Philip Sidney.

Sir Philip Sidney (November 30, 1554 – October 17, 1586) became one of the Elizabethan Age's most prominent figures. Famous in his day in England as a poet, courtier and soldier, he remains known as the author of Astrophil and Stella (1581, pub. 1591), The Defence of Poesy (or An Apology for Poetry, 1581, pub. 1595), and The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1580, pub. 1590). This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days remaining. ... Events January 5 - Great fire in Eindhoven, Netherlands. ... October 17 is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1586 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ... Elizabethan redirects here. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... A courtier is a person who attends upon, and thus receives a privileged position from, a powerful person, usually a head of state. ... Modern soldiers. ... The 1591 text of Astrophel and Stella Likely composed in the 1580s by Philip Sidney, Astrophel and Stella is the first of the famous English sonnet sequences, and contains 108 sonnets and 11 songs. ... Events January 16 - English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism April 4 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. July 26 - The Northern Netherlands proclaim their independence from Spain in the Oath of Abjuration. ... Year 1591 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Events January 30 - William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet is performed for the first time. ... Events March 1 - Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. ... Bold text{| align=right cellpadding=3 id=toc style=margin-left: 15px; |- | align=center colspan=2 | Years: 1587 1588 1589 - 1590 - 1591 1592 1593 |-vdsf gno[gldw[pvkijxaiamknn csogfhbvdowkhbfkqhjkhrjkhwgfhbjkpnkfokfgok3pkpk9pjhkt9erktyujkip9kijker9thhrkg9hkitr9gtkih9t0ykltk[u0jo0iey9uhyit90ertyhige9rity9riyh9ujirtyuhjnh-4e9tyigh9thiuy0h8tyh34tu8uy8u8u8u8rtu5y8ru8thu0tru0ut0rhutuh0trhu0hseogtrhr8uyhju8t89er9te9r8fy8shit ass dick bitch fuck | align=center colspan=2 | Decades: 1560s 1570s 1580s - 1590s - 1600s 1610s 1620s |- | align=center | Centuries...

Life and Family

Born at Penshurst, Kent, he was the eldest son of Sir Henry Sidney and Lady Mary Dudley. His mother was the daughter of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, and the sister of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester. His younger sister, Mary Sidney, married Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Mary Sidney was important as a translator and as a patron of poetry; Sidney dedicated his longest work, the Arcadia, to her. Penshurst village is located some five miles south of Sevenoaks in Kent, England. ... This article is about the county in England. ... Sir Henry Sidney (1529 - May 5, 1586), lord deputy of Ireland, was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney, a prominent politician and courtier in the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received extensive grants of land, including the manor of Penshurst in Kent... John Dudley John Dudley (1501 – August 22/23, 1553) was a Tudor nobleman and politician, executed for high treason by Queen Mary I of England. ... Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester painted by Steven van der Meulen. ... Portrait of Mary Herbert, by Nicholas Hilliard, c. ... Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1534-1601) was a statesman of the Elizabethan era. ... The Arcadia, by far Sir Philip Sidneys most ambitious work, was as significant in its own way as his sonnets. ...

Philip was educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford. He was much travelled and highly learned. In 1572, he travelled to France as part of the embassy to negotiate a marriage between Elizabeth I and the Duc D'Alencon. He spent the next several years in Europe, moving through Germany, Italy, Poland, and Austria. On these travels, he met a number of prominent European intellectuals and politicians. This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... College name Christ Church Named after Jesus Christ Established 1546 Sister College Trinity College Dean The Very Revd Christopher Andrew Lewis JCR President William Dorsey Undergraduates 426 MCR or GCR President {{{MCR President}}} Graduates 154 Home page Boat Club Christ Church (Latin: Ædes Christi, the temple or house of Christ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... January 16 - Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. ... Elizabeth I redirects here. ...

