Pope, Alexander (1688-1744), was the greatest English poet of the early 1700’s. His brilliant verse satires ridiculed many kinds of human follies. Pope’s biting wit made him one of the most feared writers in England.
Pope wrote in heroic couplets, with two rhymed lines of 10 syllables each. His polished, concise verse shows a keen feeling for sound and rhythm. Pope has become one of the most quotable poets. He wrote many famous lines, including a couplet from An Essay on Criticism that expressed his literary creed:
Loading the player...An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope
True wit is Nature to advantage dress’d, What oft was thought, but ne’er so well express’d.
Pope’s career can be divided into three periods. During the first period, from about 1709 to 1715, he wrote An Essay on Criticism (1711). This witty poem about criticism and writing made him famous at the age of 23. It includes two famous lines: “A little learning is a dangerous thing” and “To err is human, to forgive divine.” Pope’s The Rape of the Lock (1712, 1714) is the most famous mock-epic poem in the English language. In the poem, Pope satirizes the vanities of fashionable people. The Rape of the Lock tells about a pretty young woman whose lock of hair is snipped off by a suitor at a party. A “battle of the sexes” follows, and Pope states his moral:
Loading the player...Oh! if to dance all night, and dress all day Charm’d the smallpox, or chased old age away, Who would not scorn what housewife’s cares produce, Or who would learn one earthly thing of use?
The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope
During his second period, from 1715 to 1726, Pope devoted himself to translating and editing. His translation of the Greek epic poem the Iliad (1715-1720) made him financially independent. With the profits, Pope bought a villa at Twickenham in 1719, and spent most of his remaining years there writing.
During his last period, Pope wrote his most serious satires. They express his belief in the value of common sense, a moral life, friendship, poetry, and good taste. An Essay on Man (1733-1734) is a long, ironic, philosophical poem. It includes the well-known line “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” Pope’s four Moral Essays (1731-1735) are satirical poems in the form of letters. One of these poems lightly exposes the follies that Pope saw in women, and another ridicules people who misuse wealth.
Imitations of Horace (1733-1738) is patterned after the famous verse epistles (letters) and satires of the Roman poet Horace. The poem is prefaced by “An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot” (1735). In this pleasant satire, Pope created a favorable picture of the poet as a man who is independent, good, and a lover of truth. In addition, the poem attacks Pope’s enemies, especially the author Joseph Addison.
Pope’s last major work was The Dunciad (1728-1743), an attack on dunces. The poem ridicules dull writers, biased critics, overly scholarly professors, and stupid scientists. Pope particularly ridiculed the critic Lewis Theobald and the writer Colley Cibber.
Pope was born in London on May 21, 1688. At age 12, he suffered a tubercular spinal infection. As a result, he grew to an adult height of only 4 feet 6 inches (137 centimeters) and developed a hunchback. Pope was extremely sensitive about his appearance. He died on May 30, 1744.
