PREFACE TO THE LYRICAL BALLADS | SUMMARY

The Preface to Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge appeared after the first publication of the poems and then in numerous revised forms until the end of Wordsworth's career. It remains the clearest statement of Romantic principles as it lays out the purpose and practice of writing poetry and its close relation to prose. It also explains the profession, or craft, of the "poet" and the role of poetry in giving a voice to contemporary and simplified ways of living that stay close to the truths of nature. For Wordsworth, as for all the Romantic writers, one discovered these primary laws of nature through experiences in the natural world—experiences that, when combined with emotion, produced poetry.

Importance of Subject Matter

Wordsworth emphasizes why and how he chooses the subjects for his poems. He separates his work from that of past ages and literary figures, showing they have been too "literary" by emphasizing formal or classical models of artificial conventions. Rather than the recording of actual observations or events, Wordsworth believes emotional truths and fidelity to nature are the keys to providing ordinary readers with insights into their own conditions of life. He favors a "humble and rustic" rural existence (yet without narrating anything unsettling or violent) to urban life because it seems simpler and more natural. Wordsworth also favors a more unified, common population that shares similar experiences. In cities like rapidly expanding London, the permanence of natural truths seems absent. The short-lived values of shifting populations give no connection to the past or the promise of future tranquility for the common people, whose experiences can form the basis for poetry as well as prose. Wordsworth sought to make ordinary experiences seem more extraordinary and enduring. As nature reveals permanence and unchanging truths, the new literature Wordsworth proposes would share the simplicity, and depth, of people's lives.

Characteristics of Poetry

Wordsworth says poetry must arise from the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." Although a poet should make a poem seem spontaneous, the creation of it is not. Poetry must reflect emotion, or passion—not simply record observations. The poet must draw from real-life experiences and describe them in ordinary language, and the poet must "throw over them a certain coloring of the imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual aspect." It is the imagination that permits the poet to touch on the eternal, making the surrounding world new and connecting the people with that world.

Wordsworth analyzes what he sees as four parts of the poet's creative process. The poet first observes something that creates a powerful emotion. Then he tranquilly contemplates and reflects on the emotion. During this period the poet may recall other things that relate to the observation itself or to the past in some way. Such contemplation is personal, intended only for the poet. The tranquility of contemplation disappears after a time, and then the poet distills all these thoughts, eliminating some and keeping others so that the original emotion is recreated in a way that is more universal. Finally, the poet is ready to write, with the aim of sharing the emotion with an audience.

Poetry, therefore, doesn't arise from classical models or through an immediate inspiration on any supernatural level. It arises through experience on an ordinary level—understood and reflected upon. Wordsworth rejects elaboration or literary devices as artificial and uses numerous examples of earlier poets' work in his discussion. He hopes to lead readers to meditate on their own emotions and arrive eventually at a more moral and true conception of themselves and of life. Poetry can achieve the finest level of art by being simple and straightforward.

Poetry and Prose

Wordsworth devotes much of the Preface to examining his views on poetry and prose. He rejects past distinctions of one being more heroic or a higher art than the other. His aim is to reveal both as sharing the most important characteristics of "the language of men." As he simplifies the art of being a poet into being "a man speaking to men," he essentially erases the lines separating prose from poetry. He sees the distinction of both as opposed to science, as he understands it, because the relatively new field of science focuses on the factual. Moreover, he sees the scientist as making discoveries on their own, away from others, and not influencing the common condition, which for Wordsworth is the essence of poetry. For Wordsworth, who favors free, straightforwardly rhymed lines over traditional rhyme and meter in poetry, the use of most meter produces a forced type of "verse" rather than the "naked," simpler poetry that shares truths with prose.

He explains that he chooses to write poetry—with a proper and natural "Poetic Diction"—rather than prose because it offers more possibilities for his imagination to explore the natural passions of men and give them form. However, he refuses to acknowledge any strict separation between poetry and prose because both must spring from emotion and reflection. Wordsworth writes, "They both speak by and to the same organs ... their affections are kindred, and almost identical, not necessarily differing even in degree." He ends the Preface by saying that whether he writes in prose or verse, the essential principle of his art—made of imagination and sentiment—will employ "one and the same language" of meter or prose.

