Praising the Sidney Family

Because of the genre of the poem, its primary focus is offering celebration and praise for the Sidney family, at this time represented by Robert Sidney, first Earl of Leicester, and his wife Barbara Gamage Sidney. In the genre of the country house poem, a poet bestows praise on a family or family member (often a literary patron) through an elaborate description of the patron's house. In the case of "To Penshurst," Jonson celebrates the notable Sidney family through a tour of Penshurst, the ancestral Sidney home.

As such, Penshurst becomes a symbol of the Sidneys and their involvement in English society. The speaker makes the argument at the beginning and end of the poem that, while other houses may have more elaborate structures and decor, Penshurst has a strong and admirable foundation that has lasted much longer than any others. He begins...