SOURCE: “Sidney, Petrarch, and Ovid, or Imitation as Subversion,” in ELH: A Journal of English Literary History, Vol. 58, No. 3, Autumn, 1991, pp. 499–522.

In the following essay, Miller argues that Astrophel and Stella falls into the larger Petrarchan-Ovidian tradition, but Sidney uses the model to construct a lyric subjectivity that is uniquely his own.

Despite Sidney's repeated denials, the fact that he practiced extensive classical and Petrarchan imitation in Astrophil and Stella has been well established.¹ What remains to be asked is why and to what effect was this imitation employed? What was to be gained or lost by the poet? And how did his use of imitation affect the construction of the lyric subject whose voice dominates the collection? These questions cannot be answered simply by citing prevailing literary fashion or the spirit of the age. Such a strategy merely avoids the issue by moving to a higher level...