written." The late Mr. J. A. Symonds thought he could detect from the Sonnets exactly how and when Sidney's passion for Stella originated; and another ingenious commentator believes the Sonnets to record "a tragedy of Conflict, and that the Love went down to the very roots of both in their deepest." 3 This theory of a profound and all-pervading passion is contradicted by the facts of the case, by the character of Sidney, by the character of the Sonnets themselves. (1) It is opposed to the facts of the case. Penelope, Lady Rich, was the daughter of Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex. She made Sidney's acquaintance in 1576, when he was between twenty-one and twenty-two, and she herself less than fifteen. Her father was fond of him, and was desirous to bring about between him and his daughter one of those mariages de convenance which were common at the time; but there is nothing to show that the affections of either party were engaged; while, two years later, a letter written to Languet proves that Sidney had no inclination whatever to be fettered by matrimony. In 1581 Penelope was constrained to marry the second Lord Rich, who is said to have treated her with neglect and even harshness; with whom she, however, lived till 1592; after which they lived apart till 1604, when Lord Rich obtained a divorce, while Penelope married the Earl of Devonshire, by whom she had already had several illegitimate children. Beyond, therefore, what is said in the Sonnets, there is nothing to indicate that Sidney was ever really in love with Lady Rich, or she with him; on the other hand, her later history is not of a kind to lead one to conclude that, had there been genuine passion on both sides, the lover's advances would have been repelled with that severe regard for virtue which one enthusiastic biographer is disposed to set to the credit of the lady." (2) The theory of a romantic and boyish passion on 1 Household Book of English Poetry, pp. 390, 391. 3 Grosart, Complete Poems of Sir Philip Sidney, vol. i. P. lxvii. Grosart, Preface to the Complete Poems of Sir Philip Sidney. Sidney's side is inconsistent with what we know of his character. All testimony proves that from his earliest days he was distinguished by a certain gravity and seriousness of temper. By Languet, a religiously-minded Humanist, he had been taught to control his desires according to the half-Stoic doctrines favoured by that sect. The bent of his imagination caused him to interest himself deeply in public affairs, whether it were the cause of the Reformed Religion in Europe, the independence of England, or the great discoveries of travel and science, which seemed to open out boundless prospects to the active mind. To suppose that such a man, after having been seasoned in all the fashions of society, should suddenly have been carried away by an irresistible passion for a woman, with whom he had long been accustomed to associate without any feelings beyond those of simple friendship, and who had just become the wife of another, is as injurious to his intellect, as his readiness to blazon abroad his illicit relations with Stella, assuming that his passion was sincere, would be to his delicacy and sense of honour. (3) But in truth the Sonnets themselves are the best proof of the fictitious character of his feelings. They number 110, and so far from having been casual expressions of emotion, as the moment prompted, it is plain enough to the careful reader that the whole series form a regular design, the object being to exercise the imagination on a set theme according to the traditional rules of a particular poetical convention, which required, above all things, a display of "wit" by the poet, partly in placing a single thought in a great number of different lights, partly in decorating it with a vast variety of far-fetched metaphors. Throughout these Sonnets the poet will be found to conform to all the Petrarchan rules; his style differs from that of his master only in this, that while Petrarch seems often really to be moved by a genuine feeling of tenderness, Sidney's love analysis never once penetrates beyond the bounds of fancy. Let the reader examine one or two characteristic Sonnets, and then decide for himself whether the man who composed them was speaking the real language of the heart. The following Sonnet embodies the conceit common to the numberless poets of this school, that Love lies in ambush in the eye; the only addition made by Sidney to the usual convention is taken from the particular colour of Stella's eyes : Fly, fly, my friends; I have my death's wound, fly; As that sweet black which veils the heavenly eye; Here is a Sonnet which, based on a different image, is evidently modelled on Petrarch's Passa la nave mia: I on my horse, and Love on me doth try Our horsemanships, while by strange work I prove A horseman to my horse, a horse to Love, Are humbled thoughts, which bit of reverence move, Girt fast by Memory; and while I spur My horse he spurs with sharp desire my heart; He sits me fast, however I do stir, And now hath made me to his hand so right, That in the manage myself take delight.2 In other Sonnets words themselves cause excruciating efforts of metaphysical thought :— What may words say, or what may words not say, Within what bounds can one his liking stay, 1 Sir P. Sidney's Complete Poems (Grosart), vol. i. p. 30. When Nature doth with infinite agree? What Nestor's counsel can my flames allay Since Reason's self doth blow the coal in me? And, ah, what hope that Hope should once see day, Not thou by praise but praise in thee is raised : We The true inference to be drawn from sonnets, of which those that have been cited are only characteristic examples, is that such compositions are the work of a poet, and not of a historian or an autobiographer. In other words, they must not be read in a matter-of-fact spirit; at the same time, the facts and feelings recorded in them may be regarded as resting on a certain substratum of reality. The nearest analogy to Astrophel and Stella, is perhaps Pope's Elegy on an Unfortunate Lady, which, until an accident revealed the circumstances of its composition, was believed to be a faithful record of actual facts. Viewed in the light of this example it is not difficult to divine the proportions of fact and fiction out of which Astrophel and Stella is constituted. know that Penelope's father was anxious for her marriage with Sidney; that Sidney himself found something not unattractive in the idea; but that, as he wrote to Languet, there were considerations—whatever they may have been that stood in the way of the union. When he heard that she was to be married against her will to Lord Rich, he was indignant and disgusted; and it is probable enough that he may have believed his old feeling for her to have been warmer than was actually the case. It was, at any rate, strong enough at the moment to enable his imagination to conceive of their relations as resembling those of hundreds of lovers from the days of the Troubadours downwards; for I think it is hardly doubtful that the whole series of sonnets was designed 1 Sir P. Sidney's Complete Poems (Grosart), vol. i. p. 51. after the marriage had been accomplished, or at least after it was arranged.1 All the superstructure raised upon this groundwork of reality is, I imagine, purely poetical. It conforms at every point to the requirements of this kind of composition. Stella, of course, embodies in herself the manifold perfections which always inspire the lover; like Laura she is severely chaste, and even repellent; and the numerous situations which give rise to sonnets, such as the lover's sleeplessness, his feelings on hearing that Stella is sick, his despair at seeing her coach pass by without being able to obtain a look, and the kiss which he supposes himself to have stolen from her while she was asleep, are only ideal inventions necessary for the elaboration of the "concetti" which the Petrarchan tradition demands. 2 He was also inspired by another motive, which he reveals in the sonnet beginning "Let dainty wits cry on the Sisters nine," namely artistic opposition to the Euphuists. As against the party at Court which treated love as a subject to be developed with all the pedantry of the New Learning, he wished to assert the ancient and chivalrous tradition of Petrarch. Sonnet after sonnet sounds the note that love alone is an adequate source of inspiration, without the artificial supplement of science and learning. And, ideally speaking, there was undoubtedly something striking and pathetic in the situation of a lover who, when happiness was in his power, refrained from availing himself of his opportunities till it was too late. Whenever Sidney in imagination throws himself into this position, and leaves the purely conventional celebration of Stella's perfections, his sonnets reach a very high degree of poetical excellence; for example :— 1 This inference is based on Sonnet ii. v. 5, "I saw, and liked; I liked, but loved not," which explains the nature of Sidney's feelings before the marriage on Sonnet xxxiii. beginning : I might unhappy word-O me, I might, And then would not, or could not, see my bliss; and on Sonnet xxxvii. when he says that Stella "hath no misfortune but that Rich she is "; showing that when this was written she was actually married. 2 See ante p. 197. |