An Apology for Poetry by Sir Philip Sidney - 2943 Words

Richard L. W. Clarke LITS2002 Notes 01 1 SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, AN APOLOGY FOR POETRY (1595) Sidney, Sir Philip. â€Å"An Apology for Poetry.† Critical Theory Since Plato. Ed. Hazard Adam s. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1971. 143-162. Sidney’s argum ent is divided into several sections and subsections. In order to m ake sense of this im m ensely long but im portant essay, you should read those sections m arked by an asterisk (*) below and in the order given: 1. From â€Å"Now then we go to the m ost im portant imputations laid to the poor poets† (p.154) to â€Å" . . . Plato banished them out of his com m onwealth.† (p.154): Sidney’s brief listing of the four m ain criticism s directed against poetry * C a subsection devoted to providing brief†¦show more content†¦. . nothing affirms, and therefore never lieth. For, . . . to lie is to affirm that to be true which is false; so as the other artists, and especially the historian, affirm ing many things, can, in the cloudy knowledge of m ankind, hardly escape from m any lies. But the poet (as I said before) never affirm eth. The poet never m aketh any circles about your im agination, to conjure you to believe for true what he write s. . . . [I]n truth, not labouring to tell you what is, or is not, but what should and should not be. And therefore, though he recounts things not true, yet because he telleth them not for true, he lieth not. (155) Gesturing towards Aristotle’s distinction between the probable truths conveyed by fiction and the historian’s attempt to depict what actually transpired, Sidney argues cleverly that poetry never claim s, as history does, to be telling the truth about the particulars of what actually happened. It never conceals the fact that it is only fiction. Hence, he argues, â€Å"of all writers under the sun the poet is the least liar† (155). Sidney acknowledges that, at least to som e degree, poetry is a form of im itation: he defines poetry as an â€Å"art of im itation† (146), that is, as a â€Å"representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth – to speak m etaphorically, a speaking picture† (146). HeShow MoreRelated Literature and Virtue in Sidneys Apology for Poetry Essay1197 Words   |  5 PagesLiterature and Virtue in Sidneys Apology for Poetry      Ã‚  Ã‚   In An Apology for Poetry Sir Philip Sidney attempts to reassert the fundamental importance of literature to society in general as well as to other creative and intellectual endeavors. Though Sidneys work does provide a synthesis (and in some cases an aberration) of much Greek and Roman literary theory, his argument aspires to go beyond an esoteric academic debate. 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