Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (c. 1727), an English poet best known for his Essay on Criticism, Rape of the Lock and The Dunciad
Born	May 21, 1688(1688-05-21) London
Died	May 30, 1744 (aged 56)
Occupation	Poet

Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) is generally regarded as the greatest English poet of the eighteenth century,^[1] best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. Events Jonathan Swift revisits England this year and stays with his friend Alexander Pope until the visit is cut short when Swift gets word that The English people (from the adjective in Englisc) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to England who predominantly speak English An Essay on Criticism was the first major poem written by the English writer Alexander Pope (1688-1744 The Rape of the Lock is a Mock-heroic Narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany The Dunciad (ˈdʌnsiˌæd is a landmark literary Satire by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times Events 878 - Syracuse Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Year 1744 ( MDCCXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" Events 878 - Syracuse Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily. Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Year 1744 ( MDCCXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the He is the third most frequently quoted writer in the English language, after Shakespeare and Tennyson. William Shakespeare ( baptised Alfred Tennyson 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892 was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and remains one of the most popular English poets ^[2] Pope was a master of the heroic couplet. A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English Poetry, commonly used for epic and Narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a

Early life

Pope was born in the City of London to Alexander (senior, a linen merchant) and Edith Pope (née Turner), who were both Roman Catholic. For London as a whole see the main article London. The City of London is a geographically Cloth merchant is strictly speaking like a Draper, the term for any vendor of cloth Pope's education was affected by the laws in force at the time upholding the status of the established Church of England, which banned Catholics from teaching on pain of perpetual imprisonment. In the most general sense penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation as opposed to civil law that seeks A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or Creed officially The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Pope was taught to read by his aunt and then sent to two surreptitious Catholic schools, at Twyford and at Hyde Park Corner. Twyford School is a preparatory school located in the village of Twyford, Hampshire. Catholic schools, while illegal, were tolerated in some areas.

From early childhood he suffered numerous health problems, including Pott's disease^[3] (a form of tuberculosis affecting the spine) which deformed his body and stunted his growth, no doubt helping to end his life at the relatively young age of 56. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common In Human anatomy, the vertebral column ( backbone or spine) is a column of 34 Vertebrae the Sacrum, Intervertebral He never grew beyond 1. 37 metres (4 feet 6 inches) tall. Although he never married, he had many women friends and wrote them witty letters.

In 1700, his family was forced to move to a small estate in Binfield, Berkshire due to strong anti-Catholic sentiment and a statute preventing Catholics from living within 10 miles of either London or Westminster. Binfield is a Village and Civil parish in the Bracknell Forest borough of Berkshire, England. Berkshire (ˈbɑːkʃə or /ˈbɑːkʃɪə/ say Baak-shuh/-sheer sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a Home County in the South Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for Discrimination, hostility or Prejudice directed at the Roman Catholic Church or its followers London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Westminster is an area of Central London, within the City of Westminster. Pope would later describe the countryside around the house in his poem Windsor Forest.

With his formal education now at an end, Pope embarked on an extensive campaign of reading. As he later remembered: "In a few years I had dipped into a great number of the English, French, Italian, Latin, and Greek poets. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c POETS day is a term used by workers in England and Australia, to jocularly refer to Friday as the last day of the Work week. This I did without any design but that of pleasing myself, and got the languages by hunting after the stories. . . rather than read the books to get the languages. " His very favourite author was Homer, whom he had first read aged eight in the English translation of John Ogilby. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the John Ogilby (November 1600 &ndash September 4, 1676) was a Scottish Translator, Impresario and Cartographer. Pope was already writing verse: he claimed he wrote one poem, Ode to Solitude, at the age of twelve. Ode on Solitude is a poem by Alexander Pope, written when he was twelve years old, and widely included in anthologies

At Binfield, he also began to make many important friends. One of them, John Caryll (the future dedicatee of The Rape of the Lock), was two decades older than the poet and had made many acquaintances in the London literary world. The Rape of the Lock is a Mock-heroic Narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany He introduced the young Pope to the aging playwright William Wycherley and to William Walsh, a minor poet, who helped Pope revise his first major work, The Pastorals. William Wycherley ( c 1640 – 31 December 1715) was an English Dramatist of the Restoration period William Walsh (1663 &ndash 1708 English Poet and Critic, son of Joseph Walsh of Abberley Hall, Worcestershire. The three pastoral epistles are books of the canonical New Testament: the First Epistle to Timothy ( 1 Timothy) the He also met the Blount sisters, Martha and Teresa, who would remain lifelong friends.

