The first work of literary criticism in English literature comes from Sir Philip Sidney. One such Renaissance writer, Stephen Gosson, charged corruption for reasons that were probably personal in that he failed as a dramatist himself. Let us but shut our eyes to poets, pipers, and players, pull our feet back from resort to theaters, and turn away from the be- holding of vanity greatest storm of abuse will be overblown.
Poets therefore take part in the divine act of creation.
Man can thus enjoy what makes him divine. Poetry has a moral purpose, therefore, con sisting in leading men to truth by integrating, not dividing knowledge. History teaches and so does philosophy, but the poet is superior to both, since history deals with facts and records, ultimately hearsay, and the philosopher describes abstractions that often do not relate to the world as most people understand it. The poet affects feelings and does not just give examples. Poetry is more philosophical than history, as the historian is trapped with facts.