| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Period | Late 15th to early 17th century |
| Meaning | "Rebirth" - revival of classical learning and values |
| Key Features | • Humanism (man as center) • Return to Greek/Roman classics • Vernacular literature defense • Rise of printing press • Reformation's influence |
| Critical Focus | Defense of poetry against Puritan attacks, establishing vernacular literature's legitimacy |
| MCQ Alert | Renaissance = "Rebirth" of classical learning, NOT invention of new ideas |
| Topic | Key Points |
|---|---|
| Publication | Written c. 1579-1580, published 1595 after Sidney's death Two titles: "Apologie" (Ponsonby) & "Defence" (Olney) |
| Occasion | Response to Stephen Gosson's "School of Abuse" (1579) - Puritan attack on poetry as lies, immorality, waste of time |
| Structure | 1. Exordium (introduction) 2. Proposition (poetry's antiquity & universality) 3. Division (definition of poetry) 4. Examination (poetry vs. philosophy & history) 5. Refutation (answering charges) 6. Digression (English poetry's state) 7. Peroration (conclusion) |
| MCQ Hotspot | Gosson's "School of Abuse" (1579) triggered Sidney's Defence |
| Concept | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Famous Definition | "Poetry is an art of imitation, for so Aristotle termeth it in his word mimesis, that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth" |
| Poet's Role | Poet does NOT reproduce nature exactly but creates a "golden world" superior to nature's "brazen world" |
| Golden vs. Brazen | • Brazen World: Nature as it is (imperfect, fallen) • Golden World: Poetry's ideal, perfected vision "Nature's world is brazen, the poets only deliver a golden" |
| Creative Freedom | Poet is not bound by nature - creates things "better than Nature bringeth forth" |
| Poet as Maker | From Greek "poiein" (to make) - poet is CREATOR, not mere imitator |
| Comparison | Sidney's Argument |
|---|---|
| vs. Philosophy | • Philosopher: Gives precepts (abstract rules) - difficult, dry • Poet: Gives examples (concrete images) - delightful, memorable • Philosophy teaches through gnosis (knowledge) • Poetry teaches through praxis (action/example) |
| vs. History | • Historian: Bound to particular facts (what happened) • Poet: Free to show universal truths (what should happen) • History shows what IS • Poetry shows what OUGHT TO BE |
| Famous Quote | "The philosopher teacheth, but he teacheth obscurely... the historian... is so tied to the particular truth of things that his example draweth no necessary consequence" |
| Poet's Advantage | Combines philosophy's precept with history's example = teaching through delight |
| MCQ Key | Sidney places POET above both philosopher and historian |
| Concept | Details |
|---|---|
| Ultimate End | "To teach and delight" (echoes Horace's dulce et utile) |
| Final Purpose | Move readers to virtuous action - "to lead and draw us to as high a perfection as our degenerate souls... can be capable of" |
| Method | • Delight: Sweet pill to make medicine go down • Teaching: Moral and intellectual improvement • Moving: Inspiring virtuous action (most important) |
| Famous Phrase | "The ending end of all earthly learning being virtuous action" |
| Exam Focus | Sidney's tripartite: TEACH + DELIGHT + MOVE to virtuous action |
| Charge | Sidney's Defense |
|---|---|
| 1. Poetry is waste of time | FALSE - Poetry teaches virtue and moral truth efficiently through delight |
| 2. Poetry is mother of lies | FALSE - Poet "nothing affirms, therefore never lieth" Poet doesn't claim to present literal truth, but ideal truth "What child is there that... will not believe the tales of poets?" |
| 3. Poetry inspires immorality | FALSE - Abuse of poetry ≠ poetry itself "Though right use is commended, abuse is to be suffered" Blaming poetry for immorality is like blaming sword for murder |
| 4. Plato banished poets | Plato banished ABUSES of poetry, not poetry itself Plato himself used poetic dialogues Plato objected to poets who misrepresented gods |
| Famous Quote | "The poet nothing affirms, and therefore never lieth" - poetry presents fiction, not factual claims |
| Type | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Divine Poetry | Religious, scriptural verse | Psalms of David, Song of Solomon |
| 2. Philosophical Poetry | Moral/natural philosophy in verse | Lucretius, Virgil's Georgics |
| 3. Historical Poetry | Verse chronicles | Lucan's Pharsalia |
| 4. Right Poetry | MOST IMPORTANT - Creative fiction Includes: Heroic, Lyric, Tragic, Comic, Satiric, Pastoral | Homer's Iliad, Virgil's Aeneid Dramatic works |
| MCQ Alert | "Right Poetry" = highest form for Sidney = creative/imaginative poetry |
| Issue | Sidney's Observation |
|---|---|
| Chaucer | Praised as excellent, but language now outdated |
| The Mirror for Magistrates | Good moral purpose but poetically weak |
| Earl of Surrey | Praised for lyrical excellence and blank verse in English |
| Sackville & Norton | "Gorboduc" - good tragedy but violates classical unities |
| Contemporary Drama | Major criticism: Violation of unities of time, place, action "You shall have Asia of the one side, and Afric of the other" Mixing kings and clowns inappropriately |
| Lyric Poetry | Too much focus on love poetry; need more serious subjects |
| MCQ Key | Sidney criticizes English drama for violating classical UNITIES |
| Achievement | Impact |
|---|---|
| First Major English Criticism | Most important English critical work before Dryden |
| Defense of Imaginative Literature | Established poetry's legitimacy against Puritan attacks |
| Synthesis | Combined classical (Aristotle, Horace) with Renaissance humanism |
| English Vernacular | Elevated status of English as literary language |