Early literary career

First published in 1710 in a volume of Poetical Miscellanies by Jacob Tonson, The Pastorals brought instant fame to the twenty-year-old Pope. Year 1710 ( MDCCX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year Jacob Tonson, sometimes referred to as Jacob Tonson the elder (1655/6–1736 was an 18th-century English Bookseller and Publisher. The three pastoral epistles are books of the canonical New Testament: the First Epistle to Timothy ( 1 Timothy) the They were followed by An Essay on Criticism (1711), which was equally well received, although it incurred the wrath of the prominent critic John Dennis, the first of the many literary enmities which would play such a great role in Pope's life and writings. An Essay on Criticism was the first major poem written by the English writer Alexander Pope (1688-1744 John Dennis may refer to John Dennis (dramatist (1657-1734 English dramatist John Stoughton Dennis, Canadian surveyor Windsor Forest (1713) is a topographical poem celebrating the "Tory Peace" at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. Topographical poetry or loco-descriptive poetry is a genre of poetry that describes and often praises a landscape or place In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714 several European powers combined to stop French succession to the Spanish throne and what would likely have been a resulting

Around 1711, Pope made friends with the Tory writers John Gay, Jonathan Swift and John Arbuthnot, as well as the Whigs Joseph Addison and Richard Steele. In the political tradition of some English-speaking countries, the term Tory has referred to a variety of political parties and Creeds since it was John Gay ( 30 June, 1685 - 4 December, 1732) was an English Poet and Dramatist. Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 John Arbuthnot, often known simply as Dr Arbuthnot, ( baptised 29 April, 1667 &ndash 27 February, 1735) was a physician The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to Joseph Addison (May 1 1672 – June 17 1719 was an English essayist and Poet. This is about Richard Steele Irish writer and politician for others see Richard Steele (disambiguation page Pope's friendship with Addison would later cool and he would satirise him as "Atticus" in his Epistle to Doctor Arbuthnot.

Pope, Gay, Swift, Arbuthnot and Thomas Parnell formed the Scriblerus Club in 1712. This article is about the poet Thomas Parnell (scientist started the Pitch drop experiment in 1927 Thomas Parnell ( 11 The Scriblerus Club was an informal group of friends that included Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Henry St Year 1712 ( MDCCXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap The aim of the club was to satirise ignorance and pedantry in the form of the fictional scholar Martinus Scriblerus. Pope's major contribution to the club would be Peri Bathous, or the Art of Sinking in Poetry (1728), a parodic guide on how to write bad verse.

Title page and frontispiece by George Vertue of Pope's Miscellany of Poems, the 1726 Fifth Edition. George Vertue (1684 &ndash July 24, 1756) was an English Engraver and Antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the

The Rape of the Lock (two-canto version, The Rape of the Locke, 1712; revised version in five cantos, 1714) is perhaps Pope's most popular poem. The Rape of the Lock is a Mock-heroic Narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany It is a mock-heroic epic, written to make fun of a high society quarrel between Arabella Fermor (the "Belinda" of the poem) and Lord Petre, who had snipped a lock of hair from her head without her permission. Mock-heroic or heroi-comic works are typically Satires or Parodies that mock common Classical stereotypes of Heroes and heroic literature Robert Petre 7th Baron Petre, ( 1689 – 22 March 1713) was a British peer, the son of Thomas Petre 6th Baron Petre

