be in the

noble name of learning. All the charges laid against it are false and baseless. The poets
were the ancient treasurers of the Grecian divinity; they were the first bringers of all
civility. There are many mysteries contained poetry. A poet can immortalize people in his
verses.
Significance of “An Apology for Poetry”
An Apology for Poetry is the most important contribution to Renaissance literary theory.
Sidney advocates a place for poetry within the framework of an aristocratic state, while
showing concern for both literary and national identity (Griffiths). Sidney responds in
Apology to an emerging antipathy to poetry as expressed in Stephen Gosson’s The
Schoole of Abuse (1579). Gosson offers what is in essence a puritan attack on
imaginative literature (Griffiths). What is at stake in Sidney’s argument is a defense of
poetry’s nobility. The significance of the nobility of poetry is its power to move readers to
virtuous action (Robertson). True poets must teach and delight – a view that dates back
to Horace.
In an era of antipathy to poetry and puritanical belief in the corruption engendered by

literature, Sidney’s defense was a significant contribution to the genre of literary
criticism. It was England’s first philosophical defense in which he describes poetry’s
ancient and indispensable place in society, its mimetic nature, and its ethical function
(Harvey). Among Sidney’s gifts to his contemporaries were his respect for tradition and
willingness to experiment (Robertson). An example of the latter is his approach to Plato.
He reconfigures Plato’s argument against poets by saying poets are “the least liar”
(Leitch). Poets never claim to know the truth, nor “make circles around your
imagination,” nor rely on authority (Letich). As an expression of a cultural attitude
descending from Aristotle, Sidney, when stating that the poet "never affirmeth," makes
the claim that all statements in literature are hypothetical or pseudo-statements (Frye).
Sidney, as a traditionalist, however, gives attention to drama in contradistinction to
poetry. Drama, writes Sidney, is “observing neither rules of honest civility nor of skillful
poetry” and thus cannot do justice to this genre (Leitch).
In Sidney's day anti-theatricality, an aesthetic and ideological concern, flourished among

Sidney’s circle at court (Acheson). Theatre became a contentious issue in part because
of the culmination of a growing contempt for the values of the emergent consumer
culture. An expanding money economy encouraged social mobility. Europe, at this time,
had its first encounter with inflation (Davies). London's theatres at that time grew in
popularity so much that by 1605, despite the introduction of charges, London
commercial theatres could accommodate up to eight thousand men and women (Hale).
Sidney had his own views on drama. In Apology, he shows opposition to the current of
his day that pays little attention to unity of place in drama (Bear), but more specifically,
his concern is with the "manner" that the "matter" is conveyed (Leitch Sidney). He
explains that tragedy is not bound to history or the narrative but to "laws of poesy,"
having "liberty, either to feign a quite new matter, or to frame the history to the most
tragical conveniency".
Sidney employs a number of strategies to assert the proper place of poetry. For
instance, he argues against the way in which poetry was misaligned with youth, the

effeminate and the timorous. He does so by introducing the idea that “poetry is the
companion of camps” and by invoking the heroes of ages past (Leitch). Sidney’s
reverence for the poet as soldier is significant because he himself was a soldier at one
time. Poetry, in Apology, becomes an art that requires the noble stirring of courage
(Pask).
Sidney writes An Apology for Poetry in the form of a judicial oration for the defense, and
thus it is like a trial in structure. Crucial to his defense is the descriptive discourse and
the idea that poetry creates a separate reality (Harvey). Sidney employs forensic
rhetoric as a tool to make the argument that poetry not only conveys a separate reality,
but that it has a long and venerable history, and it does not lie. It is defensible in its own
right as a means to move readers to virtuous action.
Sydney’s Definition of Poetry and its superiority over Philosophy &

History
Philip Sidney defends poetry in his essay “Apology for Poetry” from the accusations made
by Stephen Gosson in his “School of Abuse” dedicated to him. There, Gosson makes
some objections against poetry. Sidney replies to the objections made by Gosson very
emphatically, defending poetry in his essay. Sidney does this in a very logical and
scholarly way.
The major objections against poetry are:
(a) “that there being many other more fruitful knowledges, a man might better
spend his time in them then in this”;
(b) that it is the mother of lies;
(c) that it is the nurse of abuse; infecting us with many pestilent desires; and
(d) that Plato had rightly banised poets from his ideal republic.
Sidney’s replies to these objections:
(a) Defending poetry against the first charge, he says that man can’t employ his time
more usefully than in poetry. He says that “no learning is so good as that teacheth and
moveth to virtue, and that none can both teach virtue, and thereto as much as poetry”.
(b) His answer to the second objection that poets are liers is that of all writers under
the sun the poet is the least lier. The poet creates something by emotion or imagination
against which no charge of lying can be brought. The astronomer, the geometrician, the
historian and others, all make false statements. But poet “nothing affirms, and therefore
never lieth”, his end being “to tell not what is or what is not, but what should or should
not be”. The question of truth or falsehood would arise only when a person insists on
telling a fact. The poet does not present fact but fiction embodying truth of an ideal kind.
(c) The third objection against poetry that it is the nurse of abuse, “infecting us with
many pestilent desires or wits” may be partly justified, but for this a particular poet may
be blamed but not poetry. To this charge, Sidney replies that poetry does not abuse
man’s wit but it is man’s wit that abuses poetry. All arts and sciences misused had evil
effects, but that did not mean that they were less valuable when rightly employed.
Abuse of poetry, according to Sidney, is not the problem of poetry but of the poet.

(d) The fourth objection that Plato had rightly banished the poets from his ideal
republic is also not tenable because Plato sought to banish the amoral poets of his time,
and not poetry itself. Plato himself believed that poetry is divinely inspired. In “Ion”,
Plato gives high and rightly divine commendation to poetry. His description of the poet
as “a light-winged and sacred thing” reveals his attitude to poetry. Sidney concludes, “So
as Plato banishing the abuse, not the ‘Thing’, not banishing it, but giving due honour
unto it, shall be our patron and not adversary”.
In this way, Sidney very strongly defends poetry against the accusations made by
Stephen Gosson on poetry.
Superiority of poetry over history and philosophy:
In the promotion of virtue, both philosophy and history play their parts. Philosophy deals
with its theoretical aspects and teaches virtue by precepts. History teaches practical
virtue by drawing concrete examples from life. But poetry gives both practical and
precepts examples. Philosophy, being based on abstractions, is “heard of utterance and
mystery to be conceived.” It cannot be a proper guide for youth. On the other hand, the
historian is tied to empirical facts that his example drags no necessary consequence.
Poetry gives perfect pictures of virtue which are far more effective than the mere
definitions of philosophy. It also gives imaginary examples which are more instructive
than the real examples of history. The reward of virtue and the punishment of vice is
more clearly shown in poetry than in history. Poetry is superior to philosophy in the
sense that it has the power to move and to give incentive for virtuous action. It presents
moral lessons in a very attractive manner. Things which in themselves are horrible as
cruel battles, monsters are made delightful in poetic imitation. Poet is therefore the
monarch of all knowledge. “For he doth(does) not only show the way but giveth(gives)
so sweet a prospect into the way as will entice any man to enter into it.”
The poet does not begin with obscure definitions which load the memory with
doubtfulness, “but he cometh(comes) to you with words set in delightful proportion,
either accompanied with or prepared for the well-enchanting skill of music and with a
tale for suit he cometh unto you, with a tale which holdeth(holds) children from play and
old man from the chimney corner. And pretending no more, doth intend the winning of
the mind from wickedness to virtue.”
An Apology for Poetry : An epitome of Renaissance Criticism
Sidney’s Apologie for Poetrie (1580-81) was intended as a reply to Stephen Gosson’s
School of Abus (1579) Gosson had inducted poetry on four counts: that a man coaid
employ his time more usefully than in poetry that it is the mother of lies, that it is the
nurse of abuseramt that, Plato had rightly banished poets from his ideal state. Sidney in
his Apology replies to each of these charges, drawing copiously, in the absence of critical
authorities in England, on the ancient classics and the Italian writers of the Renaissance:
in particular, on Homer, Plato, Aristotle, and Plutarch, among the Greeks, Virgil, Horace
and Ovid, among the Romans; and Minturno, Scaliger, and Castelvetro, among the
Italians. Yet it is an original document.
Sidney’s Apology is not only a reply to Gosson but much more. It is a spirited defence of
poetry against all the charges that had been laid at its door since Plato. He says that
poetry is the oldest of all branches of learning; it is superior to philosophy by its charm,

