Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)
Author of A Defence of Poetry
About the Author
Image credit: from Wikipedia
Works by Sir Philip Sidney
The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia : The Old Arcadia (Oxford World's Classics) (1985) 260 copies, 2 reviews
Selected Writings: Astrophil and Stella, the Defense of Poesy and Miscellanious Poems (Fyfield Books) (1987) 28 copies
Delphi Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney (Illustrated) (Delphi Poets Series Book 35) (2013) 10 copies
The prose works of Sir Philip Sidney, Volume III: The Defence of Poesie; Political Discourses; Correspondence; Translation (1923) — Author — 4 copies, 1 review
The Prose Works of Sir Philip Sidney, Volume II: The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1593 conclusion); The Lady of May 4 copies, 1 review
Sir Philip Sydney's Defence of poetry. : And, observations on poetry and eloquence, from the discoveries of Ben Jonson (2010) 3 copies
Certaine sonets 2 copies
Sonnet 74 1 copy
Sonnet 89 1 copy
A concordance to the sonnet sequence of Daniel, Drayton, Shakespeare, Sidney, and Spenser (1969) — Contributor — 1 copy
The defence of poesie, 1595 1 copy
Sir Philip Sidney - The Psalms of David: “...the poet, he nothing affirmeth, and therefore never lieth” (2019) 1 copy
Ye Goatherd Gods {poem} 1 copy
Philip Sidney 1 copy
Associated Works
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,468 copies, 9 reviews
The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer Through Robert Frost (2004) — Contributor — 1,249 copies, 3 reviews
English Renaissance Poetry: A Collection of Shorter Poems from Skelton to Jonson (1963) — Contributor — 184 copies
Sidney's 'The Defence of Poesy' and Selected Renaissance Literary Criticism (Penguin Classics) (2004) — Contributor — 115 copies
Out of the Best Books: An Anthology of Literature, Vol. 3: Intelligent Family Living (1967) — Contributor — 34 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1554-11-30
- Date of death
- 1586-10-17
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of Oxford(Christ Church)
Shrewsbury School - Occupations
- courtier
politician
soldier
poet - Organizations
- Member of Parliament
Knight Bachelor (1583) - Relationships
- Herbert, Mary Sidney (sister)
Dudley, Robert (uncle)
Greville, Fulke (friend)
Wroth, Mary (niece) - Short biography
- Sir Philip Sidney was the eldest son of Sir Henry Sidney and his wife Lady Mary Dudley, the sister of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, longtime favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. He was close to his own younger sister, Mary Sidney, who became Countess of Pembroke, and he dedicated his 1580 pastoral romance The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia -- also known as The Acadia -- to her. His other works included a sonnet sequence, Astrophel and Stella, and a treatise called The Defence of Poesy (also known as The Defence of Poesie or An Apology for Poetrie). In 1583, he was knighted, and he married Frances Walsingham, daughter of the queen's spymaster and Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham. Sir Philip Sidney was considered one of the Elizabethan Age's most romantic and noble figures. Well-known during his life for his poetry and gallantry as a courtier and soldier, he became even more famous after his death in the Battle of Zutphen at age 31.
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Penshurst Place, Kent, England
- Place of death
- Arnhem, Gelderland, the Netherlands
- Burial location
- Old St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England, UK
- Map Location
- England, UK
Members
Reviews
Not the most straightforward of books to review. To enjoy Arcadia you first have to accept a style which has gone deeply out of favour. It is highly, intricately rhetorical with sentences which build up, Pelion on Ossa, to very long, elaborate creations whilst meandering in and out of parentheses.
The actual descriptions of places, armour, dress, building etc are hugely decorative and literally gorgeous - gleaming and glistening with bright colours, jewels and fabrics. Sidney loves dwelling show more on the details of a suit of a knight's equipage and armour, for instance.
The characters don't so much have conversations as make speeches at another - presenting a case forensically very often. Again you grow accustomed to this as you realise the book and plot move forward in away which is different from the modern novel. Action is deliberate, thought out, analysed. When, on a couple of occasions, badly or un- thought out actions are undertaken they end in disaster. Evidently Sidney believed in knowing where you were going.
