Sidney, following Aristotle's concept of

Mimesis, defines poetry as an art of imitation.

He explains imitation as representation the aim
of which is to teach, and to delight. He explains
three kinds of poetry—(I) divine poetry such
as is to be found in the Bible
(II) philosophical and moral poetry produced
by ancient poets and (III) proper poetry the
sort with which Sidney is directly concerned. It
is this third kind of poetry which imitates, it
delights and teaches; and "moves" the minds to
goodness.
Then Sidney proceeds to elaborate the view
that poetry is an imitation. The poet, like other
men learning, imitates the objects of Nature.
However, the poet goes beyond Nature. The
poet is carried forward and upward by the
vigour of his own invention and imagination, in
fact, build up another Nature. The poet either
makes things better than those which exist in
Nature, or makes absolutely new forms such as
do not exist in Nature before. The poet creates
such new forms as the demi-gods, Cyclops, and
Furies. The world, which the poet depicts in his
work, is more beautiful than the real world.
As Sidney puts it, the poet "transcends
Nature".
According to Sidney, Poetry teaches and
delights; but that is not all. Sidney also points
out the power of poetry to move the
mind and to stir the heart. It is by its power to
move the minds it influences the behaviour and
conduct. After reading Homer's Odyssey, and
after going through the incident of Aeneas
everybody would like to perform a deed of
similar virtue. Menenius Agrippa, the statesman
was able by using a poetical device in his
oration, to avert a civil war in Rome. These
examples show that the poet, using delight as
his instrument, influences the mind of the
readers more effectively than any other art
does. As virtue is the most excellent end of all
worldly learning, so is poetry the most familiar
way to teach virtue. It is wrong to condemn or
censure poetry in any of its forms, says Sidney.
Sidney regards poetry as the most fruitful
form of knowledge and therefore as
the monarch of all branches of learning. In
this way, Sidney glorifies poetry and ranks it
not only above philosophy and history but
also above the sciences like astronomy and
geometry. He goes to the extreme when he
says: "I still and utterly deny that there is,
sprung out of earth, a more fruitful knowledge
(than poetry).
As regards the stylistic qualities of poetry.
Sidney has some very useful suggestions to
offer. He condemns the use of gaudy and
ostentatious diction which he compares to a
prostitute who has tried to beautify herself by
an excessive use of cosmetics. He condemns
the use of far-fetched words which appear like
strangers to readers. He also condemns the,
fantastic devices which were used in his time to
make the writing appear attractive. He
condemns those writers who maintained a
collection of high-sounding words. He
censures the poets for drawing their metaphors
from all kinds of miscellaneous sources such as
the stories of beasts, birds, and fishes. He also
says that an excess in the use of metaphors is
highly undesirable. A metaphor should be used
only to make an idea more clear and to
convince a reader. Beyond that, it is a waste of
words to use metaphors.
Another very important point which Sidney
makes is that rhyme, or verse, or metre is not
indispensable to poetry. He says, "It is not
rhyming and versing that maketh a poet",
just as it is not a long gown which maketh
an advocate. The poet is recognized by the
notable images of virtues and vices which he
offers in his work, and which impart both
delight and instruction. The work of a poet is
distinguished by its delightful teaching.
However, Sidney admits that a large majority of
poets have written in metre. Here we find it
difficult to agree with Sidney. It is true that
many other writers too have regarded metre as
an ornament of poetry and as a device which
lends greater charm to poetry; but this is only a
theoretical position.
Poetry has been the first light-giver to
ignorance and the first nurse. The earliest
recorded or preserved utterance of any nation
is a-form of poetic expression alone. The
ancients delivered wisdom only through poetry.
Sidney emphasizes the antiquity of poetry. The
first philosophers and scientists came before
the people in the garb of Poets. As philosophers
and scientists they could not get any audience.
The beauty of their writings depended mostly
on poetry.