ALEXANDER POPE, 'the most brilliant of all wits who have at any period applied themselves to the poetic treatment of human manners,' '1 was born in 1688-the year of the Revolution. Being a Roman Catholic, he was excluded by his religion from the benefits of a University training. Though an omnivorous reader, his education in the classics was desultory and superficial. The result of this is painfully apparent in his Paraphrase (sometimes called a Translation) of Homer, whereof Bentley said with equal truth and wit, 'Very pretty poetry, Mr. Pope, but pray don't call it Homer.' The first volume of this appeared in 1715, when Pope was only twenty-seven; chiefly through the disinterested exertions of Swift, the list of subscribers grew to such dimensions that Pope was assured of a modest competency for life. The Rape of the Lock (completed in 1714) stands to-day as the best mock-heroic poem in English, while the Eloisa to Abelard (1717) shows that Pope is not deficient in the third requirement of the Miltonic canon Passion. Immortal lines are to be found scattered through Pope's attempts at literary criticism (Essay on Criticism) and at philosophy (Essay on Man), nor can we deny to the former the merit of having done much to develope sound critical principles in England. The work of his maturer years is to be found in the Epistles and Satires; when you have studied the specimens given in this book, you will have at least some data upon which you can form an independent judgment that may or may not agree with that of De Quincey, quoted at the beginning of this article. To the deformity of Pope's body may be attributed some of the irascibility of his temper. He was engaged in perpetual quarrels; sometimes with men of character and ability who would have been his best friends; oftener with denizens of Grub Street quite beneath his notice. His nature seemed to crave the excitement of a continual literary hawking-party; among the larger game at whom he flew his birds were George II. (see the Epistle to Augustus), the Duchess of Marlborough, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Cibber, Defoɛ, Tickell, Addison and Bentley. He was not perfectly sincere with even his most intimate friends, Bolingbroke and Swift: to the latter, this melancholy revelation was spared; to the former it was disclosed only after Pope's death in 1744. BIBLIOGRAPHY. LIFE AND TIMES. For the advanced student and the teacher, all former editions of Pope have been superseded by that of Elwin and Courthope in ten volumes (London, 1871-89). (To this edition the editor of this book is under 1 De Quincey. constant obligation.) It seems as if the diligence of these editors had left little for future generations to glean. The work is extremely uneven in quality. For Vols. i. ii. vi. vii. viii. Elwin is responsible; in addition to much useful information, they contain a tirade of abuse against Pope, which shows the editor to have been lacking in the first essential of a good biographer-sympathy with his subject. For Vols. iii. iv. v. ix. x. Courthope is responsible: while quite as scholarly as the others, they are marked by sympathetic treatment and delightful literary finish. Vol. v. contains the Life of Pope; in this, the sixteenth chapter, on The Place of Pope in Literature, is especially valuable and contains the refutation of Matthew Arnold's judgment on Dryden and Pope referred to on p. 26 of these notes. Teachers who cannot get access to Courthope's Life should consult Leslie Stephen's admirable little book on Pope in the English Men of Letters Series. For the social life of the times see Thackeray's masterpiece, Henry Esmond; also his George 1. and George II. in The Four Georges. For the History, see Green, Chapter IX. Sec. 9-10. TEXT: Elwin and Courthope, as above; or Ward (MacMillan). interesting only as a contemporary view. Thoroughly commonplace and Macaulay; Essay on Addison. Contains a rather one-sided account of the quarrel between Addison and Pope, in which Addison (as a good Whig) is all white and Pope (as a bad Tory) is all black. For the other side, see Thackeray's Prior, Gay and Pope in his English Humorists. Johnson's Pope, in his Lives of the Poets, contains the famous parallel between Dryden and Pope. De Quincey; Three Essays. (1) Alexander Pope. Sympathetic and penetrating. Contains, however, one 'prodigious oversight' in