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Leaves of Grass
11-01-2006, 07:57 PM
I was just wondering what your take is of Astrophil and Stella by Sir Philip Sidney?:D
Rosalind
11-01-2006, 10:04 PM
Oh, Sidney. He's adorable. I like 'Astrophil and Stella' because while it's completely fluffy, it's a pleasure to read, both in style and substance. Besides, jousting knights amuse me a great deal. You?
cuppajoe_9
11-01-2006, 10:31 PM
I don't much care for it, I'm afraid. The whole Tudor codified courtly love thing doesn't appeal to me at all. I like Raleigh and Shakespeare, but generally I like the metaphysical poets a lot more than the Elizabethan ones.
Rosalind
11-01-2006, 11:38 PM
Well, if it's a choice between sitting down and discussing Sidney or Donne, then there's no debate, but I do think that Sidney's very fun. I don't know, I'm surprisingly tolerant of the Tudor courtly love conventions, which is probably hypocritical of me, since I grip constantly about courtly love in French medieval lit, and because as soon as somebody like Spenser gets his hands on the subject, I shut the book.

I am know going to back away slowly, in case of attack by angry Spenserians. ;)
cuppajoe_9
11-02-2006, 12:35 AM
I am know going to back away slowly, in case of attack by angry Spenserians. ;)

Good idea. I made fun of The Epithalamion in one of my threads, now buried, and was immediately torn to shreads.

But seriously, "like bowle of creme uncrudded"?
bluevictim
11-09-2006, 03:08 PM
... as soon as somebody like Spenser gets his hands on the subject, I shut the book.

I am know going to back away slowly, in case of attack by angry Spenserians. ;)How fitting that Rosalind should have scornful words for Spenser!
sybilline
11-10-2006, 06:34 AM
I think there is less strength of feeling in "Astrophel and Stella" than in Shakespeare's sonnets, published a few years after, so that Sidney's sonnets look old fashioned. Furthermore, the preciosity of his style contrasts with the day to day reality of life that he likes to emphasize so much, which impedes his creativity to shine. He is a poet of his age, of which he has inherited the qualities and the defects. But one cannot deny he is a great artist.