Returning to England in 1575, Sidney met Penelope Devereaux, the future Penelope Blount; though much younger, she would inspire his famous sonnet sequence of the 1580s, Astrophil and Stella. Her father, the Earl of Essex, is said to have planned to marry his daughter to Sidney, but he died in 1576. In England, Sidney occupied himself with politics and art. He defended his father's administration of Ireland in a lengthy document. More seriously, he quarrelled with Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, probably because of Sidney's opposition to the French marriage, which de Vere championed. In the aftermath of this episode, Sidney challenged de Vere to a duel, which Elizabeth forbade. He then wrote a lengthy letter to the Queen detailing the foolishness of the French marriage. Characteristically, Elizabeth bristled at his presumption, and Sidney prudently retired from court. Penelope Devereux, Countess of Devon (1562-1607), was the elder daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and his wife Lettice Knollys, daughter of Sir Francis Knollys and Lady Catherine Carey. ... The 1591 text of Astrophel and Stella Likely composed in the 1580s by Philip Sidney, Astrophel and Stella is the first of the famous English sonnet sequences, and contains 108 sonnets and 11 songs. ... Earl of Essex is a title that has been held by several families and individuals, of which the best-known and most closely associated with the title was Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1566 - 1601). ... Events May 5 - Peace of Beaulieu or Peace of Monsieur (after Monsieur, the Duc dAnjou, brother of the King, who negotiated it). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

His artistic contacts were more peaceful and more significant for his lasting fame. During his absence from court, he wrote the Arcadia and, probably, The Defense of Poesy. Somewhat earlier, he had met Edmund Spenser, who dedicated the Shepheardes Calendar to him. Other literary contacts included membership of the (possibly fictitious) 'Areopagus', a humanist endeavour to classicise English verse, and his friendship with his sister who, after his death, completed the verse translation of the Psalms that he had begun. Edmund Spenser Spenser redirects here. ... The Shepheardes Calendar was Edmund Spensers first attempt at poetry. ...

Sidney had returned to court by the middle of 1581. That same year Penelope Devereaux was married, apparently against her will, to Lord Rich. Sidney was knighted in 1583. An early arrangement to marry Anne Cecil, daughter of Sir William Cecil and eventual wife of de Vere, had fallen through in 1571. In 1583, he married Frances, teenage daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham. The next year, he met Giordano Bruno who subsequently dedicated two books to Sidney. Penelope Devereux, Countess of Devon (1562-1607), was the elder daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and his wife Lettice Knollys, daughter of Sir Francis Knollys and Lady Catherine Carey. ... 1583 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 1520 – 4 August 1598), was an English politician, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign (17 November 1558–24 March 1603), and Lord High Treasurer from 1572. ... Francis Walsingham by John de Critz (detail) Sir Francis Walsingham (c. ... Giordano Bruno. ...

Both through his family heritage and his personal experience (he was in Walsingham's house in Paris during the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre), Sidney was a keenly militant Protestant. In the 1570s, he had persuaded John Casimir to consider proposals for a united Protestant effort against the Roman Catholic Church and Spain. In the early 1580s, he argued unsuccessfully for an assault on Spain itself. In 1585, his enthusiasm for the Protestant struggle was given a free rein when he was appointed governor of Flushing in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, he consistently urged boldness on his superior, his uncle the Earl of Leicester. He conducted a successful raid on Spanish forces near Axel in July, 1586. 19th century painting by François Dubois The St. ... Reign From November, 1648 until September 16, 1668 Elected In November 1648 in Wola, today suburb of Warsaw, Poland Coronation On January 19, 1649 in the Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, Poland Royal House Vasa Parents Zygmunt III Waza Constance of Austria Consorts Ludwika Maria Gonzaga Children with Ludwika Maria Maria... The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. ... 1585 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. ... Flushing (Dutch Vlissingen) is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. ... The Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century as a title in the Peerage of England (title now extinct), and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837. ... Axel is a town about 5km southeast of Terneuzen in the municipality of Terneuzen. ... 1586 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ...

Later that year, he joined Sir John Norris in the Battle of Zutphen. During the siege, he was shot in the thigh and died twenty-two days later. According to story, while lying wounded he gave his water-bottle to another wounded soldier, saying, "Thy need is greater than mine". This became possibly the most famous story about Sir Phillip, intended to illustrate his noble character. Sir John Norreys frequently referred to as John Norris (1547?–1597) was a skillful and courageous English soldier of a Berkshire family of court gentry, son of Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys a life-long friend of Queen Elizabeth. ... Combatants Dutch rebels, English soldiers Spain Commanders  ?  ? Strength  ?  ? Casualties  ?  ? The battle of Zutphen was a confrontation of the Eighty Years War on September 22, 1586, in Zutphen, the Netherlands. ...