SUMMARY OF THE PREFACE TO LYRICAL BALLADS:

Preface to Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth begins with a discussion of the collection of poems, written mostly by Wordsworth with contributions by S.T. Coleridge. Originally published in 1798, in 1800, Wordsworth added an earlier version of the Preface, which he extended two years later. Because he felt his poems were of a new theme and style, Wordsworth felt they needed an introduction. Some scholars say that Coleridge wanted to write the preface, but never got around to it, so the work fell to Wordsworth instead. As the majority of the poems in the collection are by Wordsworth, this was probably a more appropriate choice, though there is suggestion in some of Coleridge’s later writings that the two disagreed about what the Preface should say. In the Preface, Wordsworth writes that the purpose of the collection was to write poems that dealt with things that happen in everyday life. Most importantly, Wordsworth considered each poem in the collection to be an experiment in language usage, or diction. He wanted to find out if conversational language could be used effectively in poetry. What, then, is poetry? Wordsworth sets out to define this particular form of art. In the Preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth outlines his definition of the nature and function of poetry—as well as identifying the qualities that make someone a true poet. For Wordsworth, poetry must reflect spontaneity and an “overflow of powerful feelings.” Passion is key, as are mood and temperament. Although poetry must emerge from spontaneity, it must not be written spontaneously. Rather, Wordsworth asserts that a poem should be the result of long and deep reflection. He also cautions against being too concerned with the poetic rules of Classicism. Next, Wordsworth breaks down the poet’s process into four stages. The first is observation. A person, object, or situation must stimulate powerful emotions in the Romantic poet, and those observations must be noted. Recollection follows, which is the stage when the poet contemplates those observations. For this, tranquility is a must. Memories may surface that are days old or older, and the poet should contemplate those memories to explore how the emotions they provoke relate to past experiences. The third stage is filtering, when the poet clears the mind of all non-essential elements. The result of this is that the poet’s personal experience becomes relevant to a wider audience. It’s not until the fourth and final stage that the poet should begin to compose. The goal is to express emotions in a way that the reader will understand and can therefore contemplate. Wordsworth’s next topic is imagination. He begins by discussing how the neo-classicists defined imagination. They said that the mind was passive, and recorded sensations. Imagination, therefore, is a function of memory combined with the ability to associate those sensations with other things that may or may not exist. He provides the example of mythical creatures, which elicit, in literature, real sensations. For Romantics like Wordsworth, imagination is much more creative. Rather than assigning recorded sensations to other objects, the imagination has the power to create a new reality, and to see beyond the material world surrounding the poet. As for what to write about, Wordsworth states that poetry can capture any and every subject that is of interest to the mind. What matters is not whether a subject is poetic, but rather, whether the poet can add meaning to a subject and therefore make it poetic. Suddenly, themes from common life can be poetic and worthy of the contemplation Wordsworth requires of the poet. The reason this works, according to his argument, is that those who live a rustic lifestyle are closer to nature—and therefore farther away from vanity bred by artifice. Next, Wordsworth dives deeper into the function of poetry. Unlike the classicists, who value art for the sake of art—the idea that art should be produced regardless of any moral values or concerns--Wordsworth and the Romantics believe in art for the sake of life. That is, Wordsworth sees the function of poetry as ennobling the reader through the teaching of moral and philosophical values and ideals. Finally, Wordsworth discusses in greater depth the diction of poetry. Diction is basically the use of language, but more specifically, it’s the choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and even figurative language. While diction is important in all of literature, Wordsworth places particular importance on its role in poetry because it is the poet’s medium. Whereas prose also has characters, setting, and plot to convey a message, the poet's choice of language, or diction, is the sole means of expression in poetry. Despite this, Wordsworth argues that the diction of poetry and prose is the same and criticizes the neo-classicists for their “artificial” and “unnatural” language. Passion should drive diction, not ornament, dignity or meter. He wants poetry to center on rustic, humble situations using rustic, humble language. According to Wordsworth, that is the real source of poetic truth and beauty

 

Strengths of Shakespeare’s Plays According to Johnson

Shakespeare was an established authority by the time of Johnson. According to Johnson, “Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representations of general nature”. By nature, Johnson means the observation of reality. Johnson says that Shakespeare had the ability to provide a ‘just representation of general nature’. Here, Johnson presents the idea of universality. David Daiches reports that Dr. Johnson appreciates Shakespeare because he, according to Dryden’s requirement of a just and lively image of human nature, fulfills it. He further explains that Shakespeare as a dramatist is praised because he does what is expected from a dramatist. Shakespeare’s writings have a main theme of good and evil, these are universal problems, and everyone agrees to these problems. All humanity faces good as well as evil so the author who uses these problems relates to people’s lives.

