 |
| First Edition |
The Defense: Literary Consciousness and Self Consciousness
Dating back to 1579-1580, The Defense of Poesy is a work to be highly considered when looking at literary conciseness/self consciousness (Norton 1044). The Norton refers to this as “the major work of literary criticism produced in the English Renaissance” (Norton 1038). This work is listed under two titles, The Defense of Poesy and An Apology for Poetry, and was written in response to the harsh critique of imaginative poetry by religious persons and authorities like Queen Elizabeth (Norton 1038). Sidney is extremely persuasive in his techniques, using formats like narration of classic rhetoric, giving one the sense that he could be a historian or a professional lawyer (Norton 1046). His writing style, modeled in “classical oration as if he were…Cicero and Quintilian,” is testament enough to his argument that poetry and literature hold some of the most special pieces of culture (Norton 1044). Literary conciseness provides the writer with Aristotle’s means of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. Sidney brings pride back to the art of poetry, highlighting past works and authors and making them shine brighter than before. He uses literary conciseness to give ethos to his arguments by alluding to ancient Rome and Greece, philosophers and other major disciplines, mother nature and greek mythology, and time tested works to show how poetry has been around longer than the people criticizing it.
This analysis covers [THE LESSONS OF HORSEMANSHIP], [POETRY’S HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE], and [POETRY AS PROPHET AND CREATOR] in Sidney’s The Defense of Poesy.
Sidney and Ancient Greece
Sidney spends a vast majority of his argument incorporating Greek mythology. Several aspects of Greece including mythology, culture, and language are littered throughout this analysis. In this, Sidney gives tribute to his years at Oxford and time traveling the continent, talking with philosophers and theologians (Norton 1038). He compares his knowledge of poetry to that of the knowledge Pugliano has about his horses. People respect Pugliano because he has spent so much time tending the horses and studying them. Sidney then calls his audience to wonder why Poets aren’t respected in the same way for understanding their craft. To not accept the deep rooted history and richness of poetry is to wage war against the very essence of poetry’s beginnings, the Muses. The Muses were daughters of Zeus, nine in total, who “inspire all artists, especially poets, philosophers, and musicians” (Lindemans).
Sidney calls upon three major greek poets and writers – Musaeus, Homer, and Hesiod – who were the earliest leaders of Greek imaginative literature (Norton 1046). Here, he not only is giving historical ethos to his argument for the importance of poetry, but is making an assumption that poetry will continue to have this amazing legacy. Since poetry has been able to stand the test of time so far, it will continue to do so with the continuing generations of poets. If imaginative poetry is banned from being composed, the next Homer, Hesiod, and Musaeus will be lost, confined by the close mindedness of critics. Sidney also compares poetry to “Heros, Demigods, Cyclops, Chimeras, Furies,” all greek creatures who are in some aspects human, but contain other worldly features. This mix between natural and unnatural is compared to poetry, giving poetry the power to transcend human constraints.
Sidney and Nature
Mother Earth is a concept formed by Greek mythology. Originally named Gaia by the Greeks, Mother Earth/Nature bore the waters surrounding her land as well the atmosphere above. She was one of the most respected and revered of all gods because she was the “primordial element from which all the gods originated” (“Gaia”). Sidney compares Mother Earth to English through the metaphor “mother tongue” (Norton 1047). He builds up this metaphor by recounting famous writers and historical figures. As he does with calling upon Musaeus, Homer, and Hesiod, the fathers of Greek imaginary literature, he speaks of the Italian forefathers of poetry – Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch – the “three crowns” of the Italian Renaissance (Cornish). These three figures influenced the great English writer, Chaucer, who had a close relationship with Boccaccio while Chaucer was in Italy (Rousch). Sidney highlights this relationship to give validity to the connection between the Italian Renaissance and the Renaissance happening in England. Sidney also mentions Gower as a founder of the English Renaissance with Chaucer, both being 14th century poets (Norton 1047). By establishing how Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Chaucer, and Gower are all famous poets, able to start a literary rebirth in both Italy and England, he is comparing them to Gaia who was able to give birth to all elements that restarted nature from Chaos (“Gaia”).