The plot - well it's a semi-pastoral, semi-heroic/epic story - that means princes disguised as shepherds or Amazons, kidnap, heroic battles and tourneys, reliance on coincidence (otherwise known as divine providence).
I loved it. Having worked my way into it and letting it wash over and through you, you come to appreciate its colour and stately procession and the way the language winds its way through the plot. I did wonder how far it reflected actual life at royal and aristocratic courts as experienced by Sidney. For instance you didn't have the luxury of free speech. No saying "God, the king has really cocked things up again, hasn't he!". That way led to the block. So you were more circumspect in what you said, and made considered pronouncements statements even when talking to one's peers. Imagine a super hyper-polite version of Jane Austen. Again how you performed at a tourney, how elaborately you were dressed (and what signals you were sending by dressing just so) and how far people respected you or thought you flighty or steady, all of which are evident in the book, could have reflected court life. show less
The actual descriptions of places, armour, dress, building etc are hugely decorative and literally gorgeous - gleaming and glistening with bright colours, jewels and fabrics. Sidney loves dwelling show more on the details of a suit of a knight's equipage and armour, for instance.
The characters don't so much have conversations as make speeches at another - presenting a case forensically very often. Again you grow accustomed to this as you realise the book and plot move forward in away which is different from the modern novel. Action is deliberate, thought out, analysed. When, on a couple of occasions, badly or un- thought out actions are undertaken they end in disaster. Evidently Sidney believed in knowing where you were going.
The plot - well it's a semi-pastoral, semi-heroic/epic story - that means princes disguised as shepherds or Amazons, kidnap, heroic battles and tourneys, reliance on coincidence (otherwise known as divine providence).
I loved it. Having worked my way into it and letting it wash over and through you, you come to appreciate its colour and stately procession and the way the language winds its way through the plot. I did wonder how far it reflected actual life at royal and aristocratic courts as experienced by Sidney. For instance you didn't have the luxury of free speech. No saying "God, the king has really cocked things up again, hasn't he!". That way led to the block. So you were more circumspect in what you said, and made considered pronouncements statements even when talking to one's peers. Imagine a super hyper-polite version of Jane Austen. Again how you performed at a tourney, how elaborately you were dressed (and what signals you were sending by dressing just so) and how far people respected you or thought you flighty or steady, all of which are evident in the book, could have reflected court life. show less
Professor Jonathan Smith has a blog where he analyses each of the 108 sonnets in Sidney’s collection of poems and in his introduction he compares them to Shakespeare’s sonnets.
“I like to say that a great sonnet is a small piece of art of great value, but available to anyone to own. Shakespeare might have more of his sonnets hanging in the Louvre or the Hermitage, but any collector would be proud to have a Sidney in her own collection.”
Sir Philip Sidney died at the age of 32 after show more wounds received in a skirmish at Zutphen (on the continent) in 1586. He had written his sonnet and song collection probably between 1581- 84 but they were not published during his lifetime, however they would have been read by a select group of admirers in manuscript form. Sidney was a courtier to queen Elizabeth I, member of Parliament, scholar, soldier and related to the Earl of Leicester who was a leading member of the protestant group at Court. All of his literary works were published after his death and it is these that have carried his fame through to current times as he had a fairly chequered career at Court, because Elizabeth kept the young man at arms length, perhaps suspicious of his connections in Europe.
A sonnet derived from an Italian word meaning little poem is recognised as having fourteen lines that follow a strict rhyming scheme and a specific structure. In Elizabethan times sonnets were typically poems of love based on the Italian writer Petrarchs (14th century) collection of songs and sonnets dedicated to his would be lover Laura. The English sonnet had been developed a couple of centuries later by Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey and in Sidney’s day were featured in collections by George Gascoigne and Thomas Watson, they became known as the poems of unrequited love. Sidney is now recognised among the great triumvirate of Elizabethan sonneteers, the others being Spenser and Shakespeare.