to history by its universality, to science by its moral end, to law by its encouragement of
human rather than civic goodness. Among its various species the pastoral pleases by its
helpful comments on contemporary events and life in general, the elegy by its kindly pity
for the weakness of mankind and the wretchedness of the world, the satire by its
pleasant ridicule of folly, the comedy by its ridiculous imitation of the common errors of
life, the tragedy by its moving demonstration of ‘the uncertainty of this world, and upon
how weak foundations guilden roofs are builded,’ the lyric by its sweep praise of all that
is praiseworthy, and the epic by its representation of the loftiest truths in the loftiest
manner. Neither in whole nor in parts, thus, does poetry deserve the abuse hurled on it
by its detractors.
Hence Sidney says that a man might better spend his time in poetry. The poet is not a
liar; the poet uses veracity or falsehood to arrive at a higher truth. It is not poetry that
abuses man’s wit but man’s wit that abuses poetry. Plato found fault not with poetry,
which he considered divinely inspired, but with the poets of his time who abused it to
misrepresent the gods.
Sidney’s Apology is a veritable epitome of the literary criticism of Italian Renaissance;

and so thoroughly it is imbued with this spirit, that no other work, Italian, French, or
English can be said to give so complete and so noble a conception of the temper and the
principles of Renaissance criticism. Sidney is the herald of Neo-classicism in England. He
is essentially a theorist of the exuberant imagination. He fuses the romantic and the
classical tendencies. His Defence of Poetry is the earliest attempt to deal with the poetic
art, practically and not theoretically. His judgements are based on contemporary
literature and show ample good sense and sound scholarship. It is not merely empty,
abstract theorising: apart from the unities, his judgements are not governed to and
great extent by rules and theories. His ultimate test is of a practical kind, i.e., the power
of poetry to move to virtuous action. He has thus contributed to the appreciation of
literature in the concrete.
Sidney’s work is comprehensive enough to incorporate all the existing forms of poetry in
his age. He gives his views on the nature and function of poetry, on the three unities, on
tragedy and comedy, and on diction and metre. It is the pioneer in dramatic criticism. As
a French critic has observed. Sidney‘s Defence of Poetry “gives us an almost complete
theory of neo-classical tragedy, a hundred years before the ‘Art Poetique’ of Boileau.’”
Sidney‘s Apologie for Poetrie has rightly been valued as “one of the outstanding
performances in English criticism and one which inaugurated a new phase in critical
history. ” Outmoded though some of the critical opinions contained in it now are, yet it
provides a singularly lofty and noble introduction to the long line of English treatises on
the art of poetry. Its significance lies in the fact that it comes at a time when most of the
gentlemen shunned the name of being called a ‘poet.’ Sidney‘s vindication of poetry and
his serious treatment of the poetic art enthused a new confidence in them and poetry
came to be looked upon as a noble and worthy pursuit, no more a ‘laughing stock of
children.’ Sidney boldly faced the traditional objections to poetry and he tried to dispel
the mists of prejudice that had gathered around it. His approach was not only negative
but he positively tried to bring out the value of poetry in the social and intellectual life of
society. He presented his arguments in the lost lucid and persuasive manner. He was
treating poetry as a poet with ‘illuminating insight’ and ‘inspiring enthusiasm.’ Professor
Atkins says:

“Nowhere else do we find the same happy mingling of the ideal and the
practical, the same blend of dignity and humour; of sincerity and irony, of
controlled enthusiasm and racy colloquialism; or again, that unstudied
simplicity and grace which everywhere pervade the work. “
What was precisely the influence of this treatise on Sidney’s contemporaries is only a
matter of conjecture. It was circulated in manuscript among his friends and other literary
circles during his life and ‘ was soon quoted in the best critical places—in Puttenham’s
Arte of 1589, in Harington’s Apologie of 1598.’ Its influence on Ben Jonson, Shakespeare
and other dramatists is quite obvious. It gives incentive to creative writing. When this
treatise was written, English literature stood at the lowest ebb. In less than twenty-five
years after its publication, it became one of the glories of the world. Apart from its
influence on the creative writers of the Elizabethan age. Sidney’s treatise showed the
direction of later criticism, the neo-classical as well as the romantic. The neo-classical
critics made a fetish of his views on the observance of the unities, and the romantic
critics like Shelley drew inspiration from its fountain for supporting their theory of
creative imagination Even to the modern readers it continues to charm ‘with its idealism,
its sanity, its humour, and its grace. ‘(Atkins).
The Apologie is a kind of formal beginning of literary theorizing in England, and a brilliant
enough one. The essay reflects and telescopes not only the continental criticism of the
century but a certain amount of classical Greek and Roman as well. Sidney was well-
acquainted with the classical Greek and Roman critics. “But it all matters little. Sidney
wrote, not a pedant’s encyclopaedia, but a gentleman’s essay.
Points to Remember
1. Written in 1680-81 as a reply to Gosson’s School of Abuse, Sidney’s Apology is

an epitome of Renaissance criticism, the foundation on which the castle of the future
criticism of Sidney’s age rests.
2. A spirited defence of poetry on the whole; poetry’s oldest branch of knowledge,

superior to philosophy, history and science.
3. Shows Sidney’s good sense and sound scholarship; a great contribution towards
the appreciation of literature; gives an almost complete theory of neo-classical tragedy.
4. A blend of the ideal and the practical, of dignity and humour; of sincerity and
irony, of controlled enthusiasm and racy colloquialism. (Atkins)
5. Its deep influence and circulation. Influence on Ben Jonson and Shakespeare
and Shelley quite apparent.
6. “The essay reflects and telescopes not only the continental criticism of the
country but a certain amount of classical Greek and Roman as well.”
Sidney Contributions to English Criticism
Sidney's Apology is an important Renaissance document. It is a synthesis of the critical

doctrines of Plato, Aristotle, Horace, Scaliger, Minturno, and a host of other writers and
critics. It brings together romanticism and classicism. It is the first attempt in English to
deal with the poetic art, practically and not theoretically.