the false psychological analysis of Pope's Atticus. (2) On The Poetry of Pope. Contains an elaborate examination of Pope's 'correctness.' (3) Lord Carlisle on Pope. Deals with Pope's philosophy and his theory of French Influences in English Literature. Lowell; Essay on Pope. A very brief treatment that adds little to our previous knowledge. Montegut; Revue des deux Mondes, iii. 86, 274. Interesting as showing the high opinion of Pope entertained by a cultured Frenchman. Gosse: from Shakespeare to Pope. Has a good account of the rise of 'classical' poetry in England. This epistle was published in 1717. Fervas had given Pope lessons in painting, and after the death of Kneller in 1723, became the most distinguished portrait-painter of the day. His abundant self-esteem caused him to do and say many ridiculous things; the best remembered of these is the anecdote of his copying a Titian, and then exclaiming, as he compared his own work with the original, 'Poor little Tit, how he would stare!' Fresnoy or Dufresnoy (d. 1665), a French painter, whose Latin poem De Arte Graphica is here referred to. 1-12. Muse; compare Lycidas 19. strike notice the use of the subjunctive in the dependent clauses. Art. See lines 39-40 and notes there. blend; close regular. Pope appears never to have known exactly what he meant by 'regular'; he seems to use it as a loose synonym for 'polished,' 'finished,' 'in good taste.' rage poetic inspiration, enthusiasm. This use of 'rage' is in imitation of the 'divina rabies' (divine madness) of the Latin poets. Among the ancients, insanity was often looked upon as a sign of inspiration. Compare the well-known story of Cassandra; also Vergil's description of the Sybil in Æneid vi. 46–51. Her colour changed, her face was not the same, And hollow groans from her deep spirit came. Her hair stood up, convulsive rage possessed Her trembling limbs, and heaved her labouring breast. And with an accent more than mortal spoke. (Dryden.) both, 13-22. unite . . . contract. What parts of the verb? is of course tautological. You have here an example of a defect inherent in the heroic couplet; in order to make the thought fill up twenty syllables, it is sometimes necessary to expand and weaken it by the introduction of unnecessary words. slowly-growing works. Is this subject or object? greve. Maro 23-38. Raphael's Monument. Raphael is buried in a vault behind the high altar of the Pantheon at Rome. See note on Raphael in the comment on line 39 of Dryden's Epistle to ConPublius Vergilius Maro, shortened and Anglicized to 'Vergil.' He was buried by his own request near Naples; tradition still points out the spot. Tully Marcus Tullius Cicero, the famous Roman orator, killed at Formiae by order of Antony in 43 B.C. builds imaginary Rome anew; meaning, 'in Guido = Guido Reni who imagination builds Rome anew.' died in 1642; best known by his beautiful Aurora and by the Beatrice Cenci commonly attributed to him. Caracci; there were several Italian painters of this name, the most distinguished of whom was Annibale Caracci, d. 1609. Correggio (Antonio Allegri) so called from his birthplace (now Reggio), a little town near Modena. His pictures are famous for their delicate treatment of light and shade, or, to use the artist's word, their chiaroscuro. He died in 1534. Paulo; (Paul Cagliari), best known in English as Paul Veronese, or Paul of Verona (d. 1588). His paintings are crowded with anachronisms which we must forget in order to enjoy the brilliancy and harmony of his coloring. In his most famous picture, The Marriage of Cana, the characters wear gorgeous sixteenth century costumes; The Virgin, The Twelve Apostles, Venetian Senators, Mediæval Friars and Poets are all here; among the musicians at the feast we have portraits of Tintoretto, of Titian and of Paulo himself. Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), the greatest of portrait painters and of colorists, was a native of Venice. He lived to the extraordinary age of 99, with his intellectual powers unimpaired. It is interesting to notice that the three great painters of the world - Michael Angelo, Titian and Raphael—were all Italians; that they were born within nine years of each other and that they were all producing immortal work during the first twenty years of the sixteenth century. = attract and fix. still to be seen at Blenheim. 