The Defence of Poesy

Sir Philip Sidney centers a good deal of his argument around literary genres and their respective purposes. An aspect of this discussion is to define and analyze the genres of philosophy, history, and poetry. In so doing, he denigrates the exact generic traits that he uses in this very work.

Toward a definition of poetry, Sidney says: “Poesy therefore is an art of imitation [...] that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth [...] with this end, to teach and delight” (25). He adds later, in his first “Examination” section, that poetry is also the genre most suited to “moving” the audience to virtuous action.

The author takes a less generous view of the other genres, philosophy and history. Although the avowed purpose of philosophy is also to teach virtue, it does this through “definitions, divisions, and distinctions” (29), the “plain setting down” (30) of lessons without stirring narratives to bring them to life. History, on the other hand, seeks to teach virtue with stories. However, its “greatest authorities are built upon the notable foundation of hearsay” (30). The historian, according to Sidney, is “better acquainted with a thousand years ago than with the present age” (30).