English Renaissance Poetry :Sir Philip Sidney(1554-86)

Sidney's life:
- His Family:
-He was born in Kent Penshurst -He was named after Philip of Spain . He was the eldest son of Sir Henry Sidney ,Elizabeth's Lord Deputy in Ireland .His mother ,Lady Mary Dudley ,was a daughter Of the Duke Northumberland .His uncle Robert Dudley ,the fifth son of John Dudley ,the Earl of Leicester. Robert's wife Amy Robert who died of poison from him , he died at Cornbury , of poison rumored to have been intended for his wife - General notes:
- He was courtier , poet , critic , author of prose romance. He entered school in Shrewsbury. - His friend Sir Fulke Greville , long-life friend and future biographer. In 14he left his school to Christ church in Oxford . he traveled to France , Germany , Austria , Italy. He studied history , ethics , astronomy , music .he was appointment as governor of Flushing.
-His Death :
- He was wounded in the fight in October2 , 1586 . The wound proved fatal , and did not heal and within22 days he was dead. He dead in 24 October 1586 .
- Sidney's Works :- Sidney's works consist of his famous pastoral romance Arcadia, his sonnets Astrophel and Stella, and his Apologie for Poetrie, afterwards called Defence of Poesie.

From Astrophel and Stella
Sonnet 1
Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,
……………………………………………………………………………..
'Fool', said my muse to me; 'look in thy heart, and write.'
-Word's explanation:-Fain: with pleasure -Fit words: suitable words to express love - Woe: sorrow -Fresh and fruitful showers: new and suitable words -Nature's child: invention -Truant: idle pen which does not produce what the poet aspires to write. - Spite: ill will -Muse: a spirit that inspires the poet to write poetry.
-General speaking about the poem:
-It is a poem that leaps to triumphant climax of it's last line .It is opening sonnet in Sidney 's sequence Astrophel and Stella . The sequence is widely believed to be written to honor Penelope, the daughter of the Earl of Essex. Penelope is stated to be Stella of the poem. However, it should be remembered that this sonnet together with other sonnets were written at a time when the poet was making plans for his wedding to Francis, 14 year old daughter of his friend Francis Walsingham. Sidney chose Penelope because she was an excellent symbol for the poet. The sonnets are in fact merely compliments of a courtier.
- Conclusion:
In this sonnet, Sidney feels the self-conscious necessity to act out the process of true invention and portray it in part as youthful, plain talking and explosive. However, the sonnet does not disclaim artifice and convention. It associates the conventionally hallowed image of the mistress with the reminder.
- The rhyme Scheme:
The rhyme Scheme is : abab cdcd efef gg


B-E-S-T M-A-N
G-O-O-D L-U-C-K

23/11/2010

 
English Renaissance Poetry :Sir Philip Sidney(1554-86)

Sonnet39
Come sleep, O sleep, the certain Knot of peace
………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………….
Livelier than elsewhere, Stella's image see


Sonnet68
Stella, the only planet of my light,
………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………….
It is, so fair a virtue to enjoy.

Note: I am so sorry coz I have not any explanation for this two sonnet.
Love's Funeral

Ring out your bells, let mourning shows be spread,

…………………………………………………………………………….
Good Lord, deliver us.
-General speaking:- Sidney's collection certain Poems, despite its title is a miscellaneous collection of poems written in a variety of verse forms.
-It consists of four stanzas of10lines each. Each stanza includes a refrain of four lines at its end. The poem has complicated rhyme scheme of each stanza is(aa bc bc dd ee)
- The poem appears both a dirge and litany. It is a dirge in the sense that it signs about the death of love. It is also a litany because each stanza ends with prayer to God.

-The First Stanza(Death of Love):
The poet says that the church bells should be rung and mourning done as true love is dead. It can no more be seen in this world. It has been infected with deep feeling of contempt towards the lover. Merit of the true lover has been ignored and the mistress shows nothing but scorn for the lover. The beloved is thus ungrateful by not responding to the sincere and intense passion of the lover.

-The Second Stanza(Widening the Grief):
The grief of the individual lover is sought to be generalized in second stanza . The poet asks here neighbors to join the mourning at the death of true love The poet thinks that the death of true love is due to the folly of the male lover in worshipping the female and raising her to high status from which she looks down upon all men.

-The Third Stanza (Ritualizing the Grief)
The poet wishes a song to be sung at that death of true love and a series of masses to be sung for the dead. Trentals is a series of thirty days, each day, for a deceased (dead)lover. The epitaph on the tomb of love says that the eyes of beloved were the arrows of love. It is wrong because no love ever shot forth from those eyes. The poet therefore prays for the freedom of men from the cruelty of such mad women who do not favorably respond to the sincere passions of love.
-The forth Stanza(Element of Surprise):
The element of un expectedness, of surprise gives a vitality to the poem which otherwise would have been a complaint of the lover against the beloved for a lack of response from her. The final stanza tells that the earlier complaint is false and is the product of anger and resentment at the lack of response in a particular case. Love is indeed not dead but very much alive. It is only sleeping in the mind of the mistress. The poet therefore prays to God to free him from such distorted vision of love that he had due to personal disappointment and frustration.



B-E-S-T M-A-N
G-O-O-D L-U-C-K
25/11/2010

bestman,
الله يعطيك الف عافية يارب...
شكرا الك و لتعاونك معنا ومساعدتنا...

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