"Loving in Truth" by Sir Philip Sidney: An Analysis

"Loving in Truth" by Sir Philip Sidney: An Analysis

Loving in Truth by Sir Philip Sidney is the opening sonnet from the sonnet series, Astrophel and Stella (1591). Astrophel and Stella is a collection of 108 sonnets and 11 songs. Astrophel (star-gazer) is Sidney himself and Stella (star) is his beloved Penelope Devereux who married Lord Rich.

Loving in Truth is a sonnet about Sidney's thought about poetic creation which is elaborated in his essay, Apology for Poetry. Sidney asserts poetry comes from the inner, not from the outside effort which is later suggested by Wordsworth in his Preface to Lyrical Ballads by defining poetry as the 'spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling'.

Sidney opines in this sonnet 'invention nature's child' and study is like a stepmother who treats children not with love but with blow. This sonnet starts with the poet's desire to write a poem to impress his beloved. He wanted to impress his beloved by expressing his true love for his beloved and also his heartfelt pain. But going to do so he faced a great problem. He didn't find appropriate words to express his inner heart. Then he searched in other books if from them he would be able to find fruitful showers for his sun-burnt brain. But words didn't come spontaneously, even the words didn't match with his thought. 

Then when he was in a very morbid situation, became depressed, and didn't find out what he would do to express his inner thought to write his poetry, he tortured his brain in spite, at that moment Muse came and addressed him 'fool', and advised him to "look in thy heart and write". The poet is called a 'fool' by the Muse because he followed the wrong way to write poetry. After all, invention is nature's child and study is stepmother. Loving in Truth is more about poetic creation than about love.  Here Sidney exerts his poetic theory. He says that poetry will come from the inner not from the outside; it is spontaneous. By outside efforts or by taking help from others none will be able to compose or create any invention or creation. To invent something or to create poetry one should look in his or her heart.