Sidney's body was returned to London and interred in St. Paul's Cathedral on 16 February 1587. Already during his own lifetime, but even more after his death, he had become for many English people the very epitome of a courtier: learned and politic, but at the same time generous, brave, and impulsive. Never more than a marginal figure in the politics of his time, he was memorialised as the flower of English manhood in Edmund Spenser's Astrophel, one of the greatest English Renaissance elegies. This article is about the cathedral church of the diocese of London. ... 1587 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Edmund Spenser Spenser redirects here. ...

An early biography of Sidney was written by his friend and schoolfellow, Fulke Greville. Sir Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke (October 3, 1554-September 30, 1628) was a minor Elizabethan poet, dramatist, and statesman. ...

The Rye House conspirator, Algernon Sydney, was Sir Philip's great-nephew. The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. ... Algernon Sydney (or Sidney), (January 1623 – December 7, 1683), was an English politician, an opponent of King Charles II of England. ...

Works

• Astrophil and Stella — The first of the famous English sonnet sequences, Astrophil and Stella was probably composed in the early 1580s. The sonnets were well-circulated in manuscript before the first (apparently pirated) edition was printed in 1591; only in 1598 did an authorised edition reach the press. The sequence was a watershed in English Renaissance poetry. In it, Sidney partially nativised the key features of his Italian model, Petrarch: variation of emotion from poem to poem, with the attendant sense of an ongoing, but partly obscure, narrative; the philosophical trappings; the musings on the act of poetic creation itself. His experiments with rhyme scheme were no less notable; they served to free the English sonnet from the strict rhyming requirements of the Italian form.
• The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia — The Arcadia, by far Sidney's most ambitious work, was as significant in its own way as his sonnets. The work is a romance that combines pastoral elements with a mood derived from the Hellenistic model of Heliodorus. In the work, that is, a highly idealized version of the shepherd's life adjoins (not always naturally) with stories of jousts, political treachery, kidnappings, battles, and rapes. As published in the sixteenth century, the narrative follows the Greek model: stories are nested within each other, and different story-lines are intertwined. The work enjoyed great popularity for more than a century after its publication. William Shakespeare borrowed from it for the Gloucester subplot of King Lear; parts of it were also dramatized by John Day and James Shirley. According to a widely-told story, King Charles I quoted lines from the book as he mounted the scaffold to be executed; Samuel Richardson named the heroine of his first novel after Sidney's Pamela. Arcadia exists in two significantly different versions. Sidney wrote an early version during a stay at Mary Herbert's house; this version is narrated in a straightforward, sequential manner. Later, Sidney began to revise the work on a more ambitious plan. He completed most of the first three books, but the project was unfinished at the time of his death. After a publication of the first three books (1590) sparked interest, the extant version was fleshed out with material from the first version (1593).
• The Defence of Poesy (also known as the An Apology for Poetry) — Sidney wrote the Defence before 1583. It is generally believed that he was at least partly motivated by Stephen Gosson, a former playwright who dedicated his attack on the English stage, The School of Abuse, to Sidney in 1579, but Sidney primarily addresses more general objections to poetry, such as those of Plato. In his essay, Sidney integrates a number of classical and Italian precepts on fiction. The essence of his defense is that poetry, by combining the liveliness of history with the ethical focus of philosophy, is more effective than either history or philosophy in rousing its readers to virtue. The work also offers important comments on Edmund Spenser and the Elizabethan stage.

