Sunday, January 31, 2010

APOLOGY FOR POETRY-SIR PHILIP SIDNEY

Among the English critics, Philip Sidney holds a very important place. His Apology for Poetry is a spirited defence of poetry against all the charges laid against it since Plato. He considers poetry as the oldest of all branches of learning and establishes its superiority.
Poetry, according to Sidney, 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. Sidney deals with the usefulness of other forms of poetry also. (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, the satire by its pleasant ridicule of folly, the lyric by its sweet praise of all that is praiseworthy, and the epic by its representation of the loftiest truths in the loftiest manner).
Reply to four charges
Stephen Gosson in his School of Abuse, leveled four charges against poetry. They were : (i) A man could employ his time more usefully than in poetry, (ii) It is the ‘mother of lies’, (iii) It is immoral and ‘the nurse of abuse’ and (iv) Plato had rightly banished poets from his ideal commonwealth.
Sidney gallantly defends all these charges in his ‘Apology for Poetry’. Taking the first charge, he argues that poetry alone teaches and moves to virtue and therefore a man cannot better spend his time than in it. Regarding the second charge, he points out that a poet has no concern with the question of veracity or falsehood and therefore a poet can scarcely be a liar. He disposes of the third charge saying that it is a man’s wit that abuses poetry and not vice versa. To the fourth charge, he says that it is without foundation because Plato did not find fault with poetry but only the poets of his time who abused it.
His Classicism
Sidney’s Apology is the first serious attempt to apply the classical rules to English poetry. He admires the great Italian writers of Renaissance (Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarch). All his pronouncements have their basis either on Plato or Aristotle or Horace. In his definition of poetry he follows both Aristotle and Horace : ‘to teach and delight’.
Sidney insists on the observance of the unities of time, place and action in English drama. He has no patience with the newly developed tragi-comedy. (His whole critical outlook in the unities and the tragi-comedy was affected by the absence of really good English plays till his time). He also praises the unrhymed classical metre verse. Poetry according to him, is the art of inventing new things, better than this world has to offer, and even prose that does so is poetry. Though he has admiration for the classical verse he has his native love of rhyme or verse. His love of the classics is ultimately reconciled to his love of the native tradition.
The Value of his Criticism
Though Sidney professes to follow Aristotle, his conception of poetry is different from Aristotle’s. To Aristotle, poetry was an art of imitation. To Sidney, it is an art of imitation for a specific purpose : it imitates ‘to teach and delight’. (Those who practise it are called makers and prophets).
Sidney also unconsciously differs with Aristotle in the meaning he gives to imitation. Poetry is not so much an art of imitation as of invention or creation. (It creates a new world altogether for the edification and delight of the reader). This brings him again close Plato. According to him, the poet imitates not the brazen world of Nature but the golden world of the Idea itself. So, Plato’s chief objection to poetry is here answered in full. Sidney makes poetry what Plato wished it to be – a vision of the idea itself and a force for the perfection of the soul.

34 comments:

  1. Sidney is very efficient in making the defence of poetry.its he who knows poetry well, can defend. he has rightly made poetry superior to any art... even philosophy and science, though modern world wont accept it ...

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  2. i'm a great admirer of poetry and as to Sidney his concept is outstanding of Life and of Poetry...
    -Pearline

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  3. thax a lot sir. your column helpd me a lot in preparing for my third year ba english exam.

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  4. thanks a ton....god bless you kindfull teacher,for providing such a short but comprehensive and simple analysis.

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  5. i have always liked English Litr, but i have somehow missed out this man, Philip Sidney...thanks for sharing...

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  6. i have no words to thank you with it is an almost perfect essay :)

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  7. its help me for praparing for my exam... tnx a lot, sir...

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  8. ur post was very useful for students like us, who likes to preparing in a form like that...

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  9. Hi....................... Sir....................
    It's very nice and useful.................. by your child suganya

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  10. thanks so much. ıt helped so much in gaining an understanding about plato aristotle and sidney...

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  11. It is heartening to note that my blogs have been read by general readers and students as well.Readers may give their suggestions for improvement also.

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    Replies
    1. It was very usefull...Our teachers not give much more meteril about this but you are giving such a wonderful note for us....I believe that it will help for my seminar presentation and exam.........

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  12. It is heartening to note that my blogs have been read by general readers and students as well.Readers may give their suggestions for improvement also.

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  13. You have made it in a nutshell. good work, thank you

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  14. Thanks for giving me the details of your own.

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  15. The length of the article intimidated me but this concise summary has helped me so much sir. Thank you!

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  16. Thank you sir..! Getting much sense now..

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  17. Thank u very much..really useful:)

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  18. thanks a lot.this essay helped me to write my first year English Honours exam

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  19. this is great. Thank you for the amazing work

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  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  21. Hello, do you have this article (or extended version of it) officially published somewhere? I would like to put it in my references in a paper im writing, it was a great help!

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  22. This brilliant piece of work gives an unprecedented analysis : brief in nature having comprehensive effect . thanks for this cooperation

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  23. brewity,the soul of wit ..thank u sir

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  24. The mind blowing concept you have cleared.... Really it was such headache to me a while ago... You cleared like a cup of tea.... Thank_you_so_much

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  25. Thank you so much. This page cleared my doubts and urges me to look more and more about other critics views on literature

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  26. Indeed , he was a great literary figure of the very age , which has been mentioned . Anyhow , many thank you for providing the sources about his criticism based works . LoL ❤️ ...

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  27. Indeed , he was a great literary figure of the very age , which has been mentioned . Anyhow , many thank you for providing the sources about his criticism based works . LoL ❤️ ...

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  28. I think its good if you add Sir Sidney's advocacy of classical metres too in this.That will complete your whole note and it will be useful for us.

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  29. It gives a bird eye's view of the text. However, university questions do not require such view. The questions seek to know specific part in the text. For e.g. what are Sidney's views on the Unities in Drama? What are the four charges levelled against poetry. You have given a summary of the text;, which is easily available on many sites online.

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