According to Johnson, art should be exact representation (imitation) of general nature as Plato says that art is the imitation of nature. Also, dealing with the theme of universality, Johnson seems to believe in modern thoughts that truth has to be universal, accepted by all and common for all. Nature is represented by classicists so copying them also means copying nature. Hamlet says, “Hold up a mirror to nature”, which means imitation of nature according to Platonic theory. Shakespeare is also categorized by Johnson as poet of nature.

Johnson, further describes about Shakespeare’s characters as, “His persons act and speak by the influence of those general passions and principles by which all minds are agitated..”. Shakespeare’s characters are individuals but represent universality. Johnson elaborates about Shakespeare’s characters, “Shakespeare has no heroes; his scenes are occupied by men”. It means that Shakespeare’s characters are of general kind and are not restricted by customs and conventions of any one society. David Daiches describes that by having no heroes does not mean that his characters are not heroic or impressive but that they are not supernatural beings but “men, whom we recognize as fellow human beings” acting according to the general laws of nature. Also, if Shakespeare uses ghosts, he gives them humanly characteristics as they speak like human beings such as Hamlet’s father’s ghost.

Johnson describes language of Shakespeare as comprehensible. He also describes that Shakespeare’s characters differ from one another because of the usage of language.

Johnson praises Shakespeare and comments, “His drama is the mirror of life”. According to Johnson, his plays are so realistic that we get practical knowledge from them. He further says, “Shakespeare’s plays are not in the rigorous and critical sense either tragedies or comedies, but compositions of a distinct kind..”. According to Johnson, divisions of Shakespeare’s plays into tragedies and comedies is wrong. Eliot shares Johnson’s idea of incorrect labeling of Shakespeare’s dramas as tragic, comic and historic.

Johnson judges Shakespeare’s tragedy as “a skill” and his comedy as an ‘instinct’. He thinks that the natural medium for Shakespeare is comedy not tragedy. According to him, Shakespeare had to struggle for his tragedies but still they did not reach perfection.

He presents a mingled drama – a tragicomedy, which provides instructions in both the ways, as a tragedy as well as a comedy. He reinforces if tragedy and comedy are mingled, the effect one wants to create on the audience is impaired. Mingling of tragedy and comedy means to represent the reality of the world as it is.

 

 

Q. Why linguistics is considered to be a strict science?

 Linguistics is a scientific study of humans n language. The scope is broad. This includes the study of etymology, morphology, grammar, semantics, context, phonology, and syntax. Linguistic study covers the function, meaning, and structure of language as it exists in the abstract, in our neurology or at a certain point in history.

Linguistics studies the origin of language(s) as well as the history, evolution and change of language over time. The history of any subject has a sociological aspect, and to that extent a subjective analysis depending on the culture of a people at a certain place and time.

Other subfields are sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics. The latter is clearly scientific. With sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics, other factors come into play such as economics and culture. In this case, the linguist looks at the abstract structure of language, the sociological emergence of it, and the contextual, historical and cultural aspects which affect a language at a certain time and place. Even in sociolinguistics, science governs linguistics because speech sounds are now measured on frequency scales and understood in terms of vibrational frequencies.

Linguistics itself is a scientific study, but because it deals with language, it is borrowed by nearly all aspects of human life, including the arts. For example, literary theorists use linguistics in literary analysis. Nonetheless, theoretical, and applied linguistics studies have features that are quantifiable in the laboratory.

Ferdinand de Saussure divided the study of linguistics into two categories: langue and parole. Langue is the abstract rules and structure of language and parole is the actual speech acts that occur. So, analogously, langue is the rules of chess and parole are the individual moves in a game. An analysis of each is scientific, but langue is more rigorously scientific because parole (the actual speech acts that occur in history, in a community) must be studied contextually and each context will incorporate sociological, psychological, and cultural information. This is not to say that langue is an exact study.

It is not the general system (langue) that changes the evolution of language; it is the individual speech act (parole). So, you can study the abstract structure of language, but to know how it has evolved you have to study the speech acts themselves (and this covers everything from everyday speech to literature and poetry).

Q. To what extent can Linguistics be considered as Science?

Linguistics is a science, because the most popular and still the most satisfying definition of linguistics is “a scientific study of language.” In this definition the terms “scientific study” and “language” are significant. Linguistics applies the general methodology of science to study language. The methodology consists of:

 (a) controlled observation

(b) analysis, generalization, and prediction, i.e., formation of hypothesis

(c) testing by further observation, i.e., experiment and

(d) confirmation, modification, or rejection of the generalization, yielding theory.