On the nature and function of poetry, on the three unities, on tragedy and comedy, and
on diction and metre, Sidney represents contemporary trends. Everywhere his work
reflects the influence of Aristotle and Plato and other classical writers. But his originality
lies in the skill with which he has draws upon, selected, arranged and adapted earlier
ideas and then has put forth his own ideas, independently arrived at. He makes use of 1.
Italian critics, 2. Classical critics, Plato and Aristotle 3. Roman critics, Horace and
Plutarch. 4. He also shows the influence of the medieval concept of tragedy, and 5. His
didactic approach to poetry is typically Renaissance approach. However, his manner of
presentation, his freshness and vigour, and his logical faculty are characteristically his
own. His style has dignity, simplicity, concreteness, and a racy humour and irony. It is
an illuminating piece of literary criticism as well as a fine piece of creative literature.
Sidney approached poetry not as a pedantic critic, but as a responsive reader. While
most of his contemporaries were busy framing rules of rhetoric and prosody, he was
paving the way for creative literature. He was preparing an audience who could 'feel' the
emotional impact of literature and appreciate it. Sidney felt that literature was a great
dynamic force and it had the power 'to move', 'to uplift' and to satisfy emotionally and
aesthetically. J. W.H. Atkins has pointed out that "to him poetry was a natural human
activity enabling men to sing to beauty and truth, and to satisfy their longings for a
world transformed, thus nurturing in them what was good and noble. Moreover, so far
from being merely an instrument of moral teaching, it was a concrete and inspiring
revelation of human deals, and thus, in a sense, a criticism of life. This, then with its
element of permanent truth, was the substance of Sidney's message to an age perplexed
and even hostile."
No doubt Sidney has freely drawn on earlier critics, yet he has tried to arrive at his own
conception of poetry. The basic question he meets is: why is poetry valuable. The second
section of his essay deals with the nature and value of poetry. This is followed by an
examination of the objection to poetry. The fourth section presents a critique of the
contemporary literary poetry and of morality.
His definitions of poetry, two in number, speak of his greatness as a critic. The first
is :"Poesy, therefore, is an art of imitation, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring
forth; to speak metaphorically, a speaking picture, with this end,—to teach and delight."
The second is :"it is not rhyming and versing that maketh a poet. ...but it is that feigning
notable images of virtue or vice, or -what else, with that delightful teaching; which must
be the right describing note to know a poet by. "
His defence of poetry is unique. It logically refutes the contemporary charges of the
puritans against poetry. Poetry is universal; the first light-giver to ignorance and the first
nurse. The earliest recorded or preserved utterance of any nation is a form of poetic
expression alone. The ancients delivered wisdom only through poetry. The first
philosophers and scientists came before the people in the garb of poets. The poet is a
creator, like God. The world created by the poet is a better world than ours. Only in the
poetic world do we come across true lovers, constant friends, valiant men, right princes,
and excellent men. These characters are perfect. The bad men in this world have
unmixed badness, and such villains are not allowed to go unpunished. Poetry is superior
to history and philosophy. The poet has both the general and the particular example. But
the philosopher is only theoretical, for he has examples. The historian has examples, but
no precepts. The historian speaks of what has been, not of what ought to be. The
philosopher is vague and speaks of what should be.

The poet speaks of both what is and what should be of what is universal and what is
particular. Poetry has liveliness and passion which are lacking in history and philosophy.
Sidney's remarks on tragedy, tragi-comedy and comedy speak of his knowledge of the
contemporary trends of literature and his wide readings. In the field of drama his
observations were true not only in his age but are also true and valid even today. His
observations on satire and various forms of poetry are of great significance so are his
views on diction, metre and verse. Surprisingly enough Sidney offers the best defence of
metre. Praising English, he says that only in English can rhyme be observed "very
precisely."
The essay reflects and telescopes not only the continental criticism of the century but a
certain amount pf classical Greek and Roman as well. Further, Dramatic criticism in
England began with Sir Philip Sidney. Sidney was 'the president of chivalry and
nobleness.' He was, as Hakluyt called him the finest flower of the garden of wit and art.
He saw that Poetry in his own days had fallen from high estimation to be the laughing
stock of children. Gosson in his 'School of Abuse' has condemned poetry and had called
it the mother of lies and the nurse of abuse. He had pointed out that there were better
professions and vocations than that of a poet and that the suggestion of Plato should be
followed in turning out the poets from the state. Sidney who was himself a poet could
not relish the idea and sharply and violently reacted against the views of Gosson and the
Puritans. He wrote a pitiful defence of Poetry and based the claims for poetry on its
divine origin, its prophetic nature, its cultural value, its universal appeal, its elevating
power and its alluring methods. He said that poetry was the most ancient and 'full of
virtue breeding delightfulness.' He replied to all the charges made by the critics of his
days and put back poetry to its own pedestal. He made it popular and freed it from the
bondage and slavery of the Puritans. He revitalised it and gave it new life and vigour. It
was to his attempts that Poetry was again read with interest and poets like Shakespeare
and Spenser md others made England 'nest of singing birds.'
Points to Remember
1. Apologie—an important Renaissance document—a synthesis of the critical

doctrines of Plato, Aristotle, Horace, Scaliger, Mintumo and a few other Italian critics—a
union of romanticism and classicism, first important English document in criticism.
2. Sidney represents contemporary trends on the nature and function of poetry, on

the three dramatic unities, on tragedy and comedy.
3. His originality lies in the selection, arrangement and adaptation of earlier ideas.
Also original in his style, presentation, etc.
4. Approached poetry not as a pedantic critic but as a responsive reader. He has his
own conception of poetry. His defence of poetry is sound, logical and convincing. His
view that "it is not riming and versing that maketh a poet" has proved to be a universal
utterance.
5. He has rightly upheld the superiority of poetry over history, philosophy and
science.
6. He regards the poet as God, the creator.

7. Sidney's remarks on tragedy, tragi-comedy and comedy speak of the

contemporary trends of literature and his wide ranging interests.
8. "Dramatic criticism in England began with Sir Philip Sidney." (Spingarn).
9. Sidney, "the president of chivalry and nobleness," "the finest flower of the garden
of wit and art."
10. Sidney revitalised poetry and gave it new life.
Literature and Virtue in Sidney’s “Apology for Poetry”
In "An Apology for Poetry" Sir Philip Sidney attempts to reassert the fundamental
importance of literature to society in general as well as to other creative and intellectual
endeavours. Though Sidney's work does provide a synthesis (and in some cases an
aberration) of much Greek and Roman literary theory, his argument aspires to go
beyond an esoteric academic debate. Literature can "teach and delight" in a manner
which other methods of communication do not possess (138). The moral/ethical impact
any literary text has upon a reader is of paramount importance to Sidney. The argument
Sidney presents and develops is built around the assumption that literature has the
capacity to teach most effectively and to demonstrate virtue. Perhaps in better
understanding how Sidney specifically supports this claim, we can better assess its
strength or validity
Sidney places literature in a hierarchical relationship with all other forms of learning;
literature inhabits the highest and most influential tier. Literature is "the first light-giver
to ignorance", and from it all other sources of knowledge have been nurtured (135). As
the first use of language beyond the completely utilitarian, literature stretches and
expands language to accommodate broader and more conceptual inquiries. Though an
ardent admirer of Platonic philosophy, Sydney, in order to serve his intellectual exercise,
rewrites or rehabilitates Plato's harsh stance on the worthlessness of literature. Unlike
Plato's poet who perpetuates images far removed from the Truth, Sidney's poet can dip
into the world of Forms, the Ideal, and provide us with knowledge of virtue. While the
tangible world of appearances "is brazen, the poets only deliver a golden" (137).
Against the established disciplines of history and philosophy, Sidney also uses a revision
of Aristotle's Poetics to help demonstrate how literature mediates the interests of both
forms of knowledge in order to teach virtue. Where philosophy deals solely with the
universal, history is consumed with the particular. Literature is able to deal with the
same abstract moral/ethical (universal) concepts with which philosophy grapples by
providing examples rooted in concrete, albeit fictionalized, details. History is too
concerned with the accurate recording of facts to make any conjectures on such broad,
less substantiated concepts. Literature exists between and above history and philosophy
because the knowledge it conveys (knowledge of the good) is the best and most useful
knowledge that exists. As Sidney states, "no learning is so good as that which teacheth
and moveth to virtue, and that none can both teach and move thereto so much as
poetry" (149).
Sidney attempts to provide an utterly rational foundation for his claims, however. He
develops a systematic analysis of the mechanisms employed by literature to teach
virtue. He sorts literature according to its works and its parts. The works of a literary
text can be seen in four specific ethical effects which it should seek to elicit in a reader.