The object of Sidney’s passion is Stella and Astrophil is her star-lover. Sidney’s poems of unrequited love are based to some extent on personal experience. Stella has been identified as Penelope Devereux who Sidney first met in 1575 when she was fourteen years old. Sidney’s family had drawn up a contract of marriage for Sidney and Penelope, but unfortunately Penelope’s father died before the contract was signed and Penelope was contracted against her will to Lord Rich. There is little if anything specific in the poems (apart from some word play on Lord Rich’s name) to link them to Sidney’s love affair with Penelope, however knowing the history provides the reader with an interest in deciding how much of this comes straight from the heart of the poet. This is always tricky because of the formulaic nature of much courtier love poetry and Sidney’s poems do follow in that tradition; for example the life and death pains suffered by the male speaker/poet and the elevation of the lady into some kind of goddess.
Sonnet number 1
Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,
That she (dear she) might take some pleasure of my pain,
Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know;
Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain;
I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe,
Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain;
Oft turning others’ leaves, to see if thence would flow
Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sunburnt brain.
But words came halting forth, wanting Invention’s stay;
Invention, Nature’s child, fled step-dame Study’s blows;
And others’ feet still seemed but strangers in my way.
Thus great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,
Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite,
“Fool,” said my Muse to me, “look in thy heart, and write.”
In the very first sonnet Sidney addresses these issues. The first line states he is writing poems of his true love in verse and emphasises this point in the last line. He says that ‘oft turning other’s leaves’ is not good enough he is looking for ‘Invention’. It is for the reader to decide (if he/she wishes) how successful Sidney has been.
In my opinion Sidney does take his sonnet collection to another level from those that had preceded him. For a start most of the poems read well, there is very little awkwardness and when there is, it is usually for poetic effect. His poems are well structured with rhyming schemes that work well and with variations from the Italian formula that points to a more particular English sonnet style. He stresses in his first sonnet that Invention is key to his poetry making and while he does not always stray too far away from traditional courtier love poetry his poems have a level of invention that makes them consistently interesting. I read through these 108 sonnets always looking forward to reading the next one.
The sonnets seem to fit together, they seem to describe an actual love affair, however one sided it might be. We have to wait until sonnet 73 when he steals a kiss while Stella is asleep and this is possibly for the speaker the high point of the affair. It is sonnet 82 where he tries to have the last word on that stolen kiss, but now the writing is on the wall and Stella has become angry with him and it is a short step for her not wishing, or being prevented from seeing him again. Throughout the collection there is an ongoing debate about reason versus passion as the speaker struggles to contain himself. There are poems that personify certain feelings or sins, there are poems of serious reflection and there are poems based around small incidents. There are many poems about the beauty of Stella particularly the power emanating from her eyes. Much of this ground was covered in Petrarch’s Laura sonnets, but Sidney finds different, perhaps better, perhaps less artificial ways of dealing with themes that had become cliché.
There are many poems that can stand alone outside of the collection for example sonnet 78 that takes jealousy as its subject; warning in the final line that the beast of jealousy can lead the sufferer into wearing the horns of a cuckold.
O how the pleasant airs of true love be
Infected by those vapours which arise
From out that noisome gulf, which gaping lies
Between the jaws of hellish jealousy:
A monster, others’ harm, self-misery,
Beauty’s plague, virtue’s scourge, succour of lies;
Who his own joy to his own hurt applies,
And only cherish doth with injury;
Who since he hath, by nature’s special grace,
So piercing paws as spoil when they embrace,
So nimble feet, as stir still, though on thorns;
So many eyes aye seeking their own woe,
So ample ears, as never good news know:
Is it not ill that such a devil wants horns?
Astrophil and Stella has been one of the high points of my reading in Tudor literature. I suppose readers unaware of the cultural differences and not used to reading poetry might find many of these poems artificial and/or difficult, but for me they were a five star read. show less
“I like to say that a great sonnet is a small piece of art of great value, but available to anyone to own. Shakespeare might have more of his sonnets hanging in the Louvre or the Hermitage, but any collector would be proud to have a Sidney in her own collection.”