The 1591 text of Astrophel and Stella Likely composed in the 1580s by Philip Sidney, Astrophel and Stella is the first of the famous English sonnet sequences, and contains 108 sonnets and 11 songs. ... Francesco Petrarca, or Petrarch, one of the best-known early Italian sonnet writers. ... Events and Trends The beginnings of the Golden Age of Literature in England Sir Humphrey Gilbert claims Newfoundland as Englands first overseas colony in 1583 Francis Drake had come back from going around the world, bringing back with him many treasures. ... Year 1591 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I. April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... From the c. ... A rhyme scheme is like the pattern of rhyming like lines in a poem or in like lyrics for music. ... The Countess of Pembrokes Arcadia, also known simply as The Arcadia is by far Sir Philip Sidneys most ambitious work. ... As a literary genre, romance or chivalric romance refers to a style of heroic prose and verse narrative current in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. ... Titians The Pastoral Concert Pastoral refers to the lifestyle of shepherds and pastoralists, moving livestock around larger areas of land according to seasons and availability of water and feed. ... The term Hellenistic (derived from HéllÄ“n, the Greeks traditional self-described ethnic name) was established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to refer to the spreading of Greek culture over the non-Greek people that were conquered by Alexander the Great. ... Several persons named Heliodorus are known to us from ancient times, the best known of which is Heliodorus of Emesa, author of the novel Aethiopica. ... This article is about the 1982 arcade game. ... Betrayal, as a form of deception or dismissal of prior presumptions, is the breaking or violation of a presumptive social contract (trust, or confidence) that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. ... Battles is an American instrumental rock band. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Gloucester (pronounced ) is a city and district in the English county of Gloucestershire, close to the Welsh border. ... Title page of the first quarto edition, published in 1608 King Lear is generally regarded as one of William Shakespeares greatest tragedies. ... John Day (1574-1640?) was an English dramatist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. ... James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 - October 29, 1666), was an English dramatist. ... Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. ... Samuel Richardson (August 19, 1689 – July 4, 1761) was a major 18th century writer best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady (1748) and Sir Charles Grandison (1753). ... Mary Herbert can refer to the following people: Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke Mary Alice Herbert ran for Vice President This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 1583 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... Stephen Gosson (April 1554 - February 13, 1624), was an English satirist. ... Events January 6 - The Union of Atrecht united the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma, governor in the name of king Philip II of Spain. ... Fiction (from the Latin fingere, to form, create) is storytelling of imagined events and stands in contrast to non-fiction, which makes factual claims about reality. ... History studies the past in human terms. ... Ethics (from the Ancient Greek Ä“thikos, the adjective of Ä“thos custom, habit), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of values and customs of a person or group and covers the analysis and employment of concepts such as right and wrong, good and evil, and responsibility. ... This article is 58 kilobytes or more in size. ... Edmund Spenser Spenser redirects here. ...

Influence (An Apology for Poetry)

Sir Philip Sidney’s influence can be seen throughout the history of English literary criticism since the publication of the Apology. One of the most important examples is in the work of the poet and critic, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley’s modern argument for poetry is cast in a Romantic strain in his critical work titled A Defence of Poetry. In 1858, William Stigant, a Cambridge-educated translator, poet and essayist, writes in his essay titled "Sir Philip Sidney" in Cambridge Essays that Shelley's "beautifully written Defence of Poetry" is a work which "analyses the very inner essence of poetry and the reason of its existence, - its development from, and operation on, the mind of man" (Garrett 347). Shelley writes in Defence that while "ethical science arranges the elements which poetry has created," and leads to a civil life, poetry acts in a way that "awakens and enlarges the mind itself by rendering it the receptacle of a thousand unapprehended combinations of thought" (Shelley, Norton 517). Percy Bysshe Shelley (August 4, 1792 – July 8, 1822; pronounced ) was one of the major English Romantic poets and is widely considered to be among the finest lyrical poets of the English language. ...

