Notes on Sidney
*notable points
page 186:
1. he may be like his friend who over-exalts horses & horsemanship, but bear w/ him: he
has cause, b/c poetry has been maligned, ‘fallen to be the laughingstock of children.’ and
there is ‘great danger of civil war among the Muses,’ which he hopes to prevent.
*2. poetry is the ‘parent’ of all knowledge: don’t kill the parent.
page 187:
*3. & 4. poetry is the medium of education and expression of early civilizations. early
philosophers wrote in poetry, even Plato.
*5. all civilizations have poetry: it is universally exalted, in Turkey, Ireland, among
Indians [america?], & Wales.
6. Romans called poets vates: diviner, foreseer, prophet. oracles were delivered in verse;
there appears to be some divinity involved with poetry.
p. 188:
7. the Bible is full of poetry; you disparage poetry, you disparage the Bible.
8. greek poet means maker, a ‘high and incomparable title.’
*9. all professions mimic, or build upon nature: the poet builds another nature, superior to
the first. (answer to Plato.)
10. the poet creates (platonic) models of human behavior for us to follow (and not
unsubstantial models).
page 189:
*11. the poet creates a superior nature.
*12. the poet imitates nature, to teach and delight. 3 types: A. imitating God, such as in
the Bible: in Psalms, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs; Moses and Deborah in
Hymns, and in Job. No one will speak against these books, who ‘hath the Holy Ghost in
due holy reverence.’
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13. the classics too, Orpheus, Homer, etc. These texts have provided much comfort to
people, in hard times.
*14. B. second type of imitation is a “philosophical” imitation, either “moral ...or
historical.”
*15. a third type, C., imitates a higher realm: “imitate to teach and delight, and to imitate
borrow nothing of what is, hath been, or shall be; but range, only reined with learned
discretion, into the divine consideration of what may be, and should be.” This is a very
noble endeavor, and doesn’t have to be in verse. Sidney’s own genre schema here w/ A.
B. & C., and as in Aristotle his ‘genres’ are not based on external form [see next
paragraph].
page 190:
16. S. gives some examples of poetry from prose texts.
*17. Here he argues that learning from astronomy, philosophy, and math are all mere
scientific learning, in a category of doing, not knowing. He compares the poet to other
knowledge-seekers. Philosophers are sullen and boring.
*18. Historians [he continues w/ the comparisons] are too much bound to the past.
page 191:
*19. The philosopher teaches w/ abstract precepts, the poet w/ examples of virtue, which
is a superior form of teaching.
*20. the historian is a bore, giving precepts w/ long tales of past; whereas the poet
exemplifies.
*21. the poet is a kind of moderator btwn the historian and the philosopher, and should
carry the title of all these knowledge-seekers.
22. lawyers do not attempt to make people good.
*23. the work of the historian & philosopher together is good, but the poet can both
exemplify and give abstract precepts.
*24. the historian, again, is tied to what is—so he can’t offer the precept.
*25. the poet does both, providing images of the precepts.
26. poetry thus teaches superiorly, by illustration.
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page 192:
*27. Poetry teaches patriotism (love of country); the destructiveness of anger; the
goodness of wisdom & temperance.
28. and Jesus uses it w/ his parables. so does Aesop.
29. a reference to Aristotle’s argument that poetry is superior to history.
30. a woman seeking a portrait would rather have a flattering interpretation of her than a
true-to-life one [literature can paint nature better than it is, which is good (creating a
superior nature)?]
page 193:
31. again, poetry provides better models for behavior than history.
32. and more reasonable models.
33. examples in poetry of poetic justice being served.
*34. poetry can paint vices too, admittedly, but it does so to contrast it to virtue, to show
the superiority of the latter. examples from Odyssey. historians are stuck w/ having to
portray vice w/out the moral benefit of contrasting it w/ virtue, and thus they encourage
bad behavior. (?)
*35. & 36. in history, evil often goes unpunished (lots of ex’s.). poets should therefore
get the ‘laurel crown’ as victorious over the historian...
page 194:
*37. poets are more worthy because they move their audience emotionally, whereas
philosophers teach w/ ‘methodical proceeding.’
*38. and ‘moving’ [the audience] is a superior form of teaching.
39. we learned that humans are naturally good from poetry, not from philosophy. (?)
40. delightful story-telling wins us over, more so than obscure definitions.
*41. literature promotes virtue. horrible presentations of nature in poetry can move
people to ‘courtesy, liberality, and especially courage.’
*42. poetry teaches w/ delight. philosophers [plato esp.] often ‘borrow the masking
raiment of poesy.’
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page 195:
*43. poetry teaches w/ delight over the ‘austere admonishments’ of philosophers.
*44. conclusion: poetry is in the best position to teach virtue. but this is true not only of
poetry in general, but by degrees in specific genre.
45. why is pastoral poetry so often denigrated, when it can impart various virtues?—he
gives ex’s.
46. the elegy, or iambic, or satiric all have edifying characteristics.
page 196:
47. 48. & 49. the purposes of comedies. and then of tragedies, which “teacheth the
uncertainty of this world, and upon how weak foundations gilden roofs are builded: that
maketh us know... [quote from Oedipus to the effect that a tyrant who rules by fear is in
turn ruled by fear]. tragedies can indeed move us.
