Consider poetry in relation to history and philosophy in

the light of Sidney's An Apologie for Poetrie'.

In his Apologie jor Poetrie, Sidney defends poetry against the

charges levelled against it by contemporary critic Stephen Gosson.
In his essay, Sidney integrates a number of classical and Italian
precepts on fiction. 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.
Sidney says that the Greeks and Romans gave highest
honour to poets. Comparing poetry with other branches of
knowledge, Sidney remarks that poetry is superior to all other
branches. For example, the astronomer depends on the stars for
his study, the geometrician and arithmetician on numbers, the
philosopher on natural virtues and vices, the lawyer on what men
have determined and historian on what has been done, the
grammarian on the rules of speech and the like.
Sidney says that only the poets are not subject to any such
limitations. They are creators and do their work on the strength
of their own inventive powers. They, no doubt, draw from nature,
but they give much to nature. They make new additions to the
creations of nature which are either better than nature's creations
or altogether new ones. Poets often create such things as never
existed in nature. For example, heroes, demi-gods, cyclops,
chimeras, furies and other such creatures are created by the
inventive powers of the poet. So he works as another nature. His
field of activity is not enclosed within the bounds of the gifts of
nature but his field is determined by his own fertile mind. It will
be seen that nature's world which is full of beautiful rivers,
fruitful trees, fragrant flowers, is made more lovely by the poet is
his descriptions. That way, it may be said that nature has not
made this earth as beautiful and charming as poets have made of
it. In other words, the world of nature is brazen, whereas the
world created by the poet is golden.
Here Sidney refers to a vital truth about the creations of the poet.
The poet produces another nature altogether. He is not dependent
upon nature's patronage and authorization. Therefore his world
is golden. In literary tradition, the age of brass under the rule of
Jove was considered the third age, between the age of silver and
the present age of iron. The golden age is the primal age but also
the hoped-for age of perfection and immortality. For Sidney the
world of brass is the world of hard but ultimately deceiving fact;
in the golden world reality does not fall short of our desire for
perfection.

According to Sidney, the poet has both the general or universal

principle and the particular example. He blends the two. The
intellectual account of the moral philosopher is presented in and
through images. The speaking pictures of poetry illumine the
abstract conceptions. Ajax of Sophocles presents a lively image of
anger. Anchises offers the love of the land. Thus the poet
describes in a lively and persuasive manner wisdom and
temperance in Ulysses and Diomedes, valour in Achilles
friendship in Nisus and Euriabs, remorse of conscience in
Oedipus, repenting pride in Agamemnon, violence of ambition in
the Theban brothers and the sour sweet revenge in Medea. Poetry
thus lays to the view all the virtues, vices and passions, and it is a
visual presentation. While the moral philosopher teaches those
that are already taught, the poet ‘is the food for the tenderest
stomachs'. The poet indeed is 'the right popular philosopher.’
Poetry has liveliness and passion which both history and moral
philosophy do not possess. It relates facts to one another
according to the law of probability or necessity.
Sidney upholds Aristotelian view that poetry is more
philosophical and more serious than history. Poetry deals with
the universal consideration while history deals with the
particular. Poetry tends to express the universal according to the
laws of probability or necessity. The examples of poetry are not
bound to particular facts, and therefore the poet can make them
more appropriate and more convincing. The ideal world
presented by the poet shows and things as they ought to be, and
as such it is more capable of moving us to virtuous action. When
Aristotle spoke of imitating man as he ought to be, or should be,
he was referring primarily to the question of probability. Sidney
ignores this probable ‘should be’ in favor of the moral ‘should be'.
Sidney's ideal world need not be the probable or the self-
consistent world; but it must be a world capable of inducing man
to the life of virtue.
Thus, poetry gives perfect and more effective pictures of
virtue. The poet’s examples are more perfect. Moreover,
imaginary examples of poetry are more instructive. Poetry alone
shows most clearly the reward of virtue. Finally poetry has an
attractive form which the others do not have. Sidney considers
poetry as the best of all learnings. A poet is a better endowed
creative. His images are speaking pictures which have greater
moral value and virtues in them.