An Essay on Criticism

By Alexander Pope

This early work by Alexander Pope was originally published in 1711 and we are now republishing it with a brand new biography. An Essay in Criticism was written in heroic couplet style, a moderately new genre of poetry at the time, and was penned in response to the debate on the question of whether poetry should be natural, or written according to predetermined rules inherited from the classical past. Pope's most famous verse was The Rape of the Lock, first published in 1712, with a revised version published in 1714. As a poet he was deficient in originality and creative power, and thus was inferior to his prototype, Dryden, but as a literary artist, and brilliant declaimer satirist and moralizer in verse he is still unrivalled. He is the English Horace, and will as surely descend with honors to the latest posterity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Press
• Release date: Dec 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781473398627

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was an English poet. Born in London to a family of Catholics who were later expelled from the city during a period of religious persecution, Pope was largely self-educated, and struggled with numerous illnesses from a young age. At 23, he wrote the discursive poem An Essay on Criticism (1711), a manifesto on the art of poetry which gained him the admiration and acclaim of influential critics and writers of his day. His most famous poem, The Rape of the Lock (1712), is a mock epic which critiques aristocratic English society while showcasing Pope’s mastery of poetic form, particularly the use of the heroic couplet. Pope produced highly acclaimed translations of the Iliad and Odyssey, which transformed Homer’s ancient Greek dactylic hexameter into a contemporary rhyming English verse. His work The Dunciad (1728-1743), originally published anonymously in Dublin, is a satirical poem which lampoons English literary society and criticizes the moral and intellectual decay of British life. Second only to Shakespeare for the frequency with which he is quoted, Alexander Pope succumbed to his illnesses at the age of 56 while at the height of his fame and productivity.

Book preview

AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM

by

ALEXANDER POPE

WITH INTRODUCTORY AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.

Copyright © 2013 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Contents

AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM

Alexander Pope

PART I.

PART II.

PART III.

LINE NOTES

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope was born on 21 May 1688, in London, England. He was the son of Alexander Pope Snr., a Catholic linen merchant of Plough Court, Lombard Street, London. Pope’s early education was affected by his religion and the recently enacted Test Acts, which banned Catholics from the teaching profession, universities, voting and public office. He was consequently taught to read by his aunt, and thereafter went to the local Twyford School. Pope then attended two Catholic schools in the vicinity, which, whilst illegal, were tolerated in some areas. In 1700, his family moved to a small estate at Popeswood in Binfield, Berkshire, close to the royal Windsor Forest. This was due to strong anti-Catholic sentiment and a statute preventing Catholics from living within 10 miles of either London or Westminster.

At Binfield, he began to make many important friends. One of them, John Caryll (the future dedicatee of The Rape of the Lock), had many acquaintances in the London literary world and introduced the young Pope to the playwright William Wycherley and the poet, William Walsh, who helped Pope revise his first major work, The Pastorals. This was published in 1709 and brought Pope instant fame. He followed up on this success with An Essay in Criticism, published in 1711. This poem was written in heroic couplet style, a moderately new genre of poetry at the time, and was penned in response to the debate on the question of whether poetry should be natural, or written according to predetermined rules inherited from the classical past. Pope’s most famous verse was The Rape of the Lock, first published in 1712, with a revised version published in 1714. A mock-epic, it satirised a high-society quarrel between Arabella Fermor and Lord Petre, who had snipped a lock of hair from her head without her permission. The satirical style is tempered, however, by a genuine and almost voyeuristic interest in the ‘beau-monde’ of eighteenth century English society. Pope always felt himself an outsider; he suffered numerous health problems, such as Pott’s disease (a form of tuberculosis that affects the bone), which left him with a hunchback and stunted growth. This sense of being an outcast was only furthered by his Catholic faith. Nevertheless, around this time, Pope began translating the Iliad; a painstaking process which started in 1715 and took until 1720 to complete. The money made from his