Subject: Literary Criticism

Topic: Four Objections to Poetry and their

defense by Sidney
Submitted to: Miss Noreen Saba
Submitted by: Qamar Aftab
Class: BS English 4th Semester
Roll No: F18-005-9996

Riphah International University

Faisalabad Campus
Literary Criticism

Outline:
Introduction
Puritan Attacks on Poetry
Key Points discuss in “An Apology for Poetry”
Sidney’s Defense of Poetry
Significance and Permanent Value
Conclusion
Literary Criticism

Introduction:
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’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).
Four serious charges against poetry:
Stephen Gosson denounced poetry on the following counts;
1. A man can better spend his time in acquiring more fruitful knowledge’s
than in the reading of poetry.
2. Poetry is the mother of lies.
3. poetry is the nurse of abuse, that it infects the readers with many vicious
desires and that, poetry lures the mind of the reader to sinful fancies.
Poetry, and especially comedy, weakens the minds of the readers, people
are lulled asleep by the entertainment provided by poetry.
4. Plato had banished poets from his ideal commonwealth.

Key Points discuss in “An Apology for Poetry”:

Sidney’s Apology for poetry falls easily into five main divisions.
1. Conventional reason why poetry should be highly valued, the antiquity
and universality of poetry.
2. Argument of a more convincing kind, based on an exposition of the
nature and usefulness of poetry its-self, the kinds of poetry and their
usefulness.
3. Discussion of the current objection against poetry, and Sidney’s reply to
the critics of poetry.
4. Remarks on the state of contemporary English poetry and drama.
5. Remarks on style, diction and versification.

Sidney’s Defense of Poetry:

In connection with the first charge against poetry, Sidney says that poetry is the
noblest kind of learning because it teaches us virtue and it moves our minds to
pursue virtuous action. There is no other branch of learning which can perform
these two functions more effectively than poetry. Sidney asserts that there is no
other knowledge more fruitful in this world than poetry. Poetry is supreme in
Literary Criticism

this respect; and there is no other form of learning or study which can excel it
from this point of view.
As for the second charge, Sidney vehemently denies that poetry is the mother of
lies. Of all the writers in this world, says Sidney, the poet is the least liar. He
says, an astronomer may tell a lie when he records his measurements of the
height of the stars, because his measurements may prove to be wrong. A
geometrician may lie if his propositions prove to be false. But the poet never
tells lies because he affirms nothing. A poet never affirms anything.
For Example:
Nobody can say that Aesop lied in writing his stories about animals and beasts.
Aesop never claimed that his stories were literally true. His stories are to be
interpreted in an allegorical sense. When we read history, we expose nothing
but the truth; and yet history is found to contain many falsehoods. When we
read poetry, we expect only fictions; imaginative plot of a story which yields
much useful instruction.
Sidney then turns to the third charge against poetry. Poetry is accused of
abusing men's wit. It is accused of corrupting people and leading them towards
lustful love and sinful actions. Comedy weakens the minds of the reader
because of the abundance of amorous conceits, which it contains. Even elegiac
poetry, laments the absence of a mistress. To this charge, Sidney replies by
asserting that, even if love of beauty is regarded as a sin and even if the passion
of love is regarded as wicked, poetry in itself is not the cause of any moral
corruption. If, at all, poetry depicts lustful love, it is not the fault of poetry but
the fault of certain poets who have written that kind of poetry. Sidney'
concludes that it is not poetry, which corrupts men's minds but it is the minds of
some particular men which corrupt poetry.
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 honor unto it, shall be our patron and
not adversary”.
Significance and Permanent Value:
It has been said that attacks on poetry, such as that of Gosson, are now things of
the past, and so defense of poetry are no longer needed. But this is far from the
truth. Sidney has not only ably defended poetry from Puritan attacks but he has
also thrown valuable light on the nature and function of poetry.
Literary Criticism

Conclusion:
Sidney’s defense was a significant contribution to the genre of literary criticism.
Sidney replies to the objections made by Gosson very emphatically, defending
poetry in his essay.
Sidney regards poetry as the most fruitful form of knowledge and therefore as
the monarch of all branches of learning. In this way Sidney glorifies poetry and
ranks it not only above philosophy and history but also above the sciences like
astronomy and geometry. He goes to the extreme when he says:
"I still and utterly deny that there is, sprung out of earth a more fruitful
knowledge (than poetry).
In the Defense, the limitless scope of poetry has been defined more clearly than
had ever been done by any Englishman before. He has brilliantly summarized
Elizabethan literary milieu. Sidney’s treatise is, therefore, a landmark in English
literary history and a key to the understanding of Elizabethan literary theories.

References:
An Apology for Poetry (Philip Sidney)
Publishers: Kitab Mahal (KM)
Signature Edition with Images
https://www.scribd.com/document/12689154/wasim3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Apology_for_Poetry
https://www.coursehero.com/file/35578359/Charges-against-Poetry-Answers-
by-Sidneydocx/