Science studies its subjects empirically. A scientist observes the phenomena of nature and forms a hypothesis about their occurrence. For a poet the sun, the moon, the stars, and flowers in the spring season are all beautiful objects and he praises their beauty in his lyrics. For William Wordsworth a rainbow is a wonder of nature. A scientist will surely appreciate his feelings and share his joy when the poet says “My heart leaps up/ When I behold a rainbow in the sky” but will also try to know how it is formed. He will try to seek the answer to the question, why are there seven colors and how are they formed? Similarly, an astronomer observes the sky at night, studies the heavenly bodies, examines the rays they emit, classifies them on the basis of the previous knowledge acquired and, if she/he finds a new star, she/he studies it more deeply to give a scientific description. In other words, the basic tools of science are observation and experiment, and its aim is the formulation of a theory to explain the phenomena of nature.

Prediction is another important feature. Scientists, after observation, have determined the relative movements of the sun, the earth, the moon, and the other heavenly bodies and now can confidently predict the occurrence of the eclipse, the visibility of a comet or the longest and shortest distances of the sun from the earth. Newton observed an apple falling. He wanted to know the cause of its coming down. After a long research he discovered the law of gravity. The main steps were observation of the phenomenon, enlargement of the observation, formulation of a hypothesis and after testing, its confirmation resulting in a theory.

 Linguistics is a Science because it is near to principles of Science

The linguist collects the facts of language, the facts that can be empirically verified. She/He, then, analyses and classifies them and formulates a hypothesis which, after further tests may be accepted, modified or rejected. Since the main function of language is to communicate ideas, feelings and emotions, the linguist tries to find how a message is produced and communicated to the listener and in what way the semantic gap is enlarged or narrowed between the addresser and the addressee. As language is a code, any change, conscious or unconscious, in the signals may baffle the listener.

Language is a structure.

 Its basic unit is the phoneme and its allophones. The next higher unit is morpheme which is a meaningful organization of phonemes. Sometimes a single phoneme can be a morpheme. * The third higher unit is the word. Words form phrases, phrases form clauses or sentences. The linguist, first, isolates the phonemes and their allophones. She/he also studies how they are combined to form morphemes and counts their allomorphs. Besides she/he classifies them into free and bound morphemes, studies how they form words. Finally, she/he reaches the sentence where all the small units function meaningfully.

After analyzing and interpreting the structure of a language the linguist forms a hypothesis to explain the system of that language. Once the hypothesis is confirmed, it becomes a theory. This structured description or theory is the grammar of that language. The general theory of language which is based upon the specific theories or grammars of languages is called linguistics. Structural linguistics and T.G. linguistics are theories of language.

 

                                                         Linguistics Broad Question

How is spoken language different from written language?

Main Difference – Spoken vs Written Language

Language can be mainly divided into two main aspects: spoken language and written language. There are many differences between spoken and written language. Spoken language involves speaking and listening skills whereas written language involves reading and writing skills. The main difference between spoken and written language is that written language is more formal and complex than spoken language.

What is Spoken Language

Spoken language is the language we speak. It is often spontaneous and transient. Spoken language is used for interactions; the two speakers or the listener and the speaker are often in the same place. Thus, they can correct any mistake they make and change their utterances as they go along.

With the exception of scripted speeches, spoken language tends to be full of incomplete sentences, repetitions, interruptions, and corrections. Speakers also use gestures, tone, pitch, volume, etc. to create additional meaning in spoken language. Unless the conversation is recorded, there is no record of the spoken language conversation that took place.

Some forms and informal grammatical structures are also specific to spoken language. For example, words and phrases like ‘my bad’, ‘y’know’, ‘busted,’ ’ain’t’ etc. which are sometimes used in spoken language, are rarely used in written language.

What is Written Language

Written language is the language we use to write. The main two language skills used in written language is reading and writing skills. Written language is not transient like spoken language; it tends to be permanent since there are written records of it.

Once you have written something, it is not very easy to change it. Another interesting thing about written language is that the reader and writer are usually communicating across time and space, unlike in spoken language.

Written language is typically more formal, complex and intricate than spoken language. It may contain longer sentences in complex tenses. However, some forms of written language like instant messages and informal letters are closer to spoken language. Written language can make use of features like punctuation, headings, layouts, colors, etc. to make a message clearer. Since written language does not receive immediate feedback, it should be very clear and unambiguous.

