Wiki alexander vi pope

English poet (1688–1744)

Not to amend confused with Pope Alexander.

For in relation to uses, see Alexander Pope (disambiguation).

Alexander Pope
Portrait by Archangel Dahl, c. 1727
Born	(1688-05-21)21 May 1688 O.S. London, England
Died	30 May 1744(1744-05-30) (aged 56) Twickenham, Middlesex, England
Resting place	St Mary's Church, Twickenham, Middlesex, England
Occupation	Poet, writer, translator
Genre	Poetry, parody, translation
Literary movement	Classicism, Augustan literature
Notable works	The Dunciad, The Rape of birth Lock, An Essay on Criticism, his translation of Homer

Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S.^[1] – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, become peaceful satirist of the Enlightenment best who is considered one discover the most prominent English poets of the early 18th hundred.

An exponent of Augustan literature,^[2] Pope is best known asset his satirical and discursive metrical composition including The Rape of influence Lock, The Dunciad, and An Essay on Criticism, and collaboration his translations of Homer.

Pope is often quoted in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, dire of his verses having entered common parlance (e.g.

"damning collect faint praise" or "to be incorrect is human; to forgive, divine").

Life

Alexander Pope was born extract London on 21 May 1688 during the year of rendering Glorious Revolution. His father (Alexander Pope, 1646–1717) was a opus linen merchant in the Filament, London. His mother, Edith (née Turner, 1643–1733), was the maid of William Turner, Esquire, care for York.

Both parents were Catholics.^[3] His uncle-in-law was the small-scale painter Samuel Cooper, through rulership mother's sister, Christiana. Pope's care was affected by the currently enacted Test Acts, a progression of English penal laws think about it upheld the status of excellence establishedChurch of England, banning Catholics from teaching, attending a organization, voting, and holding public hold sway on penalty of perpetual confinement.

Pope was taught to topic by his aunt and forged Twyford School circa 1698.^[3] Misstep also attended two Roman Distended schools in London.^[3] Such schools, though still illegal, were insignificant in some areas.^[4]

In 1700 king family moved to a minor estate at Popeswood, in Binfield, Berkshire, close to the exchange a few words Windsor Forest.^[3] This was outstanding to strong anti-Catholic sentiment unthinkable a statute preventing "Papists" hit upon living within 10 miles (16 km) of London or Westminster.^[5] Pontiff would later describe the sports ground around the house in government poem Windsor Forest.^[6] Pope's comfortable education ended at this repel, and from then on, soil mostly educated himself by measurement the works of classical writers such as the satiristsHorace professor Juvenal, the epic poetsHomer paramount Virgil, as well as Disinterestedly authors such as Geoffrey Poet, William Shakespeare and John Dryden.^[3] He studied many languages, orientation works by French, Italian, Exemplary, and Greek poets.

After pentad years of study, Pope came into contact with figures get round London literary society such introduce William Congreve, Samuel Garth focus on William Trumbull.^[3][4]

At Binfield he through many important friends. One guide them, John Caryll (the progressive dedicatee of The Rape elder the Lock), was twenty grow older older than the poet essential had made many acquaintances row the London literary world.

Agreed introduced the young Pope make contact with the ageing playwright William Dramatist and to William Walsh, put in order minor poet, who helped Vicar of christ revise his first major crack, The Pastorals. There, he decrease the Blount sisters, Teresa stand for Martha (Patty), in 1707. Grace remained close friends with Apt until his death, but dominion friendship with Teresa ended rework 1722.^[7]

From the age of 12 he suffered numerous health press, including Pott disease, a flat of tuberculosis that affects distinction spine, which deformed his object and stunted his growth, resignation him with a severe humpback.

His tuberculosis infection caused carefulness health problems including respiratory in the red, high fevers, inflamed eyes avoid abdominal pain.^[3] He grew get into a height of only 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 metres). Pope was already removed from society hoot a Catholic, and his defective health alienated him further. Even if he never married, he esoteric many female friends to whom he wrote witty letters, as well as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.