Sidney brings up nature again later in his work and compares how other disciplines like astronomy, music, geometry, arithmetic, philosophy, and law base the rules of their studies by nature. The astronomer follows the stars and maps out a pattern, the “rhetorician and logician, considering what in nature will soonest prove and persuade,” and the lawyer makes law based on the decrees of what men decide to be right and wrong (Norton 1049). With these subjects relying on the ever changing “artificial rules” of nature, it makes these disciplines subject to change. He is giving validity to poetry, by showing the flaws in other disciplines that aren’t currently being scrutinized. He claims that poetry is the only art that affects nature, where in the other subjects nature affects everything around it (Norton 1050). Poetry is the only thing that can create something out of nature and make it more beautiful than what was there originally (Norton 1050). Poetry is not “enclosed within the narrow warrant of her gifts” (Norton 1050). He alludes to poetry as nature’s Golden Age, a time in Greek Mythology of total peach and prosperity under Rhea’s rule (“Cronus”).
Sidney and the Protestants
Sidney was devout in his religion, enough to die fighting for the Protestants against the Spanish (Norton 1037). He displays his zest for religion by incorporating the Bible into his growing list of ancient sources. An important biblical figure, King David, is revered by scholars for having poems that are known for their “brilliant imagerial contrast, clever employment of both symmetry and asymmetry, shrewd play with lineation, subtle use of ambiguity and polyvalence, and performative closure” (Seow). Sidney introduces David’s poetry in a humorous way, asking his readers rhetorical questions, knowing full well that his audience knows the answers since he is writing towards the religious crowd that criticized poetry in the first place. It’s irrefutable that David was an important poet and a founder of a biblical literature renaissance of sorts. He used forms that were not seen before by “Hebricians” (Norton 1049). Sidney goes on to play with religious text in the next paragraph where he discusses Greek poetry. Greeks call poets “makers” (Norton 1049). Maker is a name attributed to God by David in Psalm 95:6, “let us kneel before the lord our maker” (“Psalm 95”). This play on words is brilliant because it shines a devine quality to poetry. Not only does Sidney make a connection with the name “maker” but it is especially effective because that word was used by David, the father of biblical poetry.
Sidney is a persuasive writer who uses his wit and intelligence to leave his audience speechless, without rebuttal. He leaves little to no gaps in his arguments for critics to expose. He uses Greek mythology and Biblical literature because they are two major subjects that the vast majority of people have some knowledge about. Because many people know about these subjects, it makes it hard for readers to refute his claims, while persuading those who previously wavered in opinion of poetry. The more the reader digs into the references and allusions of Sidney’s works, the more amazing it becomes.
Page by: Bre Ray
References
Cornish, Alison. “Teodolinda Barolini. Dante and the Origins of Italian Literary Culture.” Italica 84.4 (2007): 856+. Academic OneFile. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
First Edition, http://www.calibanbooks.com/shop/caliban/C000015614.html
Lamb, Mary Ellen. “Apologizing for pleasure in Sidney’s ‘Apology for Poetry’: the nurse of abuse meets the Tudor grammar school.” Criticism 36.4 (1994): 499+.Academic OneFile. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.Document URLhttp:go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA15990317&v=2.1&u=udel_main&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=f6d223c33d24208afba6a9279b10ab75
Leadbetter, Ron. “Cronus.”Encyclopedia Mythica. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov 2013. <http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/cronus.html>.
Leadbetter, Ron. “Gaia.” n.pag. Encyclopedia Mythica . Web. 30 Nov 2013. <http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/gaia.html>.
Lindemans, Micha. “Muses.” Encyclopedia Mythica//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov 2013. <http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/muses.html>.
Moore, Roger E. “Sir Philip Sidney’s defense of prophesying.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 50.1 (2010): 35+. Academic OneFile. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.Document URLhttp://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.doid=GALE%7CA222903762&v=2.1&u=udel_main&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=5c0c0ec5468c14482601045cc1863906
“Psalm 95 New International Version.” Bible Gateway . Biblica, Inc., n.d. Web. 30 Nov 2013. <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm95&version=NIV>.
Roush, Sherry. “Chaucer’s Italian Tradition.” Renaissance Quarterly 56.2 (2003): 543+. Academic OneFile. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.
Seow, C.L. “An exquisitely poetic introduction to the Psalter.” Journal of Biblical Literature 132.2 (2013): 275+. Academic OneFile. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.