 

Spoken vs. Written Language

A key difference between written and spoken languages is that written language tends to be more formal and complex than spoken language. Other differences are:

• Writing is more permanent and less easily changed. Once something is printed, or on the Web, it is out there permanently. Unless the speaker is recorded, however, they can restate their position.
• Except in the case of formal speeches, spoken language is more impromptu. Because of that, it often includes repetitions, interruptions, and incomplete sentences. Writing is more polished.
• Because written language is more complex, it requires punctuation. Punctuation has no equivalent in spoken language. 
• Writing communicates across time and space for as long as the medium exists, and that particular language is understood. Speech is more immediate.
• Except with text messages, computer chats, or similar technology, writers can't receive immediate feedback to know whether their message is understood or not. Speakers do receive feedback and can clarify or answer questions as needed.
• Written and spoken communication use different types of language. Slang and tags, for example, are more often used when speaking. 
• Spoken language involves speaking and listening skills, while written language requires writing and reading skills.
• The spoken language uses tone and pitch to improve understanding; written language can only use layout and punctuation.

 

 

                                                     

Preface to Shakespeare:

Eighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson ((1709-1784) is one of the most significant figures in English literature. His fame is due in part to a widely read biography of him, written by his friend James Boswell and published in 1791. Although probably best known for compiling his celebrated dictionary, Johnson was an extremely prolific writer who worked in a variety of fields and forms.

 Chief Critical Approaches of Dr. Johnson are:

Johnson tried teaching and later organized a school in Lichfield. His educational ventures were not successful, however, although one of his students, David Garrick, later famous as an actor, became a lifelong friend.

Johnson, having given up teaching, went to London to try the literary life. Thus, began a long period of hack writing for the Gentleman's Magazine.

He founded his own periodical, The Rambler, in which he published, between 1750 and 1752, a considerable number of eloquent, insightful essays on literature, criticism, and moral

Beginning in 1747, while busy with other kinds of writing and always burdened with poverty, Johnson was also at work on a major project—compiling a dictionary commissioned by a group of booksellers. After more than eight years in preparation, the Dictionary of the English Language appeared in 1755. This remarkable work contains about 40,000 entries elucidated by vivid, idiosyncratic, still-quoted definitions and by an extraordinary range of illustrative examples.

Johnson published another periodical, The Idler, between 1758 and 1760.

In 1764 he and the eminent English portraitist Sir Joshua Reynolds founded the Literary Club; its membership included such luminaries as Garrick, the statesman Edmund Burke, the playwrights Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and a young Scottish lawyer, James Boswell.

Johnson's last major work, The Lives of the English Poets, was begun in 1778, when he was nearly 70 years old, and completed—in ten volumes—in 1781. The work is a distinctive blend of biography and literary criticism.

Johnson's points to remember in Preface to Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s characters are a just representation of human nature as they deal with passions and principles which are common to humanity. They are also true to the age, sex, profession to which they belong and hence the speech of one cannot be put in the mouth of another. His characters are not exaggerated. Even when the agency is supernatural, the dialogue is level with life.

Shakespeare’s plays are a storehouse of practical wisdom and from them can be formulated a philosophy of life. Moreover, his plays represent the different passions and not love alone. In this, his plays mirror life.

Shakespeare’s use of tragic comedy: Shakespeare has been much criticized for mixing tragedy and comedy, but Johnson defends him in this. Johnson says that in mixing tragedy and comedy, Shakespeare has been true to nature, because even in real life there is a mingling of good and evil, joy and sorrow, tears and smiles etc. this may be against the classical rules, but there is always an appeal open from criticism to nature. Moreover, tragicomedy being nearer to life combines within itself the pleasure and instruction of both tragedy and comedy.

 Shakespeare’s use of tragicomedy does not weaken the effect of a tragedy because it does not interrupt the progress of passions. In fact, Shakespeare knew that pleasure consisted in variety. Continued melancholy or grief is often not pleasing. Shakespeare had the power to move, whether to tears or laughter.

Shakespeare’s comic genius:  Johnson says that comedy came natural to Shakespeare. He seems to produce his comic scenes without much labor, and these scenes are durable and hence their popularity has not suffered with the passing of time. The language of his comic scenes is the language of real life, which is neither gross nor over refined, and hence it has not grown obsolete.

Shakespeare writes tragedies with great appearance of toil and study, but there is always something wanting in his tragic scenes. His tragedy seems to be skill, his comedy instinct.

Johnson’s defense of Shakespeare’s use of unities:

 

Samuel Johnson ((1709-1784)

Shakespeare’s histories are neither tragedy nor comedy and hence he is not required to follow classical rules of unities. The only unity he needs to maintain in his histories is the consistency and naturalness in his characters and this he does so faithfully. In his other works, he has well maintained the unity of action. His plots have the variety and complexity of nature, but have a beginning, middle and an end, and one event is logically connected with another, and the plot makes gradual advancement towards the denouement.

