Sidney's, "Defense of Poesy"

Wrote more than sonnets; he also wrote a prose romance

The Arcadia and the Defense of Poesy

It was the only important literary criticism of the Renaissance

Additionally, he was the model courtier of Queen Elizabeth's court

His heroic death in battle in 1586 deprived the Elizabethans of a man they thought of as a unique leader and ideal

Defense of Poesy counters a view of poetry that religious thinkers and even philosophers had often asserted that poetry is an analogy of things that do not exist, which constitutes lying

In his Defense of Poesy, Sidney counters this charge, saying that poetry has the power to create another world, one that inspires people to do and be better

This disagreement with religious moralists, primarily the Puritans, would continue after Sidney's death, affecting the way people saw many kinds of literature, especially dramas.

Conclusion

Sonnet is one of the two characteristic literary forms of the 16th and early 17th centuries in England.

Understanding how they work, their rhetoric, and their purposes can give an insight into what these poems mean and how they communicate

Next we will deal with the other characteristic literary form of the period, the drama as well as other kinds of poetry

Upcoming...

• Review for mid-term