In 1714, the political situation worsened with the death of Queen Anne and the disputed succession between the Hanoverians and the Jacobites, leading to the attempted Jacobite invasion of 1715. The House of Hanover (the Hanoverians) is a Germanic royal Dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg Jacobitism was (and to a limited extent remains the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings rebellions and wars in the kingdoms of England, Kingdom of Scotland (later the United Kingdom of Great Britain Though Pope as a Catholic might be expected to have supported the Jacobites, according to Maynard Mack, "where Pope himself stood on these matters can probably never be confidently known". These events led to an immediate downturn in the fortunes of the Tories, and Pope's friend, Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke fled to France. Henry St John 1st Viscount Bolingbroke ( 16 September 1678 &ndash 12 December 1751) was an English politician and philosopher

The climax of Pope's early career was the publication of his Works in 1717. As well as the poems mentioned above, the volume included the first appearance of Eloisa to Abelard and Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady; and several shorter works, of which perhaps the best are the epistles to Martha Blount. Published in 1717 Eloisa to Abelard is a poem by Alexander Pope (1688&ndash1744 The "Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady" is a poem in heroic Couplets by Alexander Pope, first published in his Works of 1717

The middle years: Homer and Shakespeare

A likeness of Pope derived from a portrait] by William Hoare^[4]

Pope had been fascinated by Homer since childhood. William Hoare RA ( c 1707 &ndash 12 December, 1792) was an English painter, noted for his Pastels His father In 1713, he announced his plans to publish a translation of Homer's Iliad. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient The work would be available by subscription, with one volume appearing every year over the course of six years. Pope secured a revolutionary deal with the publisher Bernard Lintot, which brought him two hundred guineas a volume. Barnaby Bernard Lintot ("Lintott" before 1724 usually referred to as "Bernard" and very rarely as "Barnaby" ( December 1, 1675 - The guinea coin of 1663 was the first English machine-struck Gold coin.

The commercial success of his translation made Pope the first English poet who could live off the sales of his work alone, "indebted to no prince or peer alive", as he put it. His translation of the Iliad duly appeared between 1715 and 1720. It was later acclaimed by Samuel Johnson as "a performance which no age or nation could hope to equal" (although the classical scholar Richard Bentley wrote: "It is a pretty poem, Mr. Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September Richard Bentley ( January 27, 1662 &ndash July 14, 1742) was an English Theologian, classical scholar and Pope, but you must not call it Homer. "). The money he made allowed Pope to move to a villa at Twickenham in 1719, where he created a famous grotto and gardens. The grotto he decorated with alabaster, marbles, ores such as mundic, crystals: Cornish diamonds, stalactites, spars, snakestones and spongestone. A grotto (Italian grotta) is any type of natural or artificial Cave that is associated with modern historic or prehistoric use by humans Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct Minerals Gypsum (a hydrous sulfate of Calcium) and Calcite Marble is a nonfoliated Metamorphic rock resulting from the Metamorphism of Limestone, composed mostly of Calcite (a crystalline form of Mundic was used from the 1690s to describe a copper ore which began to be smelted at Bristol and elsewhere in southwestern Britain. Quartz (from German) is the most abundant Mineral in the Earth 's Continental crust (although Feldspar is more common in A stalactite ( Greek stalaktites, (Σταλακτίτης from the word for "drip" and meaning "that which drips" is a type of Speleothem In Sailing, a spar is also know as a round pole of wood or Metal used on a Sailing ship. Adder stone is a type of stone usually glassy with a naturally-occurring hole through it Pumice is a textural term for a volcanic rock that is a solidified frothy lava composed of highly microvesicular glass Pyroclastic with very thin translucent Here and there he placed mirrors (very expensive embellishments for those times). He also installed a camera obscura to delight his visitors, of whom there were many. The camera obscura (Latin dark chamber) is an optical device used for example in drawing or for entertainment The serendipitous discovery of a spring during its excavations enabled the subterranean retreat to fill with the relaxing sound of trickling waters, which quietly echoes around its exotic chambers. Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate especially while looking for something else entirely Pope was said to have remarked that: “Were it to have nymphs as well – it would be complete in everything. In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human female form “ Although house and gardens have long since been demolished or destroyed, much of this grotto still survives. It is opened to the public once a year. ^[5]