Shakespeare shows no regard for the unities of Time and place, and according to Johnson, these have troubled the poet more than it has pleased his audience. The observance of these unities is considered necessary to provide credibility to the drama. But, any fiction can never be real, and the audience knows this. If a spectator can imagine the stage to be Alexandria and the actors to be Antony and Cleopatra, he can surely imagine much more. Drama is a delusion, and delusion has no limits. Therefore, there is no absurdity in showing different actions in different places.

As regards the unity of Time, Shakespeare says that a drama imitates successive actions, and just as they may be represented at successive places, so also, they may be represented at different period, separated by several days. The only condition is that the events must be connected with each other.

Johnson further says that drama moves us not because we think it is real, but because it makes us feel that the evils represented may happen to ourselves. Imitations produce pleasure or pain, not because they are mistaken for reality, but because they bring realities to mind. Therefore, unity of Action alone is sufficient, and the other two unities arise from false assumptions. Hence it is good that Shakespeare violates them.

Faults of Shakespeare: Shakespeare writes without moral purpose and is more careful to please than to instruct. There is no poetic justice in his plays. This fault cannot be excused by the barbarity of his age for justice is a virtue independent of time and place.

Next, his plots are loosely formed, and only a little attention would have improved them. He neglects opportunities of instruction that his plots offer, in fact, he very often neglects the later parts of his plays and so his catastrophes often seem forced and improbable.

There are many faults of chronology and many anachronisms in his play.

His jokes are often gross and licentious. In his narration, there is much pomp of diction and circumlocution. Narration in his dramas is often tedious. His set speeches are cold and weak. They are often verbose and too large for thought. Trivial ideas are clothed in sonorous epithets. He is too fond of puns and quibbles which engulf him in mire. For a pun, he sacrifices reason, propriety, and truth. He often fails at moments of great excellence. Some contemptible conceit spoils the effect of his pathetic and tragic scenes.

Merits of Shakespeare: He perfected the blank verse, imparted to it diversity and flexibility, and brought it nearer to the language of prose.

 

 

An Apology for Poetry

Brief Biography of Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

                                                                                                                    

Sir Philip Sidney was a child of privilege, born to Sir Henry Sidney, Elizabeth I’s governor of Ireland, and Lady Mary Dudley. His godfather was King Philip II of Spain; his uncle Robert Dudley was one of Elizabeth’s closest advisers. Philip was educated to join his family’s tradition of service, first at the Shrewsbury School and then at Oxford. Following a three-year tour of Europe (1572-1575), where he perfected his languages and became familiar with European politics, Sidney returned to Elizabeth’s court and embarked on a career as diplomat and parliamentarian. A man of broad interests, he befriended leading artists and scholars of the day (including poet Edmund Spenser and alchemist John Dee) and was the dedicatee of more than 40 books on subjects as diverse as painting, law, poetry, and botany. Despite his education and social background, Sidney struggled to land a job of any real importance (he was knighted in 1583 only so that he could stand in for a nobleman in an important royal ceremony) and so directed his energies into creative work. He finished the 180,000-word heroic prose romance the Arcadia in 1580, and in 1582 wrote Astrophel and Stella, which is considered the most important English sonnet sequence after Shakespeare’s. Around the same time, he wrote An Apology for Poetry, introducing Continental ideas about literature to England. Later he started but did not finish an expansion of the Arcadia as well as a paraphrase of the Psalms. Sidney was renowned for his gentlemanly manners, and, fitting with his status, none of his works were printed and sold in his lifetime. In 1585, he was appointed joint-administrator of the British ordnance, which oversaw the distribution of arms in the kingdom. In this capacity he volunteered to serve in England’s war with the Spanish in the Netherlands, where, in defense of a supply convoy, he was grazed by an enemy bullet, and died from infection soon after. He is buried in St. Paul’s cathedral in London.

