An Apology for Poetry Sir Philip Sidney

AP Azlison G. Bawang

Poetry
As the cradle of civilization, A channel of divine power, For teaching and delighting, For combining and surpassing the virtues of history and philosophy.

In defense of poetry

Who the heck is Sidney?

A great poet and critic Contemporary of Shakespeare A soldier and a courtier Synthetic thoughts but polished Christian critic

First Argument
Poetry is the light-giver, the great cradle of civilization. Poets are the first lawgivers, philosophers, and historians.
The myth of Amphion Pre-Socratic philosophy, mostly was written in poetry. The Wisdom literature of the bible was written in poetry. Yes, even Plato was poetic. His dialogues were filled with allegories and metaphors.

 Poetry allows our mind to receive learning for poetry is a passport. Poetry is the beginning, and so everything builds on it.
men who attack poetry are like sons who rise up against their fathers. anxiety of influence, this Oedipal need to kill off the father. the reason people attack poetry, is because they realize poetry is their father. The poet has everything started, and so they feel a little inadequate in the presence of poetry, so they attack it, particularly philosophers.

Second Argument
the power and craft of poetry are of the same essence as the divine. in antiquity, poets were seers, while verse was the language of prophesy
the closer you get to the divine, suddenly you switch to poetry. it is through poetry that king David in the psalms, was able to express and embody the majesty and beauty of God. So not only is prophesy in poetry, but whenever we really want to praise God, or capture his essence, his majesty, his power, suddenly we switch to poetry. Even the pagans do this

 God created the world out of sublime language, according to the Judeo-Christian tradition. The first thing Adam said was a poem. What did Adam say?
wow, youre so dang hot Eve! NO! he said, You are the "bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh.

The poet is actually like God, because both poets and God, are makers, they make things.
He makes all things new Geometry, Science, the other Arts, rely on nature; Poetry takes that nature and transcends it Poetry transforms beasts into Cyclops, transforms men into heroes, transforms bronze into gold. Poetry maketh everything new.

What the poet finally imitates, is not nature herself, but a more perfect idea in the mind, to which the poet gives a shape or form. He doesn't imitate an imitation (remember Plato?), but he imitates the essence of things.

Third Argument
The end of poetry is to teach and please. Now, thats familiar they do not merely copy virtues and vices as they are (philosophy), but as they should be (poetry). Well in poetry, because it can change things to the way it should be, can give us a perfect example of vice, and a perfect example of virtue. Why is that so important? Well, poetry is able to inspire the soul, both to scorn the vices of its villains, and to imitate the noble and virtuous actions of its heroes. In other words, it can present us with such perfect examples of vice and virtue, that it compels us as readers, to follow virtue and forsake vice.

So is poetry better than philosophy?

You bet your arse it is! philosophy is too grave and austere to bring delight. it's too cold and indifferent to inspire us to action. Philosophy can explain good and bad, but it's too cold to impel us to seek the good, and to forsake the bad. Poetry, which is "hot," entertains us, and is full of passion, inspiring us not just to contemplate virtue and vice, but to live-out the virtue and shun the vice.

Fourth Argument
poetry unites the universal truth, or abstract precept of philosophy, with a concrete example or physical act of history. poetry is basically history plus philosophy. It has all the particularly concreteness of history, mixed with the universal abstractness of philosophy. You bring them together, you get "concrete universal."

Concrete Universal
It has the power to implant itself in our memory and judgment. Think about Aesop's fables and Jesus' parables. One of the reasons that people never forget those, is because they are abstract truths, embodied in a nice, memorable form.
Nathans Parable

In fact, poetry wants to be memorized. How can you use it if you don't memorize it?
What you can memorize is what you can utilize poetry is so beautiful that you remember it and think back on it. Unlike the precepts of philosophy that are abstract and we forget them.

What they say of poetry

Poetry is unprofitable. There are more ways to spend time. Poetry is the mother of all lies. Poetry entices and leads to sinful behavior. Finally, Plato kicked out the poets from the Republic.

First Rebuttal
Poetry is un-profitable. There are many better ways to spend out time. But actually it's the most fruitful of all knowledge. Why? Because it has the power, through teaching and pleasing, to move its hearer to virtuous action. Poetry does that better than either history or philosophy.
If we're going to run a society that works, we've got to have people that yearn for virtue and want to forsake vice. Well, poetry has that effect, and does it more effectively and efficiently than anyone else.

Second Rebuttal
Poetry is the mother of all lies. "poems never lieth, because they never affirmith." So they never claim to be the truth, but they claim to be poetry, a fiction that has meaning. "only fools confuse illusions with reality." Even children know this. When we go to a play, we know that's an illusion on the stage, and we know that with poetry as well. So dont say that poetry lies. A lie is when you claim something to be the truth, when it isn't. That's a lie, and poetry never does that.

Third Rebuttal
Poetry entices and leads to sinful behavior. He says it is not poetry itself, but the abuse of poetry that leads to sin. Like most things in our world, poetry is neutral. It can be used for good or evil.

Fourth Rebuttal
Finally, Plato kicked out the poets from the Republic First, he reminds us again that it was the poets who taught and guided the philosophers.
Homer came first before Plato (anxiety of influence?)

Who really got kicked out?

Everywhere is Homers birthplace, Athens wanted to exile Socrates.

Homer mocked the gods

Well, Homer was just doing a mimesis remember?

 Finally, to finish up this defense, he reminds us that poets speak by divine inspiration. Well again, maybe we should listen to them! Finally, Sidney concludes his essay by putting a curse on all poet haters. He says:
"may they never win love, or want of a sonnet, and may they be forgotten, for want of an epitaph."

The power of poetry! If you never have poetry, you'll never win love, and no one will remember you, since you won't have an