Sidney defines these four as: the purifying of wit, enriching of memory, enabling of
judgement, and enlarging of conceit (139).
In order to purify the wit, literature must engage the intellect in new and different ways.
By allowing the reader to view a particular idea, character, or situation from a new or
novel vantage point, literature is able to provide a vicarious, condensed education
available through no other medium. Memories gathered from these fictional experiences
provide a common frame of reference between otherwise disparate individuals. Fictional
examples become touchstones which can be understood and experienced more easily by
others. Literary memories point toward a more universal experience and invite the
reader to find new and possibly profound meaning(s) in personal experiences as well.
Sidney implies that a life without such memories would surely be impoverished. Building
upon the first two works, literature also provides a reader with ample and necessary
practise in making moral/ethical judgments. A literary text provides a safe outlet for
such judgments to be made, discussed, and re-examined. Personal and societal codes of
behaviour are shaped, both strengthened and challenged, by this practise. Literature
engages the reader actively with virtue as a part of this decision making process. To
enlarge the conceit, literature also expands a reader's knowledge and understanding of
language (in terms of style, structure, form) as well. This, in turn, opens new modes of
expression, new metaphors, to a reader. The ability to create new and different texts is
stamped into the very nature of literature. The ability to articulate and teach virtue
effectively is constantly in flux from generation to generation. Literature is constantly in
demand of new metaphors in order to remain resilient and relevant. Each narrative,
housing the potential to fundamentally redefine and re-evaluate itself, represents a
metaphor for the world. Thus it is vital that literature possess this self-perpetuating but
continually evolving quality.
To discuss literature in its various parts, Sidney develops a series of stylistic, structural,
and thematic categories: pastoral, elegiac, iambic, satiric, comic, tragic, lyric, and
heroic. Each category (part) of literature also attempts to elicit a specific ethical
response from the reader. The parts themselves are arranged hierarchically as well, with
the heroic being placed at the top. Though an interesting (if historically outdated)
method of division, Sidney's categories seem to elaborate more than advance his general
argument, however. He places more emphasis on the ethical questions posed by the
works of a literary text, rather than its parts.
Sidney concludes his comprehensive defense of literature by attempting to answer

various challenges to its merit and continued support. The most serious of these
allegations, that literature is "the nurse of abuse, infecting us with pestilent desires",
Sidney is forced to acknowledge as true to a greater or lesser extent. This might seem,
at first glance, to refute or undermine the argument he has laboured so long to create.
Sidney, however, has qualified his praise of literature from the onset. Literature can
contribute to learning virtue but does not ensure virtuous action. Because he is aware of
the fact that literature can and is abused by some, Sidney describes literature as a tool
with the greatest potential for good, but not an inherently virtuous invention in and of
itself. The destructive qualities evoked by literature are products of the fallible fragile
human beings who created it, rather than an indictment of the evil nature of all literature
in general. Do not, as Sidney states, "say that poetry abuseth man's wit, but that man's
wit abuseth poetry" (150).

Sidney's responses have become the mainstay of the supporters of a liberal arts
education. Unfortunately, literature has become sanctified to the extent that knowledge
of literature has become practically synonymous with virtuous action. Such modern
interpretations of Sidney's defense of literature seem to strike against the very heart of
his argument. Sidney seems to understand all too well that human beings house both
virtuous and vicious impulses; it is within our power to infuse our creations with both the
sinister and the sublime. Because this is true of any human invention, Sidney counsels
that the potential of literature for good or ill should not be easily discounted or
dismissed.
Sir Philip Sidney: The Saviour of Poetry
“Who’s your Parent?” asked God. “Poets are my parent” replied Sidney. We cannot
thank Sidney enough for his hard work to save dignity of poetry. Back in Sidney’s time a
lot of people began to question poetry and its value. Puritans were distasteful towards
poetry and Stephen Gosson took the lead and stained fabric of poetry with variety of
accusations. He wrote School of Abuse and aimed at Sir Philip Sidney. In response to the
School of abuse Sidney invoked his muse and wrote An Apology for Poetry. This
document An Apology for poetry is like the flowing river which surfaces poetry’s
Antiquity, Universality, its long journey from the evolution of human learning till date.
Also, poetry’s nature and purpose is highlighted which states its nucleus purpose that is
to “teach and delight”. Penetrating into poetry Sidney has also described its kinds, which
includes religious, philosophical and poetic. However, defense wouldn’t have been a good
defense until the attack is refuted. Stephens’s charges on poetry are taken up one by
one, dismantled and refuted. Charges such as poets, piper and jesters are the caterpillar
of commonwealth, corrupter and plague-spots of society and so he goes on. Throughout
Sidney in his case has been referring to big bang names like Aristotle, David, Homer,
Dante, Shakespeare, Plato and many others. This helps in making his defense not only
strong but much more authentic.
Sidney begins to ennoble poetry by discussing its nature and usefulness. Poetry is the
mother of all learning and the first light giver to ignorance. Prestigious names have been
given to poets in all parts of the world such as, vales – the prophet by Romans, maker
by Greeks. Further Sidney says that all imagination literature comes from the poet and
in saying this he brings Plato into the fold of poets and his dialogues in poetry. Poetry is
not all rhyming and versifying. Poetry from Plato’s divine madness has become divine
gift. Descending from Plato we hear Aristotle saying that poetry is an art of imitation and
its end has to teach and delight. A poet beautifies nature, and poetry adds colours to
life. Great genuine role models are created by poets that of a bravery, heroism and
worthy man. Many characters larger than life characters were created. And to do all this
poets are certainly not dependent on nature. Poets don’t have this limitation to which
rest of the arts are chained. Astronomer, historian and physician have to rely on the
nature for their work and research unlike poets who create their own new or better
world.
Poetry has numerous kinds and Sidney presenting the case on poetry has talked about
its kinds. The three major kinds are religious poetry, philosophical poetry and poetic.
Religious poetry included biblical poets such as David, Solomon, Moses and other. The
Holy Books are written in rhyme and verses. In the Holy Scriptures in which there is no
evil Jesus himself uses poetical language. Hence, we can believe that when these Holy
men were the messengers of God so God gave us His words in poetry. The second kind