Sir Philip Sidney died at the age of 32 after show more wounds received in a skirmish at Zutphen (on the continent) in 1586. He had written his sonnet and song collection probably between 1581- 84 but they were not published during his lifetime, however they would have been read by a select group of admirers in manuscript form. Sidney was a courtier to queen Elizabeth I, member of Parliament, scholar, soldier and related to the Earl of Leicester who was a leading member of the protestant group at Court. All of his literary works were published after his death and it is these that have carried his fame through to current times as he had a fairly chequered career at Court, because Elizabeth kept the young man at arms length, perhaps suspicious of his connections in Europe.
A sonnet derived from an Italian word meaning little poem is recognised as having fourteen lines that follow a strict rhyming scheme and a specific structure. In Elizabethan times sonnets were typically poems of love based on the Italian writer Petrarchs (14th century) collection of songs and sonnets dedicated to his would be lover Laura. The English sonnet had been developed a couple of centuries later by Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey and in Sidney’s day were featured in collections by George Gascoigne and Thomas Watson, they became known as the poems of unrequited love. Sidney is now recognised among the great triumvirate of Elizabethan sonneteers, the others being Spenser and Shakespeare.
The object of Sidney’s passion is Stella and Astrophil is her star-lover. Sidney’s poems of unrequited love are based to some extent on personal experience. Stella has been identified as Penelope Devereux who Sidney first met in 1575 when she was fourteen years old. Sidney’s family had drawn up a contract of marriage for Sidney and Penelope, but unfortunately Penelope’s father died before the contract was signed and Penelope was contracted against her will to Lord Rich. There is little if anything specific in the poems (apart from some word play on Lord Rich’s name) to link them to Sidney’s love affair with Penelope, however knowing the history provides the reader with an interest in deciding how much of this comes straight from the heart of the poet. This is always tricky because of the formulaic nature of much courtier love poetry and Sidney’s poems do follow in that tradition; for example the life and death pains suffered by the male speaker/poet and the elevation of the lady into some kind of goddess.
Sonnet number 1
Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,
That she (dear she) might take some pleasure of my pain,
Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know;
Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain;
I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe,
Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain;
Oft turning others’ leaves, to see if thence would flow
Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sunburnt brain.
But words came halting forth, wanting Invention’s stay;
Invention, Nature’s child, fled step-dame Study’s blows;
And others’ feet still seemed but strangers in my way.
Thus great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,
Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite,
“Fool,” said my Muse to me, “look in thy heart, and write.”
In the very first sonnet Sidney addresses these issues. The first line states he is writing poems of his true love in verse and emphasises this point in the last line. He says that ‘oft turning other’s leaves’ is not good enough he is looking for ‘Invention’. It is for the reader to decide (if he/she wishes) how successful Sidney has been.
In my opinion Sidney does take his sonnet collection to another level from those that had preceded him. For a start most of the poems read well, there is very little awkwardness and when there is, it is usually for poetic effect. His poems are well structured with rhyming schemes that work well and with variations from the Italian formula that points to a more particular English sonnet style. He stresses in his first sonnet that Invention is key to his poetry making and while he does not always stray too far away from traditional courtier love poetry his poems have a level of invention that makes them consistently interesting. I read through these 108 sonnets always looking forward to reading the next one.
The sonnets seem to fit together, they seem to describe an actual love affair, however one sided it might be. We have to wait until sonnet 73 when he steals a kiss while Stella is asleep and this is possibly for the speaker the high point of the affair. It is sonnet 82 where he tries to have the last word on that stolen kiss, but now the writing is on the wall and Stella has become angry with him and it is a short step for her not wishing, or being prevented from seeing him again. Throughout the collection there is an ongoing debate about reason versus passion as the speaker struggles to contain himself. There are poems that personify certain feelings or sins, there are poems of serious reflection and there are poems based around small incidents. There are many poems about the beauty of Stella particularly the power emanating from her eyes. Much of this ground was covered in Petrarch’s Laura sonnets, but Sidney finds different, perhaps better, perhaps less artificial ways of dealing with themes that had become cliché.
