Philip Sidney

Term Paper # 101583

English > Analysis
Literature > Poetry

Philip Sidney

An analysis of the poetry of Philip Sidney from his collection "Certain Sonnets".

1,098 words () | 0 sources | 2002 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Philip Sidney's poems in "Certain Sonnets" arouse much discussion regarding the seriousness of the poems, and over the precise nature of Sidney's sentiments toward the lady who inspired them. It discusses how although the individual poems can be interpreted as overt expressions of passion, they may also be viewed as literary experiments that involve unconventional twists. The paper also looks at how, in many instances, it is apparent that Sidney's poems serve as parodies about love and relationships.

From the Paper:

"At first glance, the arrangement of poems in Certain Sonnets appears to be based on the traditional theme of falling in love and the love-struck feeling that one experiences as a result. However, at a closer examination, Sidney incorporates lyrics in which the narrator exposes the paradoxical component of his love. Most of the poems in Certain Sonnets portray the lover's agitation that is produced when his sexual cravings and loving desires are not fulfilled. The lover's ironic desire for sexual consummation and spiritual fulfillment is apparent through the consecutive arrangement of the poems, which help to emphasize the narrator's ambivalence about love. "