Historical Context of An Apology for Poetry

Philip Sidney wrote during the English Renaissance, a period of extraordinary cultural and social change that lasted from the early 16th century to the mid-17th century. More specifically, he wrote during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The Renaissance (which means “rebirth”) began in the late 1300s in Italy with the rediscovery of many classical texts and the revival of Latin and Greek language learning. Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in the 1440s allowed for the mass production of books and the circulation of ideas across the continent and into England. At the same time as antiquity was rediscovered, European explorers sailed to the “New World,” the discovery of which challenged traditional narratives of history and started a race to colonize America. Soon after, Martin Luther and others launched the Protestant Reformation, leading to decades of conflict between Christian sects. All of this cultural, political, and technological change led writers and thinkers to re-evaluate contemporary society in relationship to the newly discovered worlds of antiquity and America. Writers like Sidney began to write in modern languages, rather than Latin, allowing for a wider, less elite readership for their work but also fostering new feelings of nationalism. Sidney’s “An Apology for Poetry”—with its classical structure and numerous classical references, its references to pan-European literature, and its nationalistic elevation of English over other modern languages—reflects many of the intellectual and cultural currents of its time.

Key Facts about An Apology for Poetry

• Full Title: An Apology for Poetry
• When Written: c. 1580
• Where Written: England
• When Published: 1595
• Literary Period: Elizabethan Period; English Renaissance
• Genre: Essay; Oration
• Climax: Although the essay does not have a narrative climax, Sidney writes an emphatic conclusion in which he condemns poetry’s critics to oblivion.
• Antagonist: The Elizabethan intellectuals who doubted the value of poetry.

 

An Apology for Poetry Summary

Next An Apology for Poetry

In “An Apology for Poetry,” Sir Philip Sidney sets out to restore poetry to its rightful place among the arts. Poetry has gotten a bad name in Elizabethan England, disrespected by many of Sidney’s contemporaries. But, Sidney contends, critics of poetry do not understand what poetry really is: they have been misled by modern poetry, which is frequently bad. If one understands the true nature of poetry, one will see, as Sidney shows in his essay, that poetry is in fact the “monarch” of the arts. Sidney does so by articulating a theory of poetry, largely drawn from classical sources, as a tool for teaching virtue and the poet as a semi-divine figure capable of imagining a more perfect version of nature. Armed with this definition, Sidney proceeds to address the major criticisms made of the art of poetry and of the poets who practice it, refuting them with brilliant rhetorical skill.

Following the seven-part structure of a classical oration, Sidney begins with an exordium, or introduction. He tells an anecdote about horse-riding, noting that, like his riding instructor Giovanni Pietro Pugliano, he will not dwell so much on the writing of poetry as the contemplation and appreciation of it. Since he has become a poet, he feels obliged to say something to restore the reputation of his unelected vocation.

Sidney begins his defense of poetry by noting that poetry was the first of the arts, coming before philosophy and history. Indeed, many of the famous classical philosophers and historians wrote in poetry, and even those who wrote in prose, like Plato and Herodotus, wrote poetically—that is, they used poetic style to come up with philosophical allegories, in the case of Plato, or to supply vivid historical details, in the case of Herodotus. Indeed, without borrowing from poetry, historians and philosophers would never have become popular, Sidney claims. One can get some indication of the respect in which poets were held in the ancient world by examining the names they were given in Latin and Greek, vates and poietes. Vates means “seer” or “prophet,” and in the classical world, poetry was considered to convey important knowledge about the future. Poietes means maker, and this title reflects the fact that poets, like God, create new and more perfect realities using their imaginations.

Sidney then moves to the proposition, where offers a definition of poetry as an art of imitation that teaches its audience through “delight,” or pleasure. In its ability to embody ideas in compelling images, poetry is like “a speaking picture.” Sidney then specifies that the kind of poetry he is interested in is not religious or philosophical, but rather that which is written by “right poets.” This ideal form of poetry is not limited in its subject matter by what exists in nature, but instead creates perfect examples of virtue that, while maybe not real, is well-suited to teaching readers about what it means to be good. Poetry is a more effective teacher of virtue than history or philosophy because, instead of being limited to the realm of abstract ideas, like philosophy, or to the realm of what has actually happened, like history, poetry can present perfect examples of virtue in a way best suited to instruct its readers. The poet can embody the philosopher’s “wordish descriptions” of virtue in compelling characters or stories, which are more pleasurable to read and easier to understand and remember, like Aesop’s Fables. The poet should therefore be considered the “right popular philosopher,” since with perfect and pleasurable examples of virtue, like Aeneas from Virgil’s Aeneid, poetry can “move” readers to act virtuously. Reading poetry about virtue, Sidney writes, is like taking a “medicine of cherries.”