39-54. illustrious toil. Fresnoy is said to have spent twenty years on his poem. strike, in the sense of 'impress,' as in the colloquial How does this strike you?' Bridgewater; Elizabeth, Countess of Bridgewater, third daughter of the Duke of Marlborough. She was a famous beauty and Jervas imagined himself in love with her. She died in 1714 when only twenty-seven. 55-62. engage Churchill's race; Lady Bridgewater, mentioned above, and her three sisters, Lady Godolphin, Lady Sunderland and Lady Montagu. Their portraits are Worsley in the original edition this readWortley' and referred to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, whom Pope at this time greatly admired. After his famous quarrel with her, he deprived her of the compliment by changing t to s. Lady Worsley's eyes seem to have made a deep impression on Swift as well as on Pope. (See Swift's letter to her of April 19, 1730.) Blount; Martha Blount was the younger of two comely sisters who played an important part in Pope's life. With Teresa Blount he quarrelled; for Martha his admiration—perhaps his love-remained constant. Dying, he bequeathed her the greater part of his personal property. Belinda; Miss Arabella Fermor, the heroine of Pope's Rape of the Lock. 63-78. Graces; see note on L'Allegro 15. Muses; see Cl. Myths, § 43 (4). Zeuxis, the most famous of Greek painters, is supposed to have flourished about 400 B.C. His masterpiece was the picture of Helen here referred to, painted for the city of Croton. Mira, was the Countess of Newburgh, a beauty whom George Granville (Lord Lansdowne) celebrated in some very feeble verses. In this little Epistle you will notice a vein of pathos not common in Pope. What is there in the subject to induce this feeling? How are the pathetic touches introduced? Is the concluding couplet in harmony with the rest of the poem? Give reasons for your answer to this last question. EPISTLE TO RICHARD BOYLE, EARL OF BURLINGTON. The Earl of Burlington was a munificent patron of the Arts, and himself a landscape gardener and architect of some pretensions. This epistle, first published in 1731, and afterwards much amended, was originally entitled False Taste. It is intended to enforce a favorite maxim of Pope's,- that all Art is founded on common sense: Still follow Sense, of ev'ry Art the Soul. You will have little difficulty in following the thought if you study carefully the following "ARGUMENT OF THE USE OF RICHES. The Vanity of Expence in People of Wealth and Quality. The abuse of the word Taste, v. 13. That the first principle and foundation, in this as in everything else, is Good Sense, v. 40. The chief proof of it is to follow Nature even in works of mere Luxury and Elegance. Instanced in Architecture and Gardening, where all must be adapted to the Genius and Use of the Place, and the Beauties not forced into it, but resulting from it, v. 50. How men are disappointed in their most expensive undertakings, for want of this true Foundation, without which nothing can please long, if at all; and the best Examples and Rules will but be perverted into something burdensome or ridiculous, v. 65, etc., to 92. A description of the false Taste of Magnificence; the first grand Error of which is to imagine that Greatness consists in the Size and Dimension, instead of the Proportion and Harmony of the whole, v. 97, and the second, either in joining together Parts incoherent, or too minutely resembling, or in the Repetition of the same too frequently, v. 105, etc. A word or two of false Taste in Books, in Music, in Painting, even in Preaching and Prayer, and lastly in Entertainments, v. 133, Yet Providence is justified in giving Wealth to be squandered in this manner, since it is dispersed to the Poor and Laborious part of mankind, v. 169 [recurring to what is laid down in the first book, Ep. II. and in the Epistle preceding this, v. 159, etc.]. What are the proper Objects of Magnificence, and a proper field for the Expence of Great Men, v. 177, etc., and finally, the Great and Public Works which become a Prince, v. 191, to the end." etc. Pope. 1-10. Topham. A gentleman famous for a judicious collection of drawings.' Pembroke; probably the Earl of Pembroke, whose county seat of Wilton was celebrated for its works of art. Hearne ; a well-known antiquary. Mead; Sloane; two prominent physicians: the one famous for his library, the other |