SIR PHILIP SIDNEY

 

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY

            Sir Philip Sidney (30 November 1554 – 17 October 1586) was an English poet, courtier, scholar and soldier who is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan age. Born at Penshurst Place, Kent, of an aristocratic family, he was educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford. He was the eldest son of Sir Henry Sidney and Lady Mary Dudley. His sister, Mary, was a writer, translator and literary patron. Sidney dedicated his longest work, the Arcadia, to her. After her brother's death, Mary reworked the Arcadia, which became known as The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia.

His works include a sonnet sequence, Astrophil and Stella, a treatise, The Defence of Poesy (also known as The Defence of Poesie or An Apology for Poetrie) and a pastoral romance, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia.

Literary writings:

Like the best of the Elizabethans, Sidney was successful in more than one branch of literature, but none of his work was published during his lifetime. However, it circulated in manuscript. His finest achievement was a sequence of 108 love sonnets. These owe much to Petrarch and Pierre de Ronsard in tone and style, and place Sidney as the greatest Elizabethan sonneteer after Shakespeare. Written to his mistress, Lady Penelope Rich, though dedicated to his wife, they reveal true lyric emotion couched in a language delicately archaic.

In form Sidney usually adopts the Petrarchan octave (ABBAABBA), with variations in the sestet that include the English final couplet. His artistic contacts were more peaceful and significant for his lasting fame. During his absence from court, he wrote Astrophel and Stella (1591) and the first draft of The Arcadia and The Defence of Poesy. Somewhat earlier, he had met Edmund Spenser, who dedicated The Shepheardes Calender to him. Other literary contacts included membership, along with his friends and fellow poets Fulke Greville, Edward Dyer, Edmund Spenser and Gabriel Harvey, of the (possibly fictitious) "Areopagus", a humanist endeavour to classicise English verse.

Works:

The Lady of May – This is one of Sidney's lesser-known works, a masque written and performed for Queen Elizabeth in 1578 or 1579.

Astrophil and Stella – The first of the famous English sonnet sequences, Astrophil and Stella was probably composed in the early 1580s.

In 1598 did an authorised edition reach the press. The sequence was a watershed in English Renaissance poetry.

 His experiments with rhyme scheme were no less notable; they served to free the English sonnet from the strict rhyming requirements of the Italian form.

The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia – The Arcadia, by far Sidney's most ambitious work, was as significant in its own way as his sonnets. The work is a romance that combines pastoral elements with a mood derived from the Hellenistic model of Heliodorus.

In the work, that is, a highly idealised version of the shepherd's life adjoins (not always naturally) with stories of jousts, political treachery, kidnappings, battles, and rapes.

Arcadia exists in two significantly different versions. Sidney wrote an early version (the Old Arcadia) during a stay at Mary Herbert's house; this version is narrated in a straightforward, sequential manner.

An Apology for Poetry (also known as A Defence of Poesie and The Defence of Poetry) – Sidney wrote Defence of Poetry before 1583. It has taken its place among the great critical essays in English.

In his essay, Sidney integrates a number of classical and Italian precepts on fiction. The essence of his defence is that poetry, by combining the liveliness of history with the ethical focus of philosophy, is more effective than either history or philosophy in rousing its readers to virtue.

The Sidney Psalms – These English translations of the Psalms were completed in 1599 by Philip Sidney's sister Mary.

Sir Philip Sidney was an influential 16th century English literary critic. His most well-known work, The Defence of Poesy, is a treatise that defends poetry and its value. Sidney's work helped shape poetic styles in England and develop literary criticism. 

Sidney quotes of poetry: 

• Poetry is a noble art form that can teach virtue and inspire readers
• Poetry is a superior means of communication
• Poetry can delight and teach
• Poetry can be religious, philosophical, or imaginative
• Poetry can be used to describe history in a lively way

Sidney's writing style: 

• Sidney wrote in a passionate but not scholarly manner
• Sidney insisted that he was an amateur and a man of leisure

Sir Philip Sidney used a variety of literary devices in his poems, including inversion, feminine rhyme, and parody. He also experimented with stanzaic patterns and juxtaposed formal verse with idiom and logical development. 

Literary devices used by Philip Sidney :

• Inversion: A literary device used in Sidney's poems
• Feminine rhyme: A literary device used in Sidney's poems
• Parody: An obvious device used in Sidney's poems
• Puns: An obvious device used in Sidney's poems
• Juxtaposition: A device used in Sidney's poems to involve the reader in the character's movements

Other works by Philip Sidney: 

• Arcadia: A heroic prose romance
• The Defense of Poesy: A literary criticism work
• Astrophel and Stella: The first Elizabethan sonnet cycle
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Sir Philip Sidney was an Elizabethan poet and writer known for his literary criticism. Here are some of his famous quotes: 

• "Either I will find a way, or I will make one" 
• "A true knight is fuller of bravery in the midst, than in the beginning of danger" 
• "The poet nothing affirmeth and therefore never lieth" 
• "Nature never set forth the earth in so rich tapestry as divers poets have done" 
• "There is no art delivered to mankind that hath not the works of nature for his principal object"