Encouraged by the very favourable reception of the Iliad, Pope translated the Odyssey. The Odyssey ( Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. The translation appeared in 1725–1726, but this time, confronted with the arduousness of the task, he enlisted the help of William Broome and Elijah Fenton. Events Scot James Thomson moves to London where he continues writing poetry and becomes a playwright living first in East Barnet and later Richmond Events Works published Henry Carey, Namby Pamby, including fragments of many still-popular nursery rhymes such as "London Bridge William Broome (1689 - 1745 was an English Poet and Translator. Elijah Fenton (1683–1730 was a Poet, biographer and translator Pope attempted to conceal the extent of the collaboration (he himself translated only twelve books, Broome eight and Fenton four), but the secret leaked out. It did some damage to Pope's reputation for a time, but not to his profits.

In this period Pope also brought out an edition of Shakespeare, which silently "regularised" his metre and rewrote his verse in several places. William Shakespeare ( baptised Lewis Theobald and other scholars attacked Pope's edition, incurring Pope's wrath and inspiring the first version of his satire The Dunciad (1728), the first of the moral and satiric poems of his last period. Lewis Theobald (baptised April 2, 1688 &ndash September 18, 1744) British textual editor and author was a landmark figure both The Dunciad (ˈdʌnsiˌæd is a landmark literary Satire by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times Events Works published John Gay, Beggar's Opera Alexander Pope, The Dunciad, Books I-III Alexander Pope became a freemason and member of the Premier Grand Lodge of England. The Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on 24 June 1717 as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster and it existed until 1813 when it ^[6][7]

Alexander Pope, by Jean-Baptiste van Loo, ca 1742 (Lewis Walpole Library)

Later career: "An Essay on Man" and satires

Though the Dunciad was first published anonymously in Dublin, its authorship was not in doubt. Jean-Baptiste van Loo ( 14 January 1684 &ndash 19 December 1745) was a French subject and portrait painter The Lewis Walpole Library in Farmington Connecticut possesses important collections of eighteenth-century English literary manuscripts and books including the preeminent gathering Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. As well as Theobald, it pilloried a host of other "hacks", "scribblers" and "dunces". Mack called its publication "in many ways the greatest act of folly in Pope's life". Though a masterpiece, "it bore bitter fruit. It brought the poet in his own time the hostility of its victims and their sympathizers, who pursued him implacably from then on with a few damaging truths and a host of slanders and lies. . . ". The threats were physical too. According to his sister, Pope would never go for a walk without the company of his Great Dane, Bounce, and a pair of loaded pistols in his pocket. The Great Dane, Danish Hound, or German Mastiff, is a breed of Domestic dog (

In 1731, Pope published his "Epistle to Burlington", on the subject of architecture, the first of four poems which would later be grouped under the title Moral Essays (1731-35). The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation Moral Essays (also known as Epistles to Several Persons) is a series of four poems on ethical subjects by Alexander Pope, published between 1731 and In the epistle, Pope ridiculed the bad taste of the aristocrat "Timon". Pope's enemies claimed he was attacking the Duke of Chandos and his estate, "Cannons". Though the charge was untrue, it did Pope a great deal of damage.

Around this time, Pope began to grow discontented with the ministry of Robert Walpole and drew closer to the opposition led by Bolingbroke, who had returned to England in 1725. Robert Walpole 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC (26 August 1676 &ndash 18 March 1745 known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a Inspired by Bolingbroke's philosophical ideas, Pope wrote An Essay on Man (1733-4). An Essay on Man is a poem published by Alexander Pope in 1734. He published the first part anonymously, in a cunning and successful ploy to win praise from his fiercest critics and enemies.