There are many poems that can stand alone outside of the collection for example sonnet 78 that takes jealousy as its subject; warning in the final line that the beast of jealousy can lead the sufferer into wearing the horns of a cuckold.
O how the pleasant airs of true love be
Infected by those vapours which arise
From out that noisome gulf, which gaping lies
Between the jaws of hellish jealousy:
A monster, others’ harm, self-misery,
Beauty’s plague, virtue’s scourge, succour of lies;
Who his own joy to his own hurt applies,
And only cherish doth with injury;
Who since he hath, by nature’s special grace,
So piercing paws as spoil when they embrace,
So nimble feet, as stir still, though on thorns;
So many eyes aye seeking their own woe,
So ample ears, as never good news know:
Is it not ill that such a devil wants horns?
Astrophil and Stella has been one of the high points of my reading in Tudor literature. I suppose readers unaware of the cultural differences and not used to reading poetry might find many of these poems artificial and/or difficult, but for me they were a five star read. show less
I've been looking forward to reading this work for years after dropping it once due to the complexity of the prose that made it too challenging for good old me. Ironically I am dropping it once again because I found the text subpar in terms of content and style, and after reading a variety of works written by pastoral authors I can assert that this novel is nothing more than a product of the Elizabethan society under the guise of a bucolic romance, a wannabe Sannazaro's Arcadia loaded with show more petty moralism and anecdotes about virtue and sin all too divorced from the real intent of the pastoral genre. Despite the impressive length of his work, Sidney drops the facade quite early in the novel and has no qualms about slapping 17th century quirks and literary tropes in his romance, which leaves us with a disappointing pseudo-historical Renaissance soap opera where respecting the importance of historical accuracy doesn't even cross the mind of the author. If this novel was written solely for entertainment purposes, it failed to deliver even that. show less
Defence of Poesie,Astrophil & Stella,& Other Writings by Sir,Philip Sidney; Sorrell,Rom. [1997] Paperback by Philip Sidney
This Everyman publication features much of Sidney’s best poetry. It contains a complete version of Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella, his ‘The Defence of Poesie’, Two Pastorals, Certain other sonnets and some selections from his translation of the Psalms of David and The Lady of May. None of this was published during his lifetime but much of it would have existed in manuscript form and been read by his circle of friends. The Lady of May was written to entertain Queen Elizabeth on one of show more her summer progresses when she visited the Earl of Leicester at Wanstead.
Sidney’e Defence of Poesie was written as a response to Stephen Gosson ’s `[school of Abuse: containing a pleasant invective against poets, pipers, players and jesters’]…………. Gosson had dedicated his pamphlet to Sidney no doubt thinking that Sidney’s puritan views would coincide with his own and no doubt he was correct in thinking that Sidney would also condemn lewdness and social abuse in literature. He was however wide of the mark in lumping poets in amongst the pipers, players and jesters as Sidney makes clear in his defence. Sidney believed that poetry was the highest art form in literature and would not only delight the reader but also teach him moral virtue:
“I affirme, that no learning is so good as that teacheth and moveth to vertue, and that none can both teach and move thereto so much as Poetry”
The Defence as one would expect quotes examples from antiquity whilst arguing against Plato for banishing poets from his republik. It examines other forms of literature particularly history and philosophy, maintaining that this writing does teach, but usually fails to move the reader. According to Sidney poetry can in fact enhance both subjects. He briefly mentions English poetry that he admires: Chaucer’s Troylus and Cressida, the Mirror for Magistrates collection, Earl of Surrey’s lyrics and Spenser’s Shepherd’s Calender, before plunging into a denunciation of much of English drama. Sidney argues his points well and keeps his prose lively and entertaining. This Everyman edition has plenty of clear notes to assist the reader.