is philosophical poetry includes Tyrtaeus, Lucan and others. Philosophy if stands on its
own cannot teach because it is a poor guidance for youth and appeals only to those who
are already learned. And the last but real form of poetry is the imaginative and creative
one. It inspires in men the desire of well-being thus, it is no less than history or
philosophy. This poetic is even superior to science for the reason that it not only show
the right way but makes the entrance attractive enough for the man to enter. Even the
repulsive things of life seems comforting if comes from the mouth of a poet. Irresistible
aesthetic charm lies in the poetic.
The last form is then further divided into variety of poetry type. Pastoral, displays the
beauty of nature and misery of a man. Through pastoral poetry the question of right and
wrong is raised. Elegiac, stimulate our pity on the weaknesses of mankind and
wretchedness of the world. Satiric, ridicules man’s follies and he feels ashamed to laugh
at him. Morality is the key which is through and through achieved with the help of these
various kinds of poetry. The Lyric, out of all the other types majorly lyric is mishandled
and was not being used at Sidney’s time in its true essence. Comic serves as warning
men of their common errors and kind heartedly correcting them without even letting
them know it. Tragedy opens bitter wounds and endow with catharsis. Despite horrifying
audience it teaches the uncertainties of life. Last but not the least, Heroic type has given
us character larger than life. The goodness at its peak both instructs and delights.
Achilles was born of this mother.
Without testing Stephen’s patience, the charges on poetry shall be listed first and later
answered. The charges were, poetry is useless and waste of time. It is the mother of lies
and collection of falsehood. Invoked evil fancies thus having degrading and enfeebling
influence. Importantly Stephen took the liberty of using Plato’s dialogue Republic to say
that Plato who is most looked upon had banished poets from his ideal state. How now
can we allow poets to breath in ours?
Straight-forward defense method is used by Sidney. The first allegation that poetry is
useless is refuted by Sidney in the first portion of his document in which he say, no
learning is a good learning until it teach and delight and no art can do it but poetry. Also,
there cannot be any profitable use of ink and paper, which at the time of Sidney was
quite expensive. The second charge is that poetry is mere a lie and the answer of Sidney
is simple and amusing. Poetry never made an attempt to say that it is the truth rather
other arts like history, physiology and astronomy does claim to be truthful and most of
the times they fell on their face. Poetry is all fiction. And to find truth in fiction is lack of
common sense. Poetry’s job is not to teach or tell what to do or what not to do rather it
tells what should be and what should not be. Poetry arouses evil desires is not wholly
correct. There is kind of poetry which is little contaminated with love. If we see deep
within even the love isn’t so evil and bad it is natural and innate in us. To praise a
beauty and go mad behind it is one form of passion. Stephen seems to have a problem
with love but then he should restrict his charge to only one part of poetry not blames
poetry as a whole. All art are misused and if poetry fell on corrupt hands doesn’t mean
the genre is corrupt. Plato is used by Stephen to prove his stance against poetry. Plato in
Sidney’s opinion is poetic himself. He says his dialogues flow like flowers in a stream.
Plato was only against poets who portray gods in false manner and he asked to banish
the abuse of poetry not poetry wholly. Plato in Sidney’s eyes is a patron of Poetry not an
enemy.

Lastly, if Plato was against poets and all kinds of poetry, does it matter when his
successor Aristotle was in favour of poets and thought of them as an essential part of
society. Plato or no Plato poetry survives even now. Since the evolution of this world the
poetry exists and it continues to move zillions of hearts every second.
Euphemisms in "An Apology for Poetry"
Euphemisms are agreeable terms substituted for offensive ones; a garbage collector
becomes a sanitation engineer. Sir Philip Sidney, in his "An Apology for Poetry," also
known as "A Defense of Poesy," not only had to make his subject matter agreeable to a
skeptical aristocracy, but also had to defend it against a growing Puritan movement that
saw poetry as evil. He uses three euphemisms to do so: horses, Scripture and war.
Poetry as Horsemanship
At the time of the essay's writing, 1579, poetry had fallen into the realm of disrepute
predicted by Shakespeare in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" when king Theseus
compares poets to madmen, their subject matter "airy nothing." Sidney euphemizes
poetry as comparable to the royal sport of horsemanship; he parallels the truth behind
poetic phrases with that of the natural compliments that good horses evoke. A horse
may "have a good seat"; a lady may "be fair of face." Sidney insists that both the
utilitarian horseman's phrase and that of the poet ring true as compliments to beauty,
answering the Puritan charge that poetry is "the mother of lies."
Poetry as Scripture
Sidney moves from the euphemism of poetry as sport to a second euphemism addressed
to the Puritan members of his audience, who regarded poetry as ungodly. In his most
daring passage, Sidney points out that Holy Scripture is poetry by noting that the
"psalms of David are a divine poem . . . fully written in metre"; he ends by labelling the
Psalms a "heavenly poesy." Poetry takes on the name of prophecy itself, as Sidney
brazenly comments that it should not be "scourged out of the church of God." By
destroying poetry, one destroys Scripture, he asserts.
Poetry as Warrior
Having addressed both aristocrats and zealots, he devotes the remainder of the essay to
euphemizing poetry both for the wise and the working man. He aligns poetry with
ancient Greek philosophers and attests that "of all sciences . . . poetry is the Monarch."
He also scorns its sordid reputation as the plaything of theatrical mummers by saying
that "poetry is the companion of the camps." In personifying poetry as a warrior rather
than a mere player, he brings it into the fellowship of English commoners embarked on
wars.
Poetry Defended Thrice
In a masterstroke, Sidney uses personification, metaphor and analogy as defenses to

poetry's critics. He insists that the art "imitate[s] to teach and delight," thus personifying
it as a true actor of good repute; it is "reined with good discretion," metaphorically
comparing a poet to an admirable horseman; it borrows "nothing of what it is, hath been
or ever shall be," a daring rewrite of Ecclesiastes 1:9 that puts poetry squarely back into

the realm of Scripture. Thus he apologizes for, and defends, the poetic muse by cloaking
her in figurative language, poetically rendered euphemisms.
Apology for Poetry : A General Estimate
An “Apology for Poetry” is a compelling essay refuting the attack on poetry by Puritan
and fundamentalist Stephen Gosson. This complex article written by Sir Phillip Sidney
represents the decisive rebuttal defending poetry. His strong emotive passages defend
the uncongenial comments of poetry from Gosson. Although, his justification for the
rebuttal is alluded to Gosson’s durable attacks on poetry; it is known Gosson’s remarks
prompt Sidney’s attitude to defend not only against Gosson but as well as Plato. Stephen
Gosson’s Puritan credentials, disregards him as the primary source for submitting the
essay.
Sidney addresses the poetic contributions and principles demonstrated by Aristotle,

Plato, and other European scholars. Plato’s Republic implements most of the poetic
knowledge Sidney reinforces in his defense. The abundance of sciences portrays
significant purposes in life; Sidney concedes poetry as a superior subject. Sidney
conveys several rational ideologies to sustain the defense of poetic theory. Poetics is
subjected through the emphasis of imitation, generates purposes of learning, objects
history and philosophy, and educates observers on knowledge, virtue and practical
conceptions of poetry.
The influence of Plato and Aristotle on Sir Philip Sidney’s concise essay reinforces a
substantial argument defending poetry. His advocacy on poetry is primarily constituted
on the theories of Aristotle’s poetics, as well as the acceptance on Plato’s poetic
contribution. The function and form of poetry according to the theories of Platonism is
defended and reconciled by Sidney. Further words and sanctions from Aristotle provide
ammunition in support of the defense. Plato’s considerable concern had been with the
education of men achieving moral excellence; however, Socrates un-deniable favor of
poetry banished the poetics from the Republic because of Plato’s questioning moral
effects (Samuel 383). Sidney agrees with Plato’s doctrine that educational instruction is
moral excellence and a capacity of universal knowledge which equips a mature virtuous
man. To further the protection of poetry, he interprets Aristotle’s quote concerning the
form of poetry as, “all virtues, vices and passions so in their own natural state laid out to
the view that we seem not to hear of them but clearly to see through them (An Apology
for Poetry 140). Nature provides its own natural resources for man to achieve universal
knowledge; if man allows the aesthetics of nature to implement his mind, all virtues are
achieved. Sidney acknowledges and makes frequent references of the essence to Plato’s
“the beauty of virtue” (Samuel 387). Throughout the essay, Sidney validates Plato’s
conception, “Like the painter who portrays not Lucretia, whom he never saw, but the
outward beauty of such a virtue, the form of goodness—which seen, they cannot but
love” (Samuel 387). Plato’s profound theory on aesthetics is a significant pathway to
poetry, because poetry is beautiful and man cannot help but to love moral excellence.
Sidney upholds the truth and defense against the Socratic charges opposing poetry,
“the poet, nothing affirmth, he therefore never lieth”. He delivers the expression
that poetry is the truer ideal then other earthly being. “The defense of poetry as a
mimetic art has already been made in the assertion that poetry imitates
universal ideas, and clothes them in human form, yet does not mar their
superhuman beauty”. Plato apprehended high standards for men to attain knowledge