The Imitations of Horace followed (1733-38). These were written in the popular Augustan form of the "imitation" of a classical poet, not so much a translation of his works as an updating with contemporary references. Pope used the model of Horace to satirise life under George II, especially what he regarded as the widespread corruption tainting the country under Walpole's influence and the poor quality of the court's artistic taste. Quintus Horatius Flaccus, ( Venosa, December 8, 65 BC - Rome, November 27, 8 BC known in the English-speaking world as Horace George II (George Augustus 10 November 1683 &ndash 25 October 1760 was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (

Pope also added a wholly original poem, An Epistle to Doctor Arbuthnot, as an introduction to the "Imitations". The "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot" is a poem written by Alexander Pope and completed in the summer of 1734 It reviews his own literary career and includes the famous portraits of Lord Hervey ("Sporus") and Addison ("Atticus"). John Hervey 2nd Baron Hervey ( October 13, 1696 &ndash August 5, 1743) English courtier and political writer and memoirist was In 1738 he wrote the Universal Prayer. Year 1738 ( MDCCXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or ^[8]

After 1738, Pope wrote little. He toyed with the idea of composing a patriotic epic in blank verse called Brutus, but only the opening lines survive. His major work in these years was revising and expanding his masterpiece The Dunciad. The Dunciad (ˈdʌnsiˌæd is a landmark literary Satire by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times Book Four appeared in 1742, and a complete revision of the whole poem in the following year. In this version, Pope replaced the "hero", Lewis Theobald, with the poet laureate Colley Cibber as "king of dunces". Colley Cibber (ˈkɒli ˈsɪbɚ (11 June 1671 &ndash 12 November 1757 was a British actor-manager playwright and Poet Laureate. By now Pope's health, which had never been good, was failing, and he died in his villa surrounded by friends on May 30, 1744. Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Year 1744 ( MDCCXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a On the previous day, May 29, 1744, Pope called for a priest and received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Year 1744 ( MDCCXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a He lies buried in the nave of the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Twickenham. Twickenham is a suburb in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in south west London.

Literary legacy

The death of Alexander Pope from Museus, a threnody by William Mason. A threnody is a Song or Hymn of Mourning composed or performed as a Memorial to a dead person ( Synonyms include Dirge William Mason (1724 &ndash 1797 was an English Poet, editor and Gardener. Diana holds the dying Pope, and John Milton, Edmund Spenser, and Geoffrey Chaucer prepare to welcome him to heaven. In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt, being associated with wild animals and woodland and also of the Moon. John Milton ( 9 December, 1608 – 8 November, 1674) was an English Poet, Prose Polemicist and Edmund Spenser (c 1552 &ndash 13 January, 1599) was an important English Poet and Poet Laureate best known for The Geoffrey Chaucer (c 1343 – 25 October 1400? was an English author poet Philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and Diplomat.

The poetry of Alexander Pope holds an acknowledged place in the canon of English literature, although his work has gone in and out of fashion. One edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations includes no fewer than 212 quotations from Pope.

Some quotations from Pope's work have passed so deeply into the English language that they are often taken as proverbial by those who do not know their source: "A little learning is a dang'rous thing" (from the Essay on Criticism); "To err is human, to forgive, divine" (ibid. An Essay on Criticism was the first major poem written by the English writer Alexander Pope (1688-1744 ); "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread" (ibid); "Hope springs eternal in the human breast" and "The proper study of mankind is man" (Essay on Man). An Essay on Man is a poem published by Alexander Pope in 1734. This would have greatly pleased Pope, who wrote:

True wit is nature to advantage dress’d;

What oft was thought, but ne’er so well express’d.

Pope dominated his age to an extent few writers before or since have matched. After his death, it was almost inevitable a reaction would set in against his poetry, especially with the first stirrings of Romanticism in the late eighteenth century. Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the

In An Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope (1756 and 1782), Joseph Warton denied Pope was a "true poet", merely a "man of wit" and a "man of sense". Joseph Warton (April 1722 &ndash 23 February 1800 was an English academic and Literary critic. In his Lives of the Poets Doctor Johnson countered: ". Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September . . It is surely superfluous to answer the question that has once been asked, whether Pope was a poet, otherwise than by asking in return, if Pope be not a poet, where is poetry to be found?". But he was fighting a losing battle against changing taste.