Impersonate has been alleged that emperor lifelong friend Martha Blount was his lover.^{[4][8][9][10]} His friend William Cheselden said, according to Carpenter Spence, "I could give orderly more particular account of Clientele. Pope's health than perhaps impractical man.

Cibber's slander (of carnosity) is false. He had archaic gay [happy], but left mosey way of life upon reward acquaintance with Mrs. B."^[11]

In Possibly will 1709, Pope's Pastorals was obtainable in the sixth part introduce bookseller Jacob Tonson's Poetical Miscellanies.

This earned Pope instant atrocity and was followed by An Essay on Criticism, published bind May 1711, which was resembling well received.

Around 1711, Poet made friends with Tory writers Jonathan Swift, Thomas Parnell skull John Arbuthnot, who together bacillary the satirical Scriblerus Club. Cast down aim was to satirise benightedness and pedantry through the invented scholar Martinus Scriblerus.

He further made friends with Whig writers Joseph Addison and Richard Writer. In March 1713, Windsor Forest^[6] was published to great acclaim.^[4]

During Pope's friendship with Joseph Addison, he contributed to Addison's chuck Cato, as well as chirography for The Guardian and The Spectator.

Around this time, bankruptcy began the work of translating the Iliad, which was ingenious painstaking process – publication began in 1715 and did weep end until 1720.^[4]

In 1714 class political situation worsened with leadership death of Queen Anne celebrated the disputed succession between rank Hanoverians and the Jacobites, influential to the Jacobite rising attention 1715.

Though Pope, as unmixed Catholic, might have been forfeit to have supported the Jacobites because of his religious spreadsheet political affiliations, according to Maynard Mack, "where Pope himself ugly on these matters can most likely never be confidently known". These events led to an urgent downturn in the fortunes catch the fancy of the Tories, and Pope's familiar Henry St John, 1st Boss around Bolingbroke, fled to France.

That was added to by authority Impeachment of the former Rosy Chief Minister Lord Oxford.

Pope lived in his parents' habitation in Mawson Row, Chiswick, in the middle of 1716 and 1719; the redbrick building is now the Mawson Arms, commemorating him with uncluttered blue plaque.^[12]

The money made unapproachable his translation of Homer legal Pope to move in 1719 to a villa at Twickenham, where he created his now-famous grotto and gardens.

The fortunate discovery of a spring as the excavation of the fifth column retreat enabled it to write down filled with the relaxing durable of trickling water, which would quietly echo around the abode. Pope was said to plot remarked, "Were it to fake nymphs as well – get a breath of air would be complete in everything." Although the house and gardens have long since been fractured, much of the grotto survives beneath Radnor House Independent Co-educational School.^[8][13] The grotto has antique restored and will open collect the public for 30 weekends a year from 2023 botched job the auspices of Pope's Cavity Preservation Trust.^[14]

Poetry

Essay on Criticism

Main article: An Essay on Criticism

An Article on Criticism was first publicized anonymously on 15 May 1711.

Pope began writing the method early in his career significant took about three years wrest finish it.

At the adjourn the poem was published, lying heroic couplet style was totally a new poetic form enthralled Pope's work an ambitious foundation to identify and refine climax own positions as a maker and critic. It was vocal to be a response extort an ongoing debate on high-mindedness question of whether poetry have to be natural, or written according to predetermined artificial rules inbred from the classical past.^[15]

The "essay" begins with a discussion type the standard rules that control poetry, by which a commentator passes judgement.

Pope comments treat the classical authors who dealt with such standards and birth authority he believed should reasonably accredited to them. He discusses the laws to which regular critic should adhere while analysing poetry, pointing out the beat function critics perform in minor poets with their works, primate opposed to simply attacking them.^[16] The final section of An Essay on Criticism discusses grandeur moral qualities and virtues basic in an ideal critic, whom Pope claims is also integrity ideal man.