and wit, so they no longer continue foolish thoughts. Sidney gravitates to the Platonism
theory on ones worth, “It is a good reason, that whatsoever, being abused, doth
must harm, being rightly used—and upon the right use each thing receiveth his
title –doth most good”. Sidney recognizes Plato as a poetic writer, “And truly even
Plato whosoever well considereth , shall find that in the body of his work, though the
inside and strength were philosophy, the skin as it were and beauty depended most of
the poetry”. Aesthetics is the primary inspiration for Plato’s poetry; he defines literature
is that which is inspired. Poetic material can only evolve through inspiration, an
inspiration that distinguishes art from gift, and poetry is a gift. Sidney’s constant focal
point within the Defense reflects the Platonism analogy of inspiration. The beauty
proposition Plato theorized is the secret to the poet’s power in elevating men to virtue.
An Apology for Poetry indicates the conception of defense against poetry, and also the
supports Platonism theories. Although it is uncertain of Plato’s true emotive intentions
regarding poetry, Sidney appears to have an understanding of depicting the bases of
Plato’s poetic contraction. The decisive attitude Plato portrays on poetry speaks volumes
from the influence Socrates input about poetry.
In the essay, Sidney administers two dissimilar definitions of poetry. The first most
persistently used definition, “ Poesy therefore is an art of imitation, for so Aristotle
termeth it in his word Mimesis, that is to say, a representing, counterfetting, or figure
forth: to speake metaphorically, a speaking picture: with this end, to teach and delight”
(Dowlin 573). Sidney utilizes this definition as the primary focal point of defending what
he perceives as durable and probable knowledge. This particular statement generates a
broader perception and division of various types of poetry:
Religious, which imitates “the inconceviable [but nonetheless real] excellencies of God”;
philosophical, which deals with moral, natural, astronomical, and historical matter, and
which merely copies rather than invents or feigns; and the work of the “right poets”,
who “to imitate borrow nothing of what is, hath been, or shall be: but range with only
learned discretion, into the divine consideration of what may be, and should be” (Dowlin
574).
The second definition is more complex and definite, “But it [poetry] is that faying notable
images of virtues, vices, or what else, with that delightful teaching, which must be the
right describing note to know a Poet by” (Dowlin 574). Both definitions are of great
importance, but the second defines the ideals of forming images or patterns of
perfection, that reject verse or any other accessory that distinguishes characters of
poetry. All these contributions numerously appear as important techniques constituting
poetry.
Sidney’s second definition provides a considerable association with the Republic’s tenth
book; he sought after certain passages from Plato, transpiring the words into memorable
phrases, discussing images, and explaining the virtues and vices poetry instructs. Even
though Sidney acknowledges Plato within his writings, he opposes several analogies
Plato insists. In Sidney’s Two Definitions of Poetry, the author suggests Sidney purposely
neglects Plato’s “images of virtues and vices” but adds, “or what else”, a probable notion
that Sidney’s phrase “or what else” was replaced by Plato’s “all things divine”. The
expression “or what else”, is perceived as a remark that accepts or opposes divine
inspiration. These minor replacements add a perplexing point of purpose to Sidney’s true
intentions in defending poetry.

The reading of An Apology of Poetry is detailed with Sidney’s anti-historical and anti-
philosophic dispositions. He constitutes an argument defend poetry as the superior
option over history and philosophy. Prior to Sidney’s revelation of poetry, he read and
was instructed on the concepts of history. Sidney is no stranger to history and
philosophy, but his overachieving knowledge of learning, gravitates his thoughts on the
conceptual framework of poetry. According to History in Sidney’s Apology, the author
Elizabeth Donno suggests, “Sidney had a theoretical distrust of any over-insistence on
the value of history”. There is a falsehood of Sidney’s anti-historical or anti-philosophic
dispositions; there was no rejection of the subjects, but he sought after profound ways
to express history and philosophic ideologies by using poetry. “the Historian proper
makes himself a discourser exhibiting the capacity for reflection and reason for profit and
an Orator, yea a Poet sometimes for ornament” (Donne 284). Sidney shows himself as
an orator “making excellent orations”; he considers himself to be a poet, in painting
forth what has already been created, “the effects, the motions, the whisperings of the
people”. The historian often reflects a divine inspirer, or allocation opinions:
“in telling his opinion and reasons in religion, sometimes the lawyer in shrewing the
cases and benefits of laws, sometime a natural philosopher in setting down the cases of
strange thing which the history compels him to speak of, but most commonly a moral
philosopher either in the thick part when he sets forth virtues or vices and the natures of
passion or in the politic (as he often does) with matters of the estate” (Donne 286).
Historians do not profess one specific art, they deal with all arts according to which ever
art instructs their lives.
Sidney acknowledges the pleasure from reading ancient, medieval and modern
historians. In regards to Sidney’s essay, establishes poetry as the chief and most
efficient of several arts. Sidney insists that philosophy, law, history and divinity, are
considered the only devices that deal with a man’s internal manners. Other subjects
such as astronomy, music, mathematics, and supernatural philosophy are only practical
matters dealing with the external self. In Sidney’s view, philosophy and history are
merely rejected as strategic ploy. Historians instruct on facts and not the possible.
Philosophers educate in an abstract manner, delivering vague ideas. He declares history
and philosophy make use of poetry, he names Plato as a sophisticated philosopher, “of
all the philosophers I have ever esteemed most worthy of reverence, and with great
reason: since of all philosophers he is the most poetical” (Donne 288). A successful
philosopher borrows and quotes phrases from Plato. Historians are “bound to tell things
as they were” (Donne 289), and he is consequently engaging when his thoughts pattern
poetry.
Poets are teachers, and their instruction is advocating the virtues and vices that indicate
moral excellence. There is a poetic license that validates the truth, and deliberates a
theory of what is possible and probable. A poet is the least the least liar, but poetry does
not reflect affirmation. Historians and philosophers’ value fiction, opinionate reason, and
often fabricate the truth. The function of poetry is to teach and to delight, but poetry
also delivers knowledge, moving one to act off inspiration and emotions. Entertainment
is circled around the works of poets. The most important subject is centered through the
act of praxis (practice), a subject that is not practiced is considered a durable element.
According to Allusive Coherence in Sidney’s Apology for Poetry by John Hunt, states “the
critical consensus that the Apology is a fundamentally Aristotlelian work has been tested