| Influence | Shaped English critical tradition for centuries |
| Remember | SIDNEY = Golden World + Teach & Delight + Nothing Affirms/Never Lies + Poetry > Philosophy & History |
| Work | Contribution |
|---|---|
| The Shepheardes Calender (1579) | Dedication to Sidney; preface by "E.K." discusses poetic language Defense of archaic words and rustic diction Established pastoral in English |
| Letter to Raleigh (1590) | Appended to The Faerie Queene Explains allegorical method and moral purpose "To fashion a gentleman in virtuous and gentle discipline" |
| Poetic Practice | Created Spenserian Stanza (ababbcbcc) Revived archaic language for poetic effect Allegorical method (moral, historical, personal levels) |
| MCQ Alert | Spenser's stated purpose in Faerie Queene: "fashion a gentleman in virtuous and gentle discipline" |
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Structure | Planned 12 books (only 6 + fragment completed) Each book = one knight = one virtue |
| The Virtues | Book I: Holiness (Red Cross Knight) Book II: Temperance (Guyon) Book III: Chastity (Britomart) Book IV: Friendship (Cambell & Triamond) Book V: Justice (Artegall) Book VI: Courtesy (Calidore) |
| Triple Allegory | 1. Moral: Virtues and vices 2. Historical: Elizabeth I, contemporary events 3. Personal: Spenser's own experiences |
| Models | Combined classical epic (Homer, Virgil) with medieval romance (Ariosto, Tasso) |
| Gloriana | Faerie Queene = Queen Elizabeth = Glory = allegorical center |
| Exam Key | Spenser uses TRIPLE allegory: Moral + Historical + Personal |
| Point | Argument |
|---|---|
| Use of Old Words | Archaic language gives poetry "gravity" and "stateliness" "Old words are most used of country folk" |
| Against Inkhorn Terms | Rejects foreign borrowings in favor of native English words Prefers Anglo-Saxon over Latin/French |
| Poetic Decorum | Rustic language appropriate for pastoral poetry Different genres require different linguistic registers |
| Chaucer's Influence | Spenser seen as heir to Chaucer - reviving Middle English poetic tradition |
| MCQ Point | E.K. defends Spenser's ARCHAISMS as giving poetry gravity and stateliness |
| Achievement | Impact |
|---|---|
| Poet's Poet | Called "The Poet's Poet" - influenced Milton, Keats, Romantics |
| Spenserian Stanza | Created influential 9-line stanza form (used by Byron, Shelley, Keats) |
| Allegory Revival | Made allegory sophisticated literary technique in English |
| English Epic | First sustained English epic since medieval period |
| Language Shaping | Demonstrated poetic potential of English vernacular |
| Remember | SPENSER = Faerie Queene + Triple Allegory + Fashion a Gentleman + Spenserian Stanza + Archaisms |
| Critic | Work/Contribution |
|---|---|
| George Puttenham | The Arte of English Poesie (1589) Rhetoric manual; defense of English as poetic language Discusses figures of speech, poetic ornament |
| George Gascoigne | Certayne Notes of Instruction (1575) First English treatise on poetry writing Technical advice on meter, rhyme, invention |
| Samuel Daniel | A Defence of Rhyme (1603) Against Thomas Campion's attack on rhyme Defends English rhymed verse vs. classical quantitative meter |
| Ben Jonson | Timber, or Discoveries (1640, posthumous) Commonplace book with critical observations Neoclassical emphasis on rules, learning, imitation |
| MCQ Alert | Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie (1589) = major Renaissance rhetoric/poetics manual |
| Theme | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Defense Posture | Much criticism written to DEFEND poetry against moral/religious attacks |
| Vernacular Legitimacy | Establishing English as worthy literary language (not just Latin/Greek) |
| Classical Revival | Return to Aristotle, Horace - but adapted to Christian context |
| Moral Didacticism | Poetry must teach virtue - NOT just entertain |
| Imitation Debate | Should poets imitate classics or create original works? How does "imitation" relate to creativity? |
| Decorum | Appropriateness of style to subject, genre, characters |
| Unities Question | Should English drama follow Aristotelian unities? Sidney says YES; later practice says NO |
| Memory Aid | Renaissance = DEFENSE + VERNACULAR + CLASSICAL REVIVAL + MORAL PURPOSE |
| Question Type | Answer |
|---|---|
| Sidney's work responding to Gosson | An Apologie for Poetrie / Defence of Poesy (1595) |
| Gosson's attack on poetry | The School of Abuse (1579) |
| Nature's world vs. poet's world | Brazen world vs. Golden world |
| Sidney's definition of poetry | "Art of imitation" (mimesis) - representing/figuring forth |
| Poet's advantage over philosopher | Teaches through delightful EXAMPLES, not dry precepts |
| Poet's advantage over historian | Shows universal truth (what ought to be), not just particular facts |
| "Poet nothing affirms..." | "...and therefore never lieth" - Sidney's defense |
| Sidney's ultimate purpose of poetry | Move to virtuous action (teach + delight + move) |
| Highest form of poetry for Sidney | "Right Poetry" (creative/imaginative) |
| Sidney's critique of English drama | Violates classical unities of time, place, action |
| Spenser's purpose in Faerie Queene | "To fashion a gentleman in virtuous and gentle discipline" |
| Spenser's stanza form | Spenserian Stanza (ababbcbcc, 9 lines) |
| Spenser's nickname | "The Poet's Poet" |
| Faerie Queene allegorical levels | Moral + Historical + Personal (triple allegory) |
| E.K.'s defense of archaic words | Give poetry "gravity" and "stateliness" |
| Puttenham's poetics manual | The Arte of English Poesie (1589) |
| First English critical treatise on poetry writing | Gascoigne's Certayne Notes of Instruction (1575) |
| Defense of rhyme against classical meter | Samuel Daniel's A Defence of Rhyme (1603) |