The Lady of May is an entertainment written in the pastoral tradition and flows well, there is poetry and music and of course the star of the show is Queen Elizabeth herself who makes the final adjudication between the two suitors for the hand of The Lady of May. While there are no direct political references the morale of the little play would not have been lost on the courtiers and their followers. I have previously read Sidney’s wonderful sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella and it is good to now have the poems in a printed version.
Certain Sonnets contains some gems which are not found in Astrophil and Stella, for example:
Leave me, O Love, which reachest but to dust,
And thou my mind aspire to higher things:
Grow rich in that which never taketh rust:
Whatever fades, but fading pleasure brings.
Draw in thy beams, and humble all thy might,
To that sweet yoke, where lasting freedoms be:
Which breaks the clouds and opens forth the light,
That doth both shine and give us sight to see.
O take fast hold, let that light be thy guide,
In this small course which birth draws out to death,
And think how evil becometh him to slide,
Who seeketh heaven, and comes of heavenly breath.
Then farewell world, thy uttermost I see,
Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me.
The two Pastorals are also charming being dedicated to Friends and fellow poets: Sir Edward Dyer and Faulke Greville and take friendship as a theme. This is a very good collection of Sidney’s poetry, well set out with adequate notes and a retention of Sidney’s original spelling, although the letters of the alphabet take the modern form. A good introduction goes to make this a five star publication. show less
Sidney’e Defence of Poesie was written as a response to Stephen Gosson ’s `[school of Abuse: containing a pleasant invective against poets, pipers, players and jesters’]…………. Gosson had dedicated his pamphlet to Sidney no doubt thinking that Sidney’s puritan views would coincide with his own and no doubt he was correct in thinking that Sidney would also condemn lewdness and social abuse in literature. He was however wide of the mark in lumping poets in amongst the pipers, players and jesters as Sidney makes clear in his defence. Sidney believed that poetry was the highest art form in literature and would not only delight the reader but also teach him moral virtue:
“I affirme, that no learning is so good as that teacheth and moveth to vertue, and that none can both teach and move thereto so much as Poetry”
The Defence as one would expect quotes examples from antiquity whilst arguing against Plato for banishing poets from his republik. It examines other forms of literature particularly history and philosophy, maintaining that this writing does teach, but usually fails to move the reader. According to Sidney poetry can in fact enhance both subjects. He briefly mentions English poetry that he admires: Chaucer’s Troylus and Cressida, the Mirror for Magistrates collection, Earl of Surrey’s lyrics and Spenser’s Shepherd’s Calender, before plunging into a denunciation of much of English drama. Sidney argues his points well and keeps his prose lively and entertaining. This Everyman edition has plenty of clear notes to assist the reader.
The Lady of May is an entertainment written in the pastoral tradition and flows well, there is poetry and music and of course the star of the show is Queen Elizabeth herself who makes the final adjudication between the two suitors for the hand of The Lady of May. While there are no direct political references the morale of the little play would not have been lost on the courtiers and their followers. I have previously read Sidney’s wonderful sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella and it is good to now have the poems in a printed version.
Certain Sonnets contains some gems which are not found in Astrophil and Stella, for example:
Leave me, O Love, which reachest but to dust,
And thou my mind aspire to higher things:
Grow rich in that which never taketh rust:
Whatever fades, but fading pleasure brings.
Draw in thy beams, and humble all thy might,
To that sweet yoke, where lasting freedoms be:
Which breaks the clouds and opens forth the light,
That doth both shine and give us sight to see.
O take fast hold, let that light be thy guide,
In this small course which birth draws out to death,
And think how evil becometh him to slide,
Who seeketh heaven, and comes of heavenly breath.
Then farewell world, thy uttermost I see,
Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me.
The two Pastorals are also charming being dedicated to Friends and fellow poets: Sir Edward Dyer and Faulke Greville and take friendship as a theme. This is a very good collection of Sidney’s poetry, well set out with adequate notes and a retention of Sidney’s original spelling, although the letters of the alphabet take the modern form. A good introduction goes to make this a five star publication. show less
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