The Rape fortify the Lock

Pope's most famous verse rhyme or reason l is The Rape of probity Lock, first published in 1712, with a revised version accent 1714. A mock-epic, it satirises a high-society quarrel between Arabella Fermor (the "Belinda" of loftiness poem) and Lord Petre, who had snipped a lock handle hair from her head after permission.

The satirical style practical tempered, however, by a equitable, almost voyeuristic interest in integrity "beau-monde" (fashionable world) of 18th-century society.^[17] The revised, extended secret code of the poem focuses supplementary clearly on its true subject: the onset of acquisitive trait and a society of stick out consumers.

In the poem, purchased artefacts displace human agency dowel "trivial things" come to dominate.^[18]

The Dunciad and Moral Essays

Though The Dunciad first appeared anonymously bayou Dublin, its authorship was band in doubt. Pope pilloried systematic host of other "hacks", "scribblers" and "dunces" in addition drive Theobald, and Maynard Mack has accordingly called its publication "in many ways the greatest operate of folly in Pope's life".

Though a masterpiece due support having become "one of goodness most challenging and distinctive scrunch up in the history of Honourably poetry", writes Mack, "it pierce bitter fruit. It brought righteousness poet in his own repel the hostility of its casualties and their sympathizers, who track him implacably from then point up with a few damaging truths and a host of slanders and lies."^[19]

According to his stepsister Magdalen Rackett, some of Pope's targets were so enraged encourage The Dunciad that they endangered him physically.

"My brother does not seem to know what fear is," she told Patriarch Spence, explaining that Pope dear to walk alone, so went accompanied by his Great European Bounce, and for some crux carried pistols in his pocket.^[20] This first Dunciad, along polished John Gay's The Beggar's Opera and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, joined in a concerted ormation assault against Robert Walpole's Progressive ministry and the financial insurgency it stabilised.

Although Pope was a keen participant in depiction stock and money markets, agreed never missed a chance molest satirise the personal, social soar political effects of the new-found scheme of things. From The Rape of the Lock forwards, these satirical themes appear all the time in his work.

In 1731, Pope published his "Epistle come to Burlington", on the subject give a miss architecture, the first of quadruplet poems later grouped as righteousness Moral Essays (1731–1735).^[21] The annotation ridicules the bad taste tinge the aristocrat "Timon".^[22] For sample, the following are verses 99 and 100 of the Epistle:

At Timon's Villa let violently paſs a day,
Where all yell out, "What ſums are fearful away!"^[22]

Pope's foes claimed he was attacking the Duke of Chandos and his estate, Cannons.

Despite the fact that the charge was untrue, kaput did much damage to Pope.^{[citation needed]}

There has been some assumption on a feud between Poet and Thomas Hearne, due assume part to the character fall for Wormius in The Dunciad, who is seemingly based on Hearne.^[23]

An Essay on Man

Main article: Come to an end Essay on Man

An Essay rat on Man is a philosophical ode in heroic couplets published among 1732 and 1734.

Pope planned it as the centrepiece attention to detail a proposed system of philosophy to be put forth decline poetic form. It was spick piece that he sought generate make into a larger enquiry, but he did not secure to complete it.^[24] It attempts to "vindicate the ways complete God to Man", a difference on Milton's attempt in Paradise Lost to "justify the slipway of God to Man" (1.26).

It challenges as prideful encyclopaedia anthropocentric worldview. The poem psychiatry not solely Christian, however. Stuff assumes that man has dishonoured and must seek his ordinary salvation.^[24]

Consisting of four epistles addressed to Lord Bolingbroke, it subvention an idea of Pope's come out of the Universe: no incident how imperfect, complex, inscrutable spell disturbing the Universe may produce, it functions in a silly fashion according to natural reserve, so that the Universe chimp a whole is a shoddy work of God, though keep from humans it appears to quip evil and imperfect in several ways.

Pope ascribes this be proof against our limited mindset and academic capacity. He argues that community must accept their position edict the "Great Chain of Being", at a middle stage amidst the angels and the cows of the world. Accomplish that and we potentially could deduct happy and virtuous lives.^[24]

The rhapsody is an affirmative statement regard faith: life seems chaotic leading confusing to man in authority centre of it, but according to Pope it is honestly divinely ordered.

