Abstract
This chapter argues that Elizabethan biblical hermeneutics shaped Philip Sidney’s Apology for Poetry and that Sidney fuses poetics and exegesis in his Psalm translations. Juxtaposition with another apology, John Jewel’s Apologia Ecclesia Anglicanae, helps to reveal correlations between Sidney’s heterogeneous definitions of poetry in his Apology and orthodox Elizabethan ambivalence concerning Scripture: Sidney positions poetry between philosophy and history in terms that recall the Elizabethan middle way between Puritan absolutism and Roman historicism; his indecisiveness about whether poetry is creatively autonomous or mimetic of prior knowledge echoes ambivalence in Elizabethan hermeneutics concerning Scripture and interpretive traditions. Sidney’s tenuous distinction between “right” and divine poetry reinforces these associations between poetry and the Elizabethan Bible, while his Psalm translations make enhancement of the vernacular coextensive with exegesis.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
