Sir Philip Sidney’s defence essay, “An apology for...

Sir Philip Sidney’s defence essay, â€Å"An apology for poetry,† refers to poetry â€Å"as an art of imitation [†¦] [that] speaks metaphorically† (Ferguson, Salter Stallworthy, 2005: 331). Sidney’s essay epitomises the pivitol importance and art of creating poetry. From the 1500’s to the 1660’s, England found itself a process of complete rebirth of all its important facets. Transformation in its social and cultural, as well as philosophical and religious approaches was evident. This transformational process, with regards to literature, resulted in the redesign of old, successful forms, such as the Petrarchan sonnet. Francesco Petrarch, the genius behind the 14th century Petrarchan sonnet, was legendary in creating a form in which to convey†¦show more content†¦These include the structure of fourteen lines, the specific rhyme scheme and thematic preoccupation with love. Petrarch decided to split these fourteen lines into two p arts: an octave of eight lines that posed a concern or problem, immediately followed by a sestet of six lines that offered a solution to this mentioned issue. This became a very effective way of communicating frustrations of the courtly lover, who was synonymous with Petrarch’s sonnets. Courtly love’s characteristics were that of a â€Å"courtly lover [who] idealizes and idolizes his beloved. [He would] subject himself to her [†¦] suffer agonies of body and spirit [†¦] but remains devoted to her [in] adherence to a rigorous code of behaviour† (Abrams Harpman, 2012: 66). This absolute dedication of a passive lover that will do anything at the request of his haughty beloved, is an image that seems to be the same in some of the sonnets of both Wyatt and Spenser. It is however, only with close investigation that one realise how both these poets adapted the theme slightly to make it seem as if their sonnets followed the same poetic tradition, even though it disguised it as something different. Both Wyatt and Spenser changed the rhyme scheme of the Petrarchian sonnet, subsequently an indication of how both theses English