by recognition of its many Platonic elements and its extensive use of Stoic, Neoplatonic,
and Christian ideas”. An Apology for Poetry, shows how often Sidney alluded to several
concepts from other authors. He maintains the concept to all knowledge is religious: “to
restore the soul as much of its lost perfection as is possible”, a condition of
enlightenment that aspires the soul into a state of felicity. The soul is lifted up from the
boundaries of moral consciousness:
Learning, under what name so ever it come forth, or to what immediate end so ever it
be directed, the final end is to lead and draw us to as high a perfection as our
degenerate souls, made worse by their clay lodgings, can be capable of. For some that
thought this felicity principally to be gotten by knowledge, and no knowledge to be so
high and heavenly as acquaintance with the stars, gave themselves to Astronomy… (An
Apology for Poetry ).
Sidney’s final recommendation to end education is soul searching, finding the inner
happiness that leads to perfection.
Sidney's Dramatic Criticism
(a) Tragedy and Tragi-Comedy
Sidney’s remarks on tragedy and comedy are equally illuminating and interesting. Says
Spingarn in this connection, "Dramatic criticism in England began with Sir Philip Sidney.
Cultural references to the drama can be found in critical writings anterior to the Defence
of Poesy; but to Sidney belongs the credit of having first formulated, in a more or less
systematic manner, the general principles of dramatic art.” These principles, it need
hardly be said, are those which, for half a century or more, had been undergoing
discussion and modification in Italy and France, and of which the ultimate source was the
Poetics of Aristotle. "Dramatic criticism in England was thus, from its very birth, both
Aristotelian and classical, and it remained so for two centuries."
The Senecan drama and the Aristotelian precepts were the sources of Sidney's theory of
tragedy. The oratorical and sententious tragedies of Seneca had influenced dramatic
theory and practice throughout Europe from the very outset of the Renaissance.
Ascham, indeed, preferred Sophocles and Euripides to Seneca; but he is an exception,
and in direct opposition to the usual opinion of contemporary critics. Sidney, in his
account of the English drama, could find but one tragedy modeled, as it should be, on
the Senecan drama. The tragedy of Gorboduc, however, has one defect that provokes
Sidney’s censure,—it does not observe the unities of time and place. In all other
respects, it is an ideal model for English playwrights to imitate. Its stately speeches and
well-sounding phrases, approach almost to the height of Seneca’s style; and in teaching
most delight fully notable morality, it attains the very end of poetry.
The ideal tragedy—and in this Sidney closely follows Aristotle and the Italians—-is an
imitation of a noble action, in the representation of which it stirs, "admiration and
teaches commiseration", and teaches the uncertainty of the world and the weak
foundations upon which golden roofs are built. "It makes kings fear to be tyrant, and
tyrants manifest their tyrannical humours.” Sidney’s censure of the contemporary
tragedy is that it outrages the grave and weighty character of tragedy, its elevated style,
and the dignity of the personages represented, by mingling kings and clowns, and
introducing the most inappropriate buffoonery. Never did the ancients, like the English,

"match hornpipes with funerals". The English dramas are neither true comedies nor true
tragedies and they disregard both the rules of poetry and honest civility. Tragedy is not
tied to the laws of history, and may arrange and modify events as it pleases; but it is
certainly bound by the rules of poetry. It is evident, therefore, that the Defence of
Poesy, as a French writer has observed, "gives us an almost complete theory of neo-
classic tragedy, a hundred years before 'Art Poetique' of Boileau; the severe separation
of poetic forms, the sustained dignity of language, the unities, nothing is lacking."
(b) Comedy
Sidney's theory of comedy is based on the body of rules and observations, which the
Italian critics, aided by a few hints from Aristotle, had deduced from the practice of the
Greek dramatists. Sidney defines comedy, "as an imitation of the common errors of life,
which are represented in the most ridiculous and scornful manner, so that the spectator
is anxious to avoid such errors himself." Comedy, therefore, shows the "filthiness of
evil", but only in, "our private and domestically matters". It should aim at being wholly
delightful, just as tragedy, should be maintained by a well-raised admiration. Delight is
thus the first requirement of comedy; but the English comic writers err in thinking that
delight cannot be obtained without laughter, whereas laughter is neither an essential
effect of delight nor is necessary for it. Sidney thus distinguishes delight from laughter.
The great fault of English comedy is that it stirs laughter concerning things that' are
sinful, i.e. wicked rather than merely ridiculous— forbidden plainly, according to Sidney,
by Aristotle himself—and concerning things that are miserable, rather to be pitied than
scorned. Not only should comedy produce delightful laughter, but also it should mix with
it that delightful teaching which is the end of all poetry. Human follies or errors, rather
than human vice and wickedness, or the poverty of men, are the proper themes of
comedy. Sidney's distinction between delight and laughter is psychological and the most
original part of his treatise. It should also be noted that the aim of comedy is to expose
and ridicule human folly such as affectation, hypocrisy, so that such follies may be
corrected. Thus, he makes comedy a weapon of social reform. Comedy is not merely to
provide delight; it must also correct and improve. As vice cannot be corrected merely by
being laughed at, it is excluded from the domain of comedy. Similarly, a poor man is not
to be laughed at for lie is not at fault for his poverty.
(c) The Unities:
The unities of time and place were first formulated in Italy and France about the middle
of the 15th century. The first mention of the unities in England is to be found, more than
a dozen years later, in this Defence of Poesy, and it cannot be doubted that Sidney
derived them directly from the Italian critic Castelvetro. Sidney in discussing the tragedy
of Gorboduc, finds it, “faulty in time and place, the two necessary companions of all
corporal actions; for where the stage should always represent but one place, and the
uttermost time presupposed in it should be, both by Aristotle’s percept and common
reason, but one day, there (i.e. in Gorboduc) is both many days and many placer,
inartistically imagined." He also objects to the absurdities of the English stage, where on
one side Africa and on the other Asia may be represented, and where in an hour a youth
may grow from boyhood to old age. How absurd this is, commonsense, art, and ancient
examples ought to teach the English playwright; and at this day, says Sidney, even the
ordinary player in Italy will not err in it. If, indeed, it be objected that one or two of the
comedies of Plautus and Terence do not observe the unity of time, let us not follow them

when they err, but when, they are right; it is no excuse for us to do wrong because
Plautus, on one occasion, has done likewise.
The rule of the three unities did not receive such, rigid application in England, as is given
by Sidney, until the introduction of the French influence nearly three quarters of a
century later. Ben Jonson is considerably less stringent in this respect than Sidney.
Philip Sidney: His Ideas on Poetry
Definition of Poetry:
But before proceeding to defend an art so ancient and univer¬sal, it is necessary to

define it; and the definition which Sidney gives agrees substantially with what might be
designated Renaissance Aristotelianism. "Poetry", says Sidney, "is an art of imitation, for
so Aristotle termeth it, that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting or figuring forth; to
speak metaphorically, a speaking picture, with this end,—to teach and delight." Poetry
is, accordingly, an art of imitation and not merely the art of "versifying"; for although
most poets have seen fit to apparel their poetic inventions in verse, verse is but the
raiment and ornament of poetry, and not one of its causes or essentials. Rhyming and
versing do not make one a poet. “One may be a poet without versing”, says Sidney,
“and d versifier without poetry.” Speech and reason are the distinguishing features
between man and brute; and whatever helps to perfect and polish "speech deserves high
commendation. Besides this, verse is the most fitting raiment of poetry, because it is the
most dignified and compact, not colloquial and slipshod. It is also an aid to memory, for
one word in it is fitted with another that by remembering the one you recall the other.
But with all its merits, it is not an essential part of poetry, of which the true test is this –
feigning notable images of vices and virtues, and teaching delightfully.
Function of Poetry:
In regard to the object, or function of poetry, Sidney is at one with Scaliger. The aim of
poetry is accomplished by teaching most delightfully a notable morality; or, in a word, by
delightful instruction. Not instruction alone, or delight alone, as Horace had said, but
instruction made delightful; and it is this dual function which serves not only as the end
but as the very test of poetry. The object of all arts and sciences is to lift human life to
the highest altitudes of perfection; and in this respect they are all servants of the
sovereign or poetry, whose end is well-doing and not well-knowing only. Virtuous action
is, therefore, the end of all learning; and Sidney sets out to prove that the poet, more
than anyone else, fulfils this end.
Then Sidney proceeds to examine the objections that have been brought against poetry,
and refutes them one by one. But, first, he demonstrates the superiority of poetry over
history and philosophy. The ancient controversy—ancient even in Plato’s days—between
poetry and philosophy is once more reopened. The gist of Sidney's argument is that
while the philosopher teaches by precept alone, and the historian by example alone, the
poet conduces most of virtue because he employs both precept and example. The
philosopher teaches virtue by showing what virtue is and what vice is, by setting down,
in abstract argument, and without clarity or beauty of style, the bare principles of
morality. The historian teaches virtue by showing the experience of past ages; but, being
tied down to what actually happened, that is, to the particular truth of things and not to
general possibilities, the example he depicts draws no necessary consequence. The poet

