Astrophel and Stella: Elizabethan Sonnet Cycle (British Poets) - Softcover

Sidney, Sir Philip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 186171176X ISBN 13: 9781861711762

Publisher: Crescent Moon Publishing, 2013

Synopsis

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY: ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: ELIZABETHAN SONNET CYCLE Sir Philip Sidney’s ‘Astrophel and Stella’ is one of the major Elizabethan sonnet sequences, reprinted here in an attractive new edition. ‘Astrophel and Stella’ is a sonnet cycle of love poetry, and some of the finest verse in the English language. The book includes a note on Sir Philip Sidney, illustrations, and suggestions for further reading. Each poem has a page to itself. It's a useful edition for students. Sir Philip Sidney is one of the most well-known of Elizabethan sonneteers, and a key poet in contributing towards the fashionable success of the genre. Born in 1554 in Penshurst in Kent, Sidney was educated in Oxford (Christ Church) and Shrewsbury. Sidney was an ambassador (to the German Emperor in 1577), and involved in European politics (his European tour was 1572-1575). He was knighted in 1583, and was governor of Flushing in 1585. He died aged 31 in 1586, following wounds sustained in the Battle of Zutphen. Sir Philip Sidney’s works include ‘Arcadia’ (1577/ 86), ‘Defence of Poetry’, translations of psalms and du Bartas, sonnets for Penelope Rich (c. 1581), and ‘Astrophel and Stella’. ‘Astrophel and Stella’ was first published in 1591, and again in 1598 (where it was at back of the edition of ‘Arcadia’). It was apparently edited by the Countess of Pembroke, one of the principal figures in Elizabethan poetry. Illustrated. Bibliography and note. ISBN 9781861711762. 160 pages. www.crmoon.com

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Review

An Elizabethan sonnet sequence of 108 sonnets, interspersed with 11 songs, by Sir Philip Sidney, written in 1582 and published posthumously in 1591. The work is often considered the finest Elizabethan sonnet cycle after William Shakespeare's sonnets. The cycle tells the story of Stella ("star"), beloved by Astrophel ("star lover" or "beloved of a star," a play on Sidney's name), who loves poetry almost as much as he loves her. He details his passionate feelings for Stella, his struggles with conflicting emotions, and his final decision to abandon his pursuit of her in favor of a life of public service. In observance of contemporary poetic conventions, Sidney discourses in the sonnets on reason and passion, wit and will. The publication of Astrophel and Stella generated a vogue for the sonnet sequence, and among the English poets who responded was Edmund Spenser, who also wrote the elegy "Astrophel" after his friend Sidney's death in 1586. -- The Merriam-Webster Encylopedia of Literature

About this edition

• Publisher: Crescent Moon Publishing
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 186171176X
• ISBN 13: 9781861711762
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 168
• Editor: Tuley Mark