50. S. defends the lyric.
51. but it’s the heroic [epic] that is the superior type of poetry, b/c the stories inflame the
mind to want to be worthy. the epic is the superior genre [opposing Aristotle’s
comparison]. example: Aeneas teaches us how to behave in a variety of ways: in response
to the ruin of his country; in the ‘preservation of his old father’; in obeying God’s
commandments to leave Dido when it would be natural to want not to; in storms; in war;
in peace; in sports; in being a fugitive; how to behave to strangers, to allies, to enemies,
‘to his own’; lastly, “how in his inward self, and how in his outward government, and I
think, in a mind not prejudiced w/ a prejudicating humor, he will be found in excellency
fruitful, yea, even as Horace saith, “Better than Chrysippus and Crantor.”
page 197:
52. Detractors of poetry don’t have convincing arguments.
*53. the combination of all his sub-arguments (greeks and romans giving it divine
attributes; it subsumes all the other arts; poets create ‘nature’; poets extol virtue, not evil;
poetry delights and instructs; poetry superior to both history and philosophy; the Bible is
poetic; POETRY THEN IS SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHER ENDEAVORS).
54. scoffers can distract us from the worthiness of poetry.
55. scoffers scoff poetry to show off. poetry is knowledge condensed. (again, prose can
be poetry.)
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page 198:
*56. poetry’s arrangement makes it fit and easy for remembering. and reason should be
studied over poetry, though poetry is what/where reason springs from. ‘the poet is the
least liar.’
57. doctors lie. astronomers lie. poets can’t lie b/c they make no claims to truth. Ex:
Aesop’s Fables. [although poets don't practice verisimilitude necessarily, they
nonetheless present a 'higher' truth.]
page 199:
58. more on the previous paragraph’s argument: no one believes poets make up the
elements of their fictions.
59. it is argued that poets lie by giving false names to their characters. But they do so for
credibility’s sake.
60. it is argued that poetry abuses men’s wits: teaches them to misbehave. But no, it is
misbehaving men that abuse poetry (see next paragraph).
61. Powerful things can be easily abused, not b/c they’re evil, but b/c they’re powerful (?)
62. Illustration of 61. Poetry has to be ‘sharp’ to make its virtuous message clear. painting
portraits of vice throws virtue into relief.
63. it is argued that we were better people before poetry. But no one remembers or
knows. it is argued the Goths will more likely sack us while we fiddle w/ poetry; but that
could apply to all knowledge. shall we then court ignorance? [a rhetorical question]
page 200:
64. besides (continuing 63.), poetry is the companion of the army camps.
*65. Alexander learned his bravery from Homer. in response to Plato’s banishment of
poets: philosophers have been more banished than poets, historically—Plato's argument
has not manifested in history.
66. philosophers have condoned vice more than poets have.
page 201:
*67. poets don’t extol vices, they merely tell (mimic) those that already exist. Plato only
means to banish vice, not poets.
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68. leaders & philosophers have extolled the virtues of poetry, so let’s follow their
example and praise it.
*69. why is England so hard against poetry? the world has produced some fine poets,
who have been praised, so why does England castigate poetry? --one reason, they’ve
been assailed by bad poetry, poetry that has been published for self-serving reasons,
causing good poets not to publish. To be nurtured, good poets, who are born not made,
must nonetheless understand and appreciate the value of what they do. [a subtle argument
follows:] poets should not assume that they know, and then compose to explain what they
know; rather, they should let the words guide them to knowledge: --a Christian humanist
attitude, extolling humility over professed knowledge.
page 202:
70. Chaucer is a good model: “For proof whereof, let but most of the verses be put in
prose, and then ask the meaning; and it will be found that one verse did but beget another,
w/out ordering at the first what should be at last; which becomes a confused mass of
words, w/ a tingling sound of rhyme, barely accompanied w/ reason.” that is, poetry
provides a kind of natural order to subject matter, which aids the ‘reason’ of it, makes it
make sense, that is. (?) or maybe he’s describing bad poetry (?)
page 203:
71. S. expounds upon the consequences of not following the methods explained in 70.
72. don’t explain too much yr back-story: get to the event that’s seminal to the story yr
telling. [later:] be careful about mixing genres: here he expounds on the difference btwn
laughter and delight. there can be delight, he argues, w/out laughter.
page 204:
73. ex’s of claim in 72. laughter and delight can go together. [later:] do not incite laughter
at others’ expense, esp. directed toward their misfortune. do not write inflated love poetry
(that’s an abuse of poetry).
74. some poets keep a list of phrases to sprinkle (as condiments) onto their poetry: don’t
do that.
page 205:
75. ex. of 74. avoid using similies for their own sake: good orators claim to know no art,
to appear natural in their oratory.
76. don’t show off poetical or rhetorical techniques.
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77. he’s explaining defects so as to encourage poets to correct themselves. [then:] the
english language is perfectly capable of being great literature.
78. here he compares ancient & modern languages as fit for poetry.
page 206:
*79. a bit about rhymes. [later:] poetry breeds virtue. the faults of poetry are due to bad
poets. our tongue (English) is fit for great poetry. he believes that poetry is a noble and
divine art, edifying, instructive, mysteriously good, and can make you immortal.
*80. in conclusion: if you write great poetry, your name will ‘flourish in the printers
shops;... thus doing, you shall be most fair, most rich, most wise, most all these; you shall
dwell upon superlatives. You shall grow “herculean offspring [horace]”. etc. then he
curses detractors of poetry.
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.
wikipedia
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