Sidney’s influence on future writers could be analyzed from the standpoint of his handling of the utilitarian viewpoint. The utilitarian view of rhetoric can be traced from Sophists, Scalinger, Ramus and humanists to Sidney (Bear 11). For instance, Sidney, following Aristotle, writes that praxis (human action) is tantamount to gnosis (knowledge). Men drawn to music, astronomy, philosophy and so forth all direct themselves to "the highest end of the mistress knowledge, by the Greeks called architectonike (literarlly, "of or for a master builder")," which stands, according to Sidney, "in the knowledge of a man's self, in the ethic and political consideration, with the end of well doing and not of well knowing only" (Leitch "Sidney" 333). Sidney’s program of literary reform concerns the connection between art and virtue (Mitsi 6). One of the themes of the Apology is the insufficiency of simply presenting virtue as a precept; the poet must move men to virtuous action (Craig 123). Poetry can lead to virtuous action. Action relates to experience. From Sidney, the utilitarian view of rhetoric can be traced to Coleridge's criticism, and for instance, to the reaction to the Enlightenment (Bear 11). Coleridge's brief treatise On Poesy or Art sets forth a theory of imitation which bears a remarkable resemblance to that of Sidney (Mack 131). Sophism was originally a term for the techniques taught by a highly respected group of philosophy and rhetoric teachers in ancient Greece. ... Ramus can refer to: Petrus Ramus A portion of a bone, as in the Ramus mandibulæ This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Aristotle (Greek: AristotélÄ“s) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... As a word, praxis can mean: Praxis is a Latinate English noun, referring to the process of putting theoretical knowledge into practice. ... Action, as a concept in philosophy, is what humans can do. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Personification of virtue (Greek ἀρετή) in Celsus Library in Ephesos, Turkey Virtue (Latin virtus; Greek ) is moral excellence of a person. ... Rhetoric (from Greek , rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of oral language and written language; however, this definition of rhetoric has been contested since rhetoric emerged as a field of study in Universities. ... Samuel Taylor Coleridge(October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834) (pronounced ) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. ... The Age of Enlightenment (French: Siècle des Lumières, German: Aufklärung) refers to the eighteenth century in European and American philosophy, or the longer period including the Age of Reason. ...

The impact of Sidney’s Apology is largely derivative of the humanistic precepts that inform the work, and its linkage of the rhetorical with the civic virtue of prudence. Prudence offers a middle ground between two extremes. Prudence, as a virtue, places a greater value on praxis than gnosis (Harvey 1). Action is thus more important than abstract knowledge. It deals with the question of how to combine stability with innovation (Jasinski 466). Prudence, by Luca Giordano Allegory of Prudence, by Simon Vouet Look up Prudence, prudence in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Secondly, Sidney’s influence on future critics and poets relates to his view of the place of poets in society. Sidney describes poetry as creating a separate reality (Harvey 3). The Romantic notion, as seen in Wordsworth, is that poetry privileges perception, imagination and modes of understanding. Wordsworth seeks to go back to nature for moments recollected in tranquility. Sidney, like Shelley and Wordsworth, sees the poet as being separate from society. To Sidney the poet is not tied to any subjection. He saw art as equivalent to "skill," a profession to be learned or developed, and nature was the objective, empirical world (Kimbrough 44). The poet can invent, and thus in effect grows another nature. Romantic poetry was part of the Romantic movement of European literature during the 18th-19th centuries. ... William Wordsworth (April 7, 1770 – April 23, 1850) was a major English romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their 1798 joint publication, Lyrical Ballads. ... In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. ... Galunggung in 1982, showing a combination of natural events. ...

Sidney writes that there “is no art delivered to mankind that hath not the works of nature for his principal object” (Leitch, Sidney 330). The poet then does not depart from external nature. His works are "imitation" or "fiction," made of the materials of nature, and are shaped by the artist's vision. This vision is one that demands the reader's awareness of the art of imitation created through the "maker," the poet (Kimbrough 45). Sidney's notion of fore-conceit means that a conception of the work must exist in the poet's mind before it is written (Harvey 3). Free from the limitations of nature, and independent from nature, poetry is capable of "making things either better than Nature bringeth forth, or, quite anew, forms such as never were in Nature" (Leitch Sidney 330).

Sidney’s doctrine presents the poet as creator. The poet’s mediating role between two worlds – transcendent forms and historical actuality – corresponds to the Neoplatonic doctrine of emanation. A complement to this doctrine is the concept of return or catharsis, which finds a parallel in Sidney’s contemplation of virtue, based man’s rational desire (Craig 117). Apology contains only elements of Neoplatonism without adhering to the full doctrine. Emanationism is a component in the cosmology of certain religious or philosophical belief systems that claim that the supreme god did not create the physical universe, but instead emanated lower spiritual beings who consequently carried out the actual work. ...

Thirdly, Sidney implies a theory of metaphoric language in his work. A recurring motif in Apology is painting or “portraiture” (Leitch 333). Apology applies language use in a way suggestive of what is known in modern literary theory as semiotics. His central premise is that poetry is an art of imitation, that is a “representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth” not unlike a “speaking picture” (Leitch, Sidney 331). Sidney pays his homage to Aristotle. Yet he develops his own idea of metaphoric language, one that it is based on an analogy through universal correspondences. Sidney’s humanist poetics and his tendency to harmonize disparate extremes – to seek mediation – find expression in poetic works by John Donne (Knauss 1). Semiotics, semiotic studies, or semiology is the study of signs and symbols, both individually and grouped into sign systems. ... Imitation is an advanced animal behaviour whereby an individual observes anothers behaviour and replicates it itself. ... For the Welsh courtier and diplomat, see Sir John Donne. ...

