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Alexander Pope and His Poetry Outline: This paper reviews the poems, "The Rape of the Lock" and "An Essay of Man" both by Alexander Pope, focusing on the poet's clever use of linguistic, rhetoric and poetic devises including his mastery of the heroic couplet. Alexander Pope is an eighteenth century Catholic poet who was famous for his translations of several classical poems; most prominent of which are Homers epic poetry. He is well-known for concise poetic writing and carefully crafted language. This paper presents certain details on the life of Pope which one way or another paved the way to his becoming a prominent satire writer and one of the widely written about and much discussed English poet in literary history.
Included in the discussion are the summary of both poems and the analysis of the different devices employed by the author including his use of linguistic and poetic devices to elevate the English language. Parts of the analysis are Pope's critique of high society's overall vanity and shallowness ("The Rape of the Lock") and his commentaries, opinions and concepts about Man and his part in Nature and in the Universe ("An Essay of Man") Alexander Pope, born in Lombard Street, London on 21 May 1688 to Alexander Pope, a linen merchant and his second wife, Edith Turner Pope, will later become the defining poetic force of his age. Hailed to be the greatest English poet of the early eighteenth century, he is best known for his translation of Homer, his satirical verse and his mastery for the heroic couplet. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1999) named him as the third most frequently quoted writer in the English language. David Cody (2000) regards him as England's first truly professional poet because of his exceptional talent and fierce ambition.
Alexander Pope died on 30 May 1744, just over a week past his 56 th birthday. Early Life Popes literary accomplishment is a great contrast to his physical disabilities and trying circumstances when he was still young. He suffered numerous ailments more debilitating of all is the Pott's disease, a form of tuberculosis affecting the spine. The disease stunted his growth -- -he never grew beyond 1. 37 meters (4 feet 6 inches) and his body was severely humpbacked Pope was born in London but because of his family's faith (Catholicism), his father, when he retired in 1700, decided to move his household to a small estate in Windsor Forest in the village of Binfield, Berkshire when young Pope was just about twelve years old. The Popes -- - Alexander, senior, Edith and sister, Magdalene, were forced to leave the city due to strong anti-Catholic sentiments and primarily because of the decree preventing Catholics from living within 10 miles of either London or Westminster. The young Pope stayed in Binfield for over sixteen years until he went and live in the Mawson's Buildings, Chiswick in April 1716 then moved to Twickenham from 1718 until his death in May 1744 (RPO, full article on < web >).
Education As a member of a devout Catholic family, Popes academic path was greatly influence by the decree which uphold the status of the established Church of England. Had he wished to pursue a career in law or medicine, his religion would have made it impossible. His education was erratic and quite affected by the laws in force at the time which banned Catholics from teaching on pain of perpetual imprisonment. He started his education in home study with his aunt and a priest; later on, he went to an underground catholic school at Twyford, near Winchester in 1697. He later joined Thomas Deane schools at Marylebone and Hyde Park Corner (RPO, full article on < web poet/ 263. html>) up until he finished his formal schooling.
After finishing the most of the formal education he can get (as his faith precluded his attending university), the young Pope embarked on a more extensive reading which exposed him to different languages like English (his first language), French, Italian, Latin and Classical Greek. He became a model autodidact by his circumstances but claimed that the readings he did during all those times was merely for his enjoyment: "In a few years I had dipped into a great number of the English, French, Italian, Latin, and Greek poets. This I did without any design but that of pleasing myself " (Pope q. in Rodgers 23). His goal during that time was not to study and master the languages but rather to immerse himself into the stories.
From his own admission, Homer is his very favorite author; Pope read Homer through John Ogilvys English translation when he was just eight years old. Literary Career Popes literary career is one of the most well-written and acclaimed even though critical opinion has been frequently divided. Although an invalid from infancy until his death and a social (due to his faith) pariah, Pope was able to devote all his energies and talents towards literature. It was during the family's move that he was introduced to the countryside that would inspire his early pastorals. He claimed that he wrote his poem, Ode to Solitude, at the age of twelve (Johnson 27) and from then on achieved remarkable success starting at the age of twenty-one with his first published work The Pastorals (1709) appearing in one of London's volume of Poetical Miscellanies. Pope made many important friends and became acquainted with London's literary world there including the playwright, William Wycherley and William Walsh, a minor poet who helped him revise his The Pastorals.
While in Binfield, Pope became acquainted with John Caryll who became his frequent companion to London when he was in his early twenties. The first publication in 1709 was then followed by a succession of brilliant works, including An Essay on Criticism which he published anonymously (1711), Windsor Forest (1713), and his masterpiece, The Rape of the Lock (anonymously published in a 2 -canto version in 1712, five-canto version published in his name in 1714, then revised in 1717). Both The Pastorals and An Essay on Criticism were well received but it was the later which gave him reputation among prominent literati the likes of Swift, Addison, Gay, Parnell, Oxford, and Steele, all Tory members of the Martinus Scriblerus Club when it prompted the first of many printed and personal attacks by John Dennis, whom Pope satirized and ridiculed in the poem. Dennis furiously attacked him by aiming his venomous retaliation at Popes character, religious faith and even bringing in Popes personal abnormality and ailing body by referring to him as a "hump-backed toad" (Cody online). The publication of An Essay (maybe because of the issues surrounding it) established Pope as a significant poetic voice. Joseph Addison, on his part, praised Pope for his insights and superb execution of form.