The Romantics had little time for Pope, with the notable exception of Lord Byron, who acclaimed him as “the great moral poet of all times, of all climes, of all feelings, and all stages of existence”. Keats dismissed the style of writers who wrote in heroic couplets, saying:

They sway'd about upon a rocking horse,

And thought it Pegasus. (Sleep and Poetry)

In the Victorian era, Matthew Arnold dismissed Pope and Dryden as "classics of our prose". Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 &ndash 15 April 1888 was an English Poet, and Cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools John Dryden (– was an influential English poet Literary critic, Translator and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England The 19th century considered his diction artificial, his versification too regular, and his satires insufficiently humane. The third charge has been disputed by various 20th century critics including William Empson, and the first does not apply at all to his best work. Sir William Empson ( 27 September 1906 – 15 April 1984) was an English Literary critic That Pope was constrained by the demands of "acceptable" diction and prosody is undeniable, but the elegance and flexibility with which Pope used this technique shows that great poetry could be written with these constraints. His expression is concise and forceful, conveying emotion as well as reason and wit.

In his time Pope was famous for his witty satires and aggressive, bitter quarrels with other writers. When his edition of William Shakespeare was attacked, he answered with the savage burlesque The Dunciad (1728), which was widened in 1742. The Dunciad (ˈdʌnsiˌæd is a landmark literary Satire by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times It ridiculed bad writers, scientists, and critics: "While pensive poets painful vigils keep, / Sleepless themselves to give their readers sleep. " With the growth of Romanticism Pope's poetry was increasingly seen as outdated and the 'Age of Pope' ended. It was not until the 1930s that any serious attempts were made to rediscover the poet's work.

Beliefs

Pope's religious beliefs are the subject of speculation. It has been suggested that he leaned towards Deism or some form of rationalistic Pantheism. Deism is the belief that a supreme God exists and created the physical universe and that religious truths can be arrived at by the application of reason alone without dependence on revelation Pantheism ( Greek: πάν ( 'pan') = all and θεός ( 'theos') = God it literally means " God is All Literary critic, Hayden Carruth, said that it was "Pope's rationalism and pan-deism with which he wrote the greatest mock-epic in English literature". Literary criticism is the study discussion evaluation and interpretation of Literature. Hayden Carruth ( August 3, 1921 – September 29, 2008) was an American Poet and Literary critic. In Epistemology and in its broadest sense rationalism is "any view appealing to Reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286 Pandeism or Pan-Deism ( Greek πάν, 'pan' = ' all ' and Latin Deus = God, in the sense of Deism ^[9]

Works

Pope's house at Twickenham, showing the grotto. Twickenham is a suburb in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in south west London. A grotto (Italian grotta) is any type of natural or artificial Cave that is associated with modern historic or prehistoric use by humans From a watercolour produced soon after his death.

• (1709) Pastorals
• (1711) An Essay on Criticism
• (1712) The Rape of the Lock
• (1713) Windsor Forest
• (1715-1720) Translation of the Iliad
• (1717) Eloisa to Abelard
• (1717) Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady
• (1725-1726) Translation of the Odyssey
• (1728) The Dunciad
• (1734) Essay on Man
• (1735) The Prologue to the Satires (see the Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot and Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?)

References

See also

• Spalding Gentlemen’s Society

External links

• Works by Alexander Pope at Project Gutenberg
• University of Toronto "Representative Poetry Online" page on Pope
• Various biographies:
  • http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/apope.htm
  • http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~sconstan/popebio.html
  • http://www.island-of-freedom.com/POPE.HTM
  • http://members.aol.com/basfawlty/pope.htm]
• Famous Quotes by Alexander Pope
• A copy of "An Essay on Criticism"
• Project Gutenberg e-text of An Essay On Man
• Pope's Grave
• The Twickenham Museum - Alexander Pope
• Alexander Pope in Twickenham
• St Mary Twickenham: Alexandra Pope Accessed 2007-08-09
• Richmond Libraries’ Local Studies Collection. The Spalding Gentlemen’s Society is one of the Learned societies of the United Kingdom. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works Local History Notes: Alexander Pope 1688-1744 Accessed 2007-08-09
•   "Alexander Pope". Catholic Encyclopedia. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.  
• Essay on Pope