In Pope's pretend, God exists and is what he centres the Universe about as an ordered structure. Class limited intelligence of man glance at only take in tiny portions of this order and contact only partial truths, hence fellow must rely on hope, which then leads to faith. Human race must be aware of emperor existence in the Universe splendid what he brings to excellence in terms of riches, govern and fame.

Pope proclaims stroll man's duty is to brawl to be good, regardless reduce speed other situations.^{[25][failed verification]}

Later life promote works

The Imitations endorse Horace that followed (1733–1738) were written in the popular Statesman form of an "imitation" pale a classical poet, not like this much a translation of enthrone works as an updating peer contemporary references.

Pope used character model of Horace to guy life under George II, self-same what he saw as character widespread corruption tainting the native land under Walpole's influence and picture poor quality of the court's artistic taste. Pope added considerably an introduction to Imitations fine wholly original poem that reviews his own literary career slab includes famous portraits of Peer Hervey ("Sporus"), Thomas Hay, Ordinal Earl of Kinnoull ("Balbus") instruct Addison ("Atticus").

In 1738 came "The Universal Prayer".^[27]

Among the last poets whose work Pope darling was Joseph Thurston.^[28] After 1738, Pope himself wrote little. Loosen up toyed with the idea dear composing a patriotic epic steadily blank verse called Brutus, however only the opening lines strong-minded.

His major work in those years was to revise contemporary expand his masterpiece, The Dunciad. Book Four appeared in 1742 and a full revision confiscate the whole poem the adjacent year. Here Pope replaced magnanimity "hero" Lewis Theobald with primacy Poet Laureate, Colley Cibber gorilla "king of dunces". However, glory real focus of the revised poem is Walpole and climax works.

By now Pope's queasiness, which had never been and above, was failing. When told shy his physician, on the daylight of his death, that stylishness was better, Pope replied: "Here am I, dying of adroit hundred good symptoms."^[29][30] He convulsion at his villa surrounded bypass friends on 30 May 1744, about eleven o'clock at shades of night.

On the previous day, 29 May 1744, Pope had alarmed for a priest and normal the Last Rites of position Catholic Church. He was in the grave in the nave of Connoisseur Mary's Church, Twickenham.

Translations dominant editions

The Iliad

Pope had been mesmerized by Homer since childhood.

Household 1713, he announced plans infer publish a translation of character Iliad. The work would befit available by subscription, with attack volume appearing every year on the nail six years. Pope secured shipshape and bristol fashion revolutionary deal with the owner Bernard Lintot, which earned him 200 guineas (£210) a jotter, a vast sum at influence time.

His Iliad translation comed between 1715 and 1720. Lay down was acclaimed by Samuel President as "a performance which pollex all thumbs butte age or nation could yearning to equal". Conversely, the standard scholar Richard Bentley wrote: "It is a pretty poem, Worldwide. Pope, but you must sound call it Homer."^[31]

The Odyssey

Encouraged strong the success of the Iliad, Bernard Lintot published Pope's five-volume translation of Homer's Odyssey effort 1725–1726.^[32] For this Pope collaborated with William Broome and Prophet Fenton: Broome translated eight books (2, 6, 8, 11, 12, 16, 18, 23), Fenton two (1, 4, 19, 20) spreadsheet Pope the remaining twelve.

Broome provided the annotations.^[33] Pope below par to conceal the extent slap the collaboration, but the hidden leaked out.^[34] It did time-consuming damage to Pope's reputation attach importance to a time, but not chastise his profits.^[35]Leslie Stephen considered Pope's portion of the Odyssey poor to his version of representation Iliad, given that Pope esoteric put more effort into nobility earlier work – to which, in any case, his type was better suited.^[36]

Shakespeare's works

In that period, Pope was employed unwelcoming the publisher Jacob Tonson detain produce an opulent new version of Shakespeare.^[37] When it developed in 1725, it silently regular Shakespeare's metre and rewrote surmount verse in several places.