Samuel Johnson, an English prominent literary critic, hailed the same work for exhibiting every mode of excellence that can embellish or dignify didactic composition (Life of Pope 23). Pope just twenty-nine years old when he published The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope (1717) which marked and confirmed his place among celebrated poets. His father died the same year the first volume of his collected works was published. There was a lull in his literary output while he concentrated on the more commercial literary endeavor -- - translation.
He spent almost a decade translating Homers Greek into English heroic couplets (which many believed may have damaged his fragile health). The money earned from the subscription sales of his translation enabled him to achieve financial security and independence. This made Pope the first author in English history to be able to financially sustain himself entirely on the profits derived from the publication of his own works), in his own words, Pope declared that he is "indebted to no prince or peer alive. " It was probably also due to his Catholicism that he does not owe any patronage from prominent people in the English society. His faith effectively bar him from the kind of open patronage members of the court had provided to poets during his time.
His financial success allowed him to retire to a villa at Twickenham on the Thames near Richmond with his widowed mother where he continued his translation work until 1728. It was only in 1728 that he started writing great poetry again with the appearance of the first Dunciad; this marks the second period (and the final stage) of his great poetic creativity (Cody 45 - 49; Goldsmith 35 - 39). Alexander Pope is now regarded as the most important poet of the early eighteenth century. And his poetic career testifies nothing but his resiliency in the face of disadvantages and challenges he has to contend with -- - his failing health and circumstances he was born into.
The most renowned mark of his success lies in his translations of Homer, his imitations of Horace, and his astonishing human insight, wide sympathies, and powers of social observation (displayed to greatest effect in his talent for satire) which he displays in all his works. His close association with many of the best minds of his time including Jonathan Swift and, later, Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke also made a great impact on his works. According to Reuben Brower, Pope became after Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton the most European of English poets (The Poetry of Allusion) because his learning and facility with Latin and Greek which allowed him to understand all the classical poetry he translated. He was even said to have followed (and surpassed) Dryden's example as a poet, critic, and translator. The success and fame of his major poems (and much of his poetry) are inextricably linked to his mastery of the heroic couplet.
It seems that his use of the particular poetic device, which has gone progressively declining in this age (but which was ever-present in his day), is quite effective and beneficial in his works; he might have use it in different genre (from pastoral to satire to epic or moral epistle) yet the shift and period is consistently seamless and at most times perfect. The Literary Works The Rape of the Lock (1714) "The Rape of the Lock" is a brilliant mock-epic poem that is a humorous indictment of the vanities and idleness of 18 th-century high society and is based on a real incident among prominent Catholic families during Popes time. The poem was commissioned by the authors long time friend, John Caryll (the Muse Caryl in the poem) and was written in the traditional heroic couplet form, satirizing the human condition. It is considered one of best illustrations of what is termed as mock-epic poem. It was first published anonymously in Linton's Miscellany in May 1712 in two cantos, but was later revised, expanded and reissued under Pope's name on March 2, 1714 in a much-expanded 5 -canto version. Pope later revised the 1714 version when it was included in the first volume of his collected works in 1717.
He basically wrote his verses with the intention to cool hot tempers and to encourage his friends to laugh at their own folly at the same time hope that the families involved will reconcile and forget their long standing feud. The analysis of this particular literary piece will only focus and closely examine the exaggerated style of the poem for its forms, linguistic and poetic devices, format as a satire, as well as the comical effect which throw light on 18 th century society's obsession with trivial events. An epic is considered one of the most serious of literary forms; in fact during the classical period, it is only and specifically applied to the lofty subject matter of love and war. Later on, the poet Milton used it for discussions of the intricacies of the Christian faith.
On the other hand, a mock epic exalt minor and oftentimes frivolous subjects into the category of the illustrious and dignified seriously applying the same machinery and devices as that of the epic. The most evident poetic feature in this work which distinguishes it as an epic is the verse form -- - the heroic couplet: two lines that consist of rhymed pairs of iambic pentameter lines (lines of ten syllables each, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables). Pope is said to be the uncontested master of this form has used this particular poetic convention to give more emphasis on his theme. The inherent balance created by the heroic couplet format remarkably suit the theme as it gives the idea of balance between two contrasting ideas by comparing them thus making the trivial grandiose and exposing it for what it is -- -- inconsequential and petty. To further illustrate this effect, review the three examples of couplets below; they present a balanced idea about and between two opposing / contrasting ones: Here Britain's Statesmen oft the Fall foredoom 5 Of Foreign Tyrants, and of Nymphs at home; The real (statesmen and tyrants) and the fanciful (nymphs) are denizens of pole-apart realms yet when grouped together they present a picture of oneness; a commonality which in reality may and can be true.
And dwells such Rage in softest Bosoms then? 11 And lodge such daring Souls in Little Men? Here, the author emphasizes the incompatibility between the two sides of his parallel formulations so that the reader can find out the covert meaning which somewhat dwells in the partnering of the two elements. Thus, in this example, the "little men" who are daring and; the "soft bosoms" are the dwelling-place for "mighty rage. " Such contrasting ideas (i. e.
little = daring and soft = mighty and bosoms = rage) prominently and pronouncedly point out how these ideas contribute to the avowal of the premise the poet, through the poem wants to convey. Fair Tresses Man's Imperial Race insnare, 27 And Beauty draws us with a single Hair. Popes startling juxtaposition of...
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