A Study Guide for Sir Philip Sidney's "Ye Goatherd Gods"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Sir Philip Sidney's "Ye Goatherd Gods," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Sep 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535843416

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08

Ye Goatherd Gods

Sir Philip Sidney

1593

Introduction

Published posthumously in 1593, having been written sometime between 1577 and 1580, Sir Philip Sidney's poem Ye Goatherd Gods was published as part of The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia. Generally shortened to Arcadia, this work is a collection of poems that collectively relate a pastoral romance; Sidney wrote the poems as a way to entertain his sister while he was staying with her. A pastoral work is one that concerns shepherds and their lives and is generally emotional and centered on love themes. Sidney actually wrote two versions of The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia. The first one (dubbed The Old Arcadia) was later revised, to be referred to as The New Arcadia.

Ye Goatherd Gods relates the woes of two shepherds who love the same woman. She has left them both, however, and the two shepherds are dejected and heartbroken. They cry out to the gods, to nature, and to the heavens in their angst, and everything they see is altered because of their sorrows. The poem is hyperbolic and highly emotional, with the two speakers engaged in a traditional pastoral singing match.

One of the features of Ye Goatherd Gods that makes it such a unique pastoral is that it is written in the form of a double sestina. This is a very specific form of poetry, one that requires discipline and command of language. Sidney so skillfully employs this form that the reader only notices it upon giving the poem careful