alone accomplishes this dual task. What the philosopher says should be done is, by the
poet, pictured most perfectly in some one by whom it has been done, thus coupling the
general notion with the particular instance. The philosopher, moreover, teaches the
learned only; but the poet teaches all, and so is, in Plutarch's phrase, "the right popular
philosopher". He seems only to promise delight, and moves men to virtue unaware. But
even if the philosopher excels the poet in teaching, he cannot move his readers to
virtuous action as the poet can, and this is of higher importance than teaching, for what
is the use of teaching virtue, if the pupil is not moved to act and accomplish what he is
taught? On the other hand, the historian deals with particular instances, with vices and
virtues so mingled together in the same personage that the reader can find no pattern to
imitate. The poet improves, upon history; he gives perfect examples of vices and virtues
for human imitation; he makes virtue succeed and vice fail, and this history can but
seldom do. Poetry does not imitate nature; it is the reader who imitates the example of
perfection presented to him by the poet. He is thus made virtuous. Poetry, therefore,
conduces to virtue, the end of all learning better than any other art or science, and so
deserves the palm as the highest and the noblest form of human wisdom.
Poetic Imitation: Creative Process
The basis of Sidney’s distinction between the poet and the historian is the famous
passage in which Aristotle explains why poetry is more philosophic and of more serious
value than history. The poet deals, not with the particular, but with the universal — with
what might or should be, not with what is or has been. But Sidney, in the assertion of
this principle, follows Minturno and Scaliger, and goes farther than Aristotle would
probably have gone. All arts have the works of nature as their principal object of
imitation, and follow nature as actors follow the lines of their play. Only the poet is not
tied to such subjects, but creates another nature better than nature herself. For, going
hand in hand with nature, and being enclosed not within her limits, but only by, “the
zodiac of his own imagination”, he creates a golden world in place of nature’s brazen;
and in this sense he may be compared as a creator with God. Where shall you find in
life, asks, Sidney, such a friend as Plyades, such a hero as Orlando, such an excellent
man as ᴁneas?
Puritan Objections to Poetry: Sidney's Defence of it
Sidney then proceeds to answer the various objections that have been made against
poetry. These objections, partly following Gosson and Cornelins Agrippa, and partly his
own inclinations, he reduces to four. In the first place, it is objected that a man might
spend his time more profitably than by reading the figments of poets. Poetry is a mere
waste of time. But since teaching virtue is the real him of all learning, and since poetry
has been shown to accomplish this better than all other arts or sciences, this objection is
easily answered. The study of poetry is most profitably for it imparts delightful
instruction and so moves man to virtuous action. In the second place, poetry has been
called the mother of lies; but Sidney shows that it is less likely to tell a lie than other
sciences, for the poet does not assert the figments of his imagination as facts, and, since
he affirms nothing, he cannot ever be said to lie. The poet never affirms and so he never
lies for to lie is to affirm that to be true which is not true in reality. A poet's truths are
ideal and universal. Thirdly poetry has been called, “the nurse of abuse”, that is to say,
poetry misuses and debases the mind of man by turning it to wantonness and by making
it unmartial and effeminate. But Sidney argues that it is man’s wit that abuses poetry,
and not poetry that abuses man's wit; and as to making men effeminate, this charge

applies to all other sciences more than to poetry, which in its description of battles and
praises of valiant men, stirs courage and enthusiasm. That is why in ancient times great
warriors carried the words of poets with them. Lastly, it is pointed out by the enemies of
poetry that Plate, one of the greatest philosophers, banished poets from his ideal
commonwealth. But Plato's Dialogues are in reality themselves a form of poetry; and it
shows ingratitude in the most poetical of philosophers, that he should defile the fountain
which was his source. "Yet, though Sidney perceives how fundamental are Plato's
objections to poetry, he is inclined to believe that it was rather against the abuse of
poetry by the contemporary Greek poets that Plato was chiefly cavailling; for poets are
praised in the Ion, and the greatest men of every age have been patrons and lovers of
poetry”.— (Spingarn). It should be remembered that in the Ion Plato has called poets
"light and winged things", moved by divine frenzy.

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A English Study Material Sidney’s Apology for Poetry

Sir Philip Sidney

Sir Philip Sidney’s Apology for Poetry

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 1

Charges of Stephen Gossen

(a) Poetry is the waste of time.

(b) Poetry is mother of lies.

(c) It is nurse of abuse.

Sidney’s Reply to the Charges

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 2

Main Ideas in ‘An Apology for Poetry’ and its Significance

2. Some Special Arguments in Favour of Poetry

3. The Prophetic Character of Poetry

4. The Nature and Function of Poetry

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 3

5. The Three Kinds of Poetry

6. Various Sub-divisions of the Third Kind of Poetry

7. Superiority of Poetry to Philosophy and History

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 4

8. Various Species of Poetry

9. Main Objections Brought Against Poetry by its Enemies

10. Four Chief Objections to Poetry

There are some more serious objections to poetry, namely:

(b) That it is the mother of lies :

11. Replies to These Objections

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 5

12. Why is Poetry not honoured in England as it is elsewhere?

14. Condition of Drama

15. Advantages of the English Language

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 6

Poetry is full of virtue-breeding delightfulness. It is void of no gift that ought to be in the

Significance of “An Apology for Poetry”

In an era of antipathy to poetry and puritanical belief in the corruption engendered by

In Sidney's day anti-theatricality, an aesthetic and ideological concern, flourished among

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 7

Sydney’s Definition of Poetry and its superiority over Philosophy &

The major objections against poetry are:

(b) that it is the mother of lies;

Sidney’s replies to these objections:

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 8

Superiority of poetry over history and philosophy:

An Apology for Poetry : An epitome of Renaissance Criticism

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 9

Sidney’s Apology is a veritable epitome of the literary criticism of Italian Renaissance;

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 10

1. Written in 1680-81 as a reply to Gosson’s School of Abuse, Sidney’s Apology is

2. A spirited defence of poetry on the whole; poetry’s oldest branch of knowledge,

Sidney Contributions to English Criticism

Sidney's Apology is an important Renaissance document. It is a synthesis of the critical

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 11

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 12

1. Apologie—an important Renaissance document—a synthesis of the critical

2. Sidney represents contemporary trends on the nature and function of poetry, on

6. He regards the poet as God, the creator.

Prepared by Atta Ur Rahman Jadoon 13

7. Sidney's remarks on tragedy, tragi-comedy and comedy speak of the

8. "Dramatic criticism in England began with Sir Philip Sidney." (Spingarn).

10. Sidney revitalised poetry and gave it new life.