An Apology for Poetry (or The Defence of Poesy) is a work of literary criticism by Elizabethan poet Philip Sidney. It was written in approximately 1580 and first published in 1595, after his death .

1. Themes in An Apology for
Poetry
Sir Philip Sidney

2. Introduction
⇢ An Apology for Poetry (or The
Defence of Poesy) is a work of
literary criticism by Elizabethan
poet Philip Sidney. It was written
in approximately 1580 and first
published in 1595, after his death .

3. ⇢ It is generally believed that he was at least partly
motivated by Stephen Gosson, a former playwright
who dedicated his attack on the English stage, The
School of Abuse, to Sidney in 1579, but Sidney
primarily addresses more general objections to poetry,
such as those of Plato. In his essay, Sidney integrates
a number of classical and Italian precepts on fiction.
The essence of his defense 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 work also offers important comments on Edmund
Spenser and the Elizabethan stage.

4. Sir Philip Sidney
⇢ Born November 30, 1554, England.
⇢ Died October 17, 1586, Netherlands
⇢ Elizabethan courtier, statesman, soldier,
poet, and patron of scholars and poets,
considered the ideal gentleman of his day.
⇢ After Shakespeare’s sonnets, Sidney’s
Astrophel and Stella is considered the
finest Elizabethan sonnet cycle.
⇢ His The Defence of Poesie introduced the
critical ideas of Renaissance theorists to
England.

5. Sir Philip Sidney

6. poetry
'History and
philosophy
Philip Sidney insists in An Apology for
Poetry that :
⇢ The poet and his craft should be taken
even more seriously.
⇢ Sidney mounts a court room _ style
case for imaginative writing.
⇢ He points out that the 16th century
hierarchy of the arts is a modern
invention.

7. ⇢ -He said that poetry is superior to philosophy and
history .
⇢ Poetry synthesizes philosophy is ability to articulate
moral principles .
⇢ Poetry is more effective teaching tool than history .
⇢ Poetry moves the reader to virtue so it's effective for
educating children .
⇢ Poetry is the king of arts and even the Bilde , draws
on poetry to teach the reader .

8. Poetry, Creation,
and Imagination
⇢ Both ancient and modern Sidney's
influential formulation begins with
Aristotle's traditional definition of poetry
as the imitation or mimesis of reality.
⇢ Goes even further to suggest that poetry is
the creation of new, more perfect realities
through the imagination.
⇢ At the center of Sidney's "An Apology for
Poetry“-again, as part of the traditional
rhetorical structure he is following is
Aristotle's definition of poetry as imitation
of reality.

9. ⇢ Poets, do tend to speak in an elevated register "according to
the dignity of the subject" they are writing about.
⇢ According to Sidney, Poetry is a term broad enough to
encompass not just Homer, but also Plato, Hesiod alongside
Herodotus: it is something closer to imaginative literature
with some didactic end.
⇢ Following the traditional structure of a courtroom speech,
Sidney divides poetry into three kinds: divine, philosophical,
and poetry.
⇢ Following a classical taxonomy, Sidney further subdivides
poetry into "heroic, lyric, tragic, comic, satiric, iambic,
elegiac. pastoral,".

10. ⇢ Sidney goes beyond classical definitions in suggesting that the
poet does not just imitate reality, but can perfect it.
⇢ Through their imagination, the poet can exceed the "the narrow
warrant" of God's creation, not bound by natural laws but rather
"freely ranging within the zodiac of his own wit".
⇢ At its heart is Aristotle's notion of poetry as imitation, the
creation of "a speaking picture that represents reality. But the
"picture" is less a photograph and more a painting, or a
Hollywood film.
⇢ Sidney's poetry does not just teach virtue, but creates it in the
form of the more perfect reality of the poet's imagination Even
though Christian theology dictates that humans can never
achieve perfection, the poet, allows humankind to get a glimpse
of it.

11. Defending
Poetry
⇢ When Philip Sidney’s “An Apology
for Poetry” was published in 1595,
it bore two titles: “The Defence of
Poesie” and “An Apologie for
Poetrie.
”
⇢ These titles alert readers to the
fact that “An Apology for Poetry” is
in fact a written oration with the
explicit goal of defending poetry
against the critiques of Elizabethan
intellectuals.

12. ⇢ Sidney attacks critics of poetry for being uncharitable
readers, or confusing low-quality modern verse for
true poetry.
⇢ “An Apology for Poetry,” like the speech of a lawyer
in court, seeks to persuade its readers.
⇢ win a case: here, to exonerate poetry from certain
accusations made against it, as well as to restore
poetry to its proper standing in the world of arts and
letters.

14. Thank
you