Sidney's defense of poetry

 

Sidney's defense of poetry

Objection and defense of poetry

In "An Apology for Poetry," Philip Sidney responds to the puritan Stephen Gosson's criticisms of poetry.

Poetry is deemed a time waster, which is the first criticism levelled against it. Reading poetry is merely a waste of time when there are many other, more rewarding disciplines of learning available. No form of knowledge, according to Sidney, can both teach virtue and stir the listener's heart as effectively as poetry can. Sidney contends that no knowledge is so good that it can teach virtue by inspiring the listener to adore virtue. Sydney believes that serving science has a significant potential for positive effects, despite the fact that ink and paper cannot be employed for a more profitable reason. Poetry actually complements ratio in Oratio and fosters morality through its wonderful verification.

"No other human skill can match him (poesy)."

Poetry sows virtue even in the deepest recesses of our souls.

It honed and sharpened their wild, untamed intellect and drew them to an admiration of knowledge. It is such a divine thought that it always makes predictions about what might and ought to happen.

Sidney goes on to discuss the Greek term "architektonike," which translates to "knowledge of one's self" and always places an emphasis on "doing well" rather than "knowing well."

Without a doubt, poetry was the first to expose ignorance and the first nurse to provide men with the softer knowledge they need to grow. The so-called and foolish backbiters of poetry think that this useful information is unnecessary or generic and goes beyond the facts of life. By explaining this occurrence, Sidney argues in favour of it: "all government of action is to be gotten by knowledge and knowledge best by gathering many knowledges, which is reading." It motivates humans in this scene and becomes a camp companion. Alexander, who was profoundly influenced by Homer, is best illustrated by Sidney.

Poetry is "the mother of lies," according to the second criticism of it. Sidney responds that "the poet is the least liar." According to Sidney, an astronomer could be lying when he records his measurements of the star heights since they could be off. If a geometrician's hypothesis turns out to be false, he or she may lie. If a patient dies after taking a medication, the doctor may have lied. But because he makes no affirmations, the poet never tells a falsehood.

Nobody can claim that Aesop made up his tales about monsters and animals. Never did Aesop assert that his tales were literally true. Allegorical meaning should be applied to his stories.

Despite the fact that when we study history, we only reveal the truth, history is revealed to include numerous lies. When we read poetry, we only expect fiction—the creatively crafted storyline of a tale that provides a wealth of insightful information. The poet's fictional characters cannot be accused of committing lies, even if he gives them names. They assign names to their characters, just like chess pieces like the bishop, king, and queen have names.

If the poet gives a character a name like Cyrus or Aeneas, his main intention is to illustrate what a man of renown and money might do during his life.

Poetry is criticised for "misusing the man's wit, leading it to wanton wickedness and lusty love," according to the third objection. Comedy weakens readers' minds because of how many romantic conceits it contains. The intensity of love is a theme in lyric poetry. This makes it also accountable. Even elegiac poetry bemoans a mistress's mistreatment.

In response to this criticism, Sidney argues that if poetry portrays carnal love, it is not the fault of poetry itself but rather of specific poets who have produced that particular type of poetry.

"It is not to say that poetry abuses man's wit, but that man's wit abuses poetry."

When defending poetry, Sidney points out a very accurate fact: it is the "misuse of art" that should be despised. Poems can raise the brains of men just as much as paintings can elevate the minds of people by presenting inferior objects. Paintings portraying a prophet sacrificing his son, Judith killing Holofernes, or David slaying Goliath will please viewers. A painter would offend the viewers if he portrayed an ugly or immoral scenario. But just because something is used inappropriately doesn't make it bad art. The artist who mistreats his craft is hated.

There is also the argument that poetry undermines men's will to fight and effeminizes them. This accusation is the result of complete ignorance. The people who make this accusation are just as foolish as the Goths who sought to destroy the libraries of the civilized country they had captured. Poetry is the oldest genre of writing. It sparked man's innate desire to wage battle. Military camps have always been accompanied with poetry. Through the use of tales about "King Arthur," "Orlando," and "the knight of his round table," Sidney demonstrates how poetry has influenced man.

Sidnet believes the fourth criticism of poetry is the most serious because it is credited to Plato, a legendary philosopher and natural poet. Furthermore, there are objections to that.

"It is the product of an interior part of the soul."

The idea that Plato was a poet's natural opponent is completely erroneous. Sydney claims that Plato was incorrect to accuse poetry of immorality because his own Republic was so wicked as to condone promiscuous sexual relationships.

Poetry bothered Ploto because it depicted the gods as lusty and vindictive beings who were also susceptible to other voices. Because they have just depicted the gods in accordance with the prevalent beliefs of the time, the poets themselves are not at fault in this case.

"The poet did not induce such an opinion, but rather imitated the options that had already been induced."

According to Sydney, Plato did not remove poetry from his Republic; rather, he forbade the misuse or abuse of poetry. Sydney claims that poetry is not a form of deceit but is frequently responsible for true doctrine, that it does not encourage effeminacy but rather inspires courage, that it does not weaken a person's wit but rather sharpens it, that neither was condemned by Plato but rather honoured by him, and that we should bestow more laurels on the heads of poets than we have done so far.