Following the classical structure from this examination to the refutation, Sidney rebuts the criticisms made of poetry by “poet-haters.” Sidney outlines the four most serious charges against poetry: that poetry is a waste of time, that the poet is a liar, that poetry corrupts our morals, and that Plato banished poets from his ideal city in the Republic. He highlights that all of these objections rest on the power of poetry to move its audience, which means that they are actually reasons to praise poetry. For if poetry is written well, it has enormous power to move its audience to virtue.

Following a short peroration, or conclusion, in which he summarizes the arguments he has made, Sidney devotes the final portion of his essay to a digression on modern English poetry. There is relatively little modern English poetry of any quality, Sidney admits. However, is not because there is anything wrong with English or with poetry, but rather with the absurd way in which poets write poems and playwrights write plays. Poets must be educated to write more elegantly, borrowing from classical sources without apishly imitating them, as so many poets, orators, and scholars did in Sidney’s time. For English is an expressive language with all the apparatus for good literature, and it is simply waiting for skillful writers to use it. Sidney brings “An Apology for Poetry” to a close on this hopeful note—but not before warning readers that, just as poetry has the power to immortalize people in verse, so too does it have the power to condemn others to be forgotten by ignoring them altogether. The critics of poetry should therefore take Sidney’s arguments seriously.

 

An Apology for Poetry by Sir Philip Sidney: Introduction

Philip Sidney in his Apology for Poetry reacts against the attacks made on poetry by the puritan, Stephen Gosson. To, Sidney, poetry is an art of imitation for specific purpose, it is imitated to teach and delight. According to him, poetry is simply a superior means of communication and its value depends on what is communicated.

So, even history when it is described in a lively and passionate expression becomes poetic. He prefers imaginative literature that teaches better than history and philosophy. Literature has the power to reproduce an ideal golden world not just the brazen world.

Stephen Gossen makes charges on poetry which Sidney answers.
The charges are:
1. Poetry is the waste of time.
2. Poetry is mother of lies.
3. It is nurse of abuse.
3. Plato had rightly banished the poets from his ideal world.

Against these charges, Sidney has answered them in the following ways-
Poetry is the source of knowledge and a civilizing force, for Sidney. Gossoon attacks on poetry saying that it corrupts the people, and it is the waste of time, but Sidney says that no learning is so good as that which teaches and moves to virtue and that nothing can both teach and amuse so much as poetry does. In essay societies, poetry was the main source of education. He remembers ancient Greek society that respected poets. The poets are always to be looked up. So, poetry is not wasted of time.

To the second charge, Sidney answers that poet does not lie because he never affirms that his fiction is true and can never lie. The poetic truths are ideal and universal. Therefore, poetry cannot be a mother of lies.

Sidney rejects that poetry is the source of abuses. To him, it is people who abuses poetry, not the vice- versa. Abuses are more nursed by philosophy and history than by poetry, by describing battles, bloodshed, violence etc. On the contrary, poetry helps to maintain morality and peace by avoiding such violence and bloodsheds. Moreover, it brings light to knowledge.

Sidney views that Plato in his Republic wanted to banish the abuse of poetry not the poets. He himself was not free from poeticality, which we can find in his dialogues. Plato never says that all poets should be banished. He called for banishing only those poets who are inferior and unable to instruct the children.

For Sidney, art is the imitation of nature, but it is not slavish imitation as Plato views. Rather it is creative imitation. Nature is dull, incomplete and ugly. It is artists who turn dull nature in to golden color. He employs his creative faculty, imagination and style of presentation to decorate the raw materials of nature. For Sidney, art is a speaking picture having spatiotemporal dimension. For Aristotle human action is more important but for Sidney nature is important.

Artists are to create arts considering the level of readers. The only purpose of art is to teach and delight like the whole tendency of Renaissance. Sidney favors poetic justice that is possible in poet's world where good are rewarded and wicked people are punished.

Plato's philosophy on 'virtue' is worthless at the battlefield but poet teaches men how to behave under all circumstances. Moral philosophy teaches virtues through abstract examples and history teaches virtues through concrete examples, but both are defective. Poetry teaches virtue by example as well as by percept (blend of abstract and concrete). The poet creates his own world where he gives only the inspiring things and thus poetry holds its superior position to that of philosophy and history.

In the poet's golden world, heroes are ideally presented, and evils are corrupt. Didactic effect of a poem depends up on the poet's power to move. It depends up on the affective quality of poetry. Among the different forms of poetry like lyric, elegy, satire, comedy etc. epic is the best form as it portrays heroic deeds and inspires heroic deeds and inspires people to become courageous and patriotic.

In this way, Sidney defines all the charges against poetry and stands for the sake of universal and timeless quality of poetry making us know why the poets are universal genius.