The life and writings of Sir Philip Sidney remain a legacy. In 1819, Thomas Campbell concludes that Sidney's life was "poetry in action," and then in 1858 William Stigant wrote that "Sidney's real poem was his life, and his teaching was his example" (quoted in Garrett, Sidney 55). Sidney, the man, is apparent everywhere in his works: a study of Sidney's works is a study of the man (Kimbrough, "Preface" 1). To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Significance (Apology)

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 5). Sidney responds in Apology to an emerging antipathy to poetry that saw works like Stephen Gosson’s The Schoole of Abuse (1579) come to prominence. Gosson offers what is in essence a puritan attack on imaginative literature (Griffiths 5). 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 657). True poets must teach and delight – a view that dates back to Horace. Events January 6 - The Union of Atrecht united the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma, governor in the name of king Philip II of Spain. ... A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was any person seeking purity of worship and doctrine, especially the parties that rejected the Laudian reform of the Church of England. ... Horace, as imagined by Anton von Werner Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (December 8, 65 BC - November 27, 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus. ...

In an era of an antipathy to poetry, and puritanical belief in the corruption of 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 2). Among Sidney’s gifts to his contemporaries were his respect for tradition and willingness to experiment (Robertson 656). 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 348). Poets never claim to know the truth, nor “make circles around your imagination,” nor rely on authority (Letich 349). 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 35). 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 356). In the field of astrology antipathy is the conflict in the natal horoscopes of two people who feel an aversion to each other. ... Look up genre in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The goal of numerical analysis is to approximate the continuum, so instead of solving a partial differential equation one aims in solve a discrete version of the continuum problem. ... Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Common dictionary definitions of truth mention some form of accord with fact or reality. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... Shortcut: WP:civ Part of Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines Civility is a rule here on Wikipedia. ...

Anti-theatricality was another phenomenon in Sidney's day. This was predominantly an aesthetic and ideological concern that flourished among Sidney’s circle at court (Acheson 11). 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 517). London's theatres at that time grew progressively in popularity, so much so in fact that by 1605, despite the introduction of charges, London commercial theatres could accommodate up to eight thousand men and women (Hale 278). 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 11), but more specifically, his concern is with the "manner" and "matter" a story is conveyed (Leitch Sidney 357). He explains that tragedy is not bound to history or the story but to "laws of poesy," having "liberty, either to feign a quite new matter, or to frame the history to the most most tragical conveniency" (357). Aesthetics (or esthetics) (from the Greek word αισθητική) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ...

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 351). 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 7).

Sidney writes An Apology for Poetry in the form of a judicial oration, 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 2). Sidney employs forensic rhetoric as a tool to make its 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. Orator is a Latin word for speaker (from the Latin verb oro, meaning I speak or I pray). In ancient Rome, the art of speaking in public (Ars Oratoria) was a professional competence especially cultivated by politicians and lawyers. ... Discourse is a term used in semantics as in discourse analysis, but it also refers to a social conception of discourse, often linked with the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) and Jürgen Habermas The Theory of Communicative Action (1985). ... Look up argument in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

On Method (Apology)

Sidney’s approach to censorship in Apology is through his use of rhetorical devices. Censorship is one problem Sidney had to overcome when he wrote Apology. Sidney was also versed in the phenomenon of courtiership. As part of his strategy against the threat of censorship, Sidney uses the structure of classical oration with its conventional divisions such as exordium and peroration. Sidney's use of classical oration stems from his humanist education (Harvey 1). He uses this method to build his argument, by making use of the rhetorical methods in such guides as Thomas Wilson’s Arte of Rhetorique (Harvey 2). Sidney also uses metaphor and allegory, to conceal and reveal his position. For instance, his use of horsemanship as imagery and analogy substantiates his vision of the transformational power of poetry. Sidney, as author, enters his work undetected in that the etymology of his name “Philip” is “horse-lover” (Pask 7). From the opening discourse on horsemanship, Sidney expands on the horse and saddle metaphor throughout his work by the “enlarging of a conceit” (Leitch 333). It is Sidney who then guards against a falling out with the “poet-whippers” (Leitch 346). Sidney also attends to the rhetorical concept of memory. Poetry, apart from its ability to delight, has an affinity with memory (Leitch 347). Censorship is the removal or withholding of information from the public by a controlling group or body. ... Look up metaphor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than (and in addition to) the literal. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Analogy is both the cognitive process of transferring information from a particular subject (the analogue or source) to another particular subject (the target), and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process. ... Not to be confused with Entomology, the study of insects. ... In psychology, memory is an organisms ability to store, retain, and subsequently recall information. ...

