Philip Sydney Biography

Sidney's work was an innovator in poetry and in the theory of literature. Despite the fact that the established shape of the sonnet was a favorite and extremely common in Europe in the 16th century. He created a cycle from the “Astrophil and Stella” sonnets, the originality of which consisted in the unification of these poetic miniatures with a common idea into the epic, a genuine “tragicomedy of love” with her hopes and seduces, jealousy and disappointment, the struggle of virtue and passion.

The ending of the cycle is sad: the lyrical hero remained involved in his love and devotion, and at the same time optimistic, for the flour and tests indicated him the path to moral perfection. Love discovered true beauty and from now on will serve as support in sorrows and give strength to new exploits, including in the civilian field. The poet experimented with the inclusion of dialogue in the sonnet, which made his heroes unusually bright living characters.

At the same time, his poems are full of paradoxical conclusions and humor unexpected for the reader. With a light hand, Sydney's thin irony became a characteristic feature of English lyrics. Sitting tribute to other forms of poetry - to elegies, ballads, odam, heroic and satirical verse, after Sydney the English poets preferred the sonnet to everyone else. Spencer, D. Davis left hundreds of miniature masterpieces enclosed in unchanged 14 lines.

Sidney acted as a serious theorist of literature and art in the treatise “Protection of Poetry” - an aesthetic manifesto of his circle, written in response to Puritan pamphlets, condemning “frivolous poetry”. He will penetrate humanistic thoughts about the high purpose of literature, raising a moral person and helping to achieve spiritual perfection, which is impossible without conscious efforts of the people themselves.

According to the author, the goal of all sciences, as well as creativity, is the "knowledge of the essence of a person, ethical and political, with the subsequent impact on him." With humor and polemic enthusiasm, based on the “poetics” of Aristotle, as well as examples from ancient history, philosophy and literature, Sydney proved that the poet is more suitable for the promotion of high moral ideals than the philosopher or historian with their boring preaching and edification.

Thanks to endless imagination, he can freely paint the image of an ideal person before the audience. The poet in his eyes grew into a co -author and even an opponent of nature: everyone else notes its patterns, and “only a poet ... creates another nature in essence, ... that which is better generated by nature or never existed ...” Sydney’s thoughts were perceived by the best writers of that time - E.

Spencer, B. He laid out a tradition that determined his face that defined his face. The literature in the era of Queen Elizabeth, created by poets-intellectuals, obsessed with high ethical ideals, but alien to philistine moralization. Sydney and his protege E. Spencer became the initiators of the English pastoral. In g.