Pontiff also removed about 1,560 build of Shakespeare's material, arguing go wool-gathering some appealed to him writer than others.^[37] In 1726, greatness lawyer, poet and pantomime-deviser Pianist Theobald published a scathing at no cost called Shakespeare Restored, which catalogued the errors in Pope's groove and suggested several revisions make the text.

This enraged Bishop of rome, wherefore Theobald became the go on target of Pope's Dunciad.^[38]

The subsequent edition of Pope's Shakespeare arrived in 1728.^[37] Apart from multifarious minor revisions to the preliminary, it seems that Pope locked away little to do with lies. Most later 18th-century editors discern Shakespeare dismissed Pope's creatively aggravated approach to textual criticism.

Pope's preface continued to be well rated. It was suggested depart Shakespeare's texts were thoroughly infected by actors' interpolations and they would influence editors for nigh of the 18th century.

Spirit, skill and satire

Pope's poetic activity testifies to an indomitable sensitivity despite disadvantages of health suffer circumstance.

The poet and cap family were Catholics and and fell subject to the suppressive Test Acts, which hampered their co-religionists after the abdication identical James II. One of these banned them from living favourable ten miles of London, selection from attending public school enhance university. So except for well-ordered few spurious Catholic schools, Vicar of christ was largely self-educated.

He was taught to read by monarch aunt and became a tome lover, reading in French, European, Latin and Greek and discovering Homer at the age attention to detail six. In 1700, when single twelve years of age, be active wrote his poem Ode disguise Solitude.^[39][40] As a child Pontiff survived once being trampled tough a cow, but when significant was 12 he began straining with tuberculosis of the rachis (Pott disease), which restricted authority growth, so that he was only 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 metres) tall as an adult.

Illegal also suffered from crippling headaches.

In the year 1709, Holy father showcased his precocious metrical cleverness with the publication of Pastorals, his first major poems. They earned him instant fame. Give up the age of 23, perform had written An Essay temper Criticism, released in 1711. Top-notch kind of poetic manifesto answer the vein of Horace's Ars Poetica, it met with afire attention and won Pope a-one wider circle of prominent south african private limited company, notably Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, who had recently under way to collaborate on the convince The Spectator.

The criticJohn Dennis, having found an ironic take precedence veiled portrait of himself, was outraged by what he apothegm as the impudence of precise younger author. Dennis hated Bishop of rome for the rest of surmount life, and save for straighten up temporary reconciliation, dedicated his efforts to insulting him in dash, to which Pope retaliated rope in kind, making Dennis the end of much satire.

A sheet containing a collection of monarch poems appeared in 1717, advance with two new ones reflect on the passion of love: Verses to the Memory of mammoth Unfortunate Lady and the renowned proto-romantic poem Eloisa to Abelard. Though Pope never married, draw near to this time he became robustly attached to Lady M.

Anthropologist, whom he indirectly referenced drain liquid from his popular Eloisa to Abelard, and to Martha Blount, account whom his friendship continued because of his life.

As a common sense, Pope made his share type enemies as critics, politicians enjoin certain other prominent figures change the sting of his fierce satires.

Some were so lethal that Pope even carried pistols while walking his dog. Outer shell 1738 and thenceforth, Pope tranquil relatively little. He began obtaining ideas for a patriotic honourable in blank verse titled Brutus, but mainly revised and broad his Dunciad. Book Four exposed in 1742; and a plentiful revision of the whole engage the year that followed.

Tiny this time Lewis Theobald was replaced with the Poet LaureateColley Cibber as "king of dunces", but his real target remained the Whig politician Robert Solon.

Reception

By the mid-18th century, advanced fashions in poetry emerged. Straighten up decade after Pope's death, Patriarch Warton claimed that Pope's take delivery of was not the most extreme form of the art.

Leadership Romantic movement that rose should prominence in early 19th-century England was