Method and style are thus key components of the Apology to overcome the problem of censorship. For this reason, Sidney consciously defends fiction, and he attacks the privilege that is accorded to “fact.” He argues that the poet makes no literal claims of truth, is under no illusions, and thus creates statements that are in a sense “fictional” and as true as any others (Bear 5). What is at stake then is not only the value of poetry in the sense of its utility, but also its place in a world replete with strife, the contingent and the provisional. Fiction (from the Latin fingere, to form, create) is storytelling of imagined events and stands in contrast to non-fiction, which makes factual claims about reality. ...

References

• Acheson, Kathy. "'Outrage your face': Anti-Theatricality and Gender in Early Modern Closet Drama by Women." Early Modern Literary Studies 6.3 (January, 2001): 7.1-16. 21 Oct. 2005.
• Bear, R.S. “Defence of Poesie: Introduction.” In Renascence Editions. 21 Oct. 2005. [1].
• Craig, D.H. "A Hybrid Growth: Sidney's Theory of Poetry in An Apology for Poetry." Essential Articles for the Study of Sir Philip Sidney. Ed. Arthur F. Kinney. Hamden: Archon Books, 1986.
• Davies, Norman. Europe: A History. London: Pimlico, 1997.
• Frye, Northrup. Words With Power: Being a Second Study of the Bible and Literature. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1992.
• Garrett, Martin. Ed. Sidney: the Critical Heritage. London: Routledge, 1996.
• Greville, Fulke .Life of the Renowned Sir Philip Sidney. London, 1652.
• Griffiths, Matthew. "[http:/?petrarch.petersadlon.com/submissions/Griffiths.html English Court Poets and Petrarchism: Wyatt, Sidney and Spenser." 25 Nov. 2005.
• Hale, John. The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance. New York: Atheeum, 1994.
• Harvey, Elizabeth D. “Sidney, Sir Philip.” In The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism. 25 Nov. 2005. [2]
• Jasinski, James. Sourcebook on Rhetoric: Key Concepts in Contemporary Rhetorical Studies. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2001.
• Kimbrough, Robert. Sir Philip Sidney. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1971.
• Knauss, Daniel, Philip. “Love’s Refinement: Metaphysical Expressions of Desire in Philip Sidney and John Donne.” Master's Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the North Carolina State University. 25 Nov. 2005.[3].
• Leitch, Vincent B., Ed. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001.
• Lewis, C. S. English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1954.
• Maley, Willy. "Cultural Materialism and New Historicism." 8 Nov. 2005
• Mitsi, Efterpi. “The “Popular Philosopher”: Plato, Poetry, and Food in Tudor Aesthetics.” In Early Modern Literary Studies. 9 Nov. 2004. [4].
• Pask, Kevin. "The "mannes state" of Philip Sidney: Pre-scripting the Life of the Poet in England." 25 Nov. 2005. [5].
• Robertson, Jean. "Philip Sidney." In The Spenser Encyclopedia. eds. A.C. Hamilton et al. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990.
• Shelley, Percy Bysshe. "A Defence of Poetry." In Shelley’s Poetry and Prose: A Norton Critical Edition. 2nd ed. Eds. Donald H. Reiman and Neil Fraistat. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2002.
• Sidney, Philip. A Defense of Poetry and Poems. London: Cassell and Company, 1891.
• The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. Volume 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910.

External links

Wikisource has original works written by or about:

Philip Sidney

• Works by Sir Philip Sidney at Project Gutenberg
• Sir Philip Sidney's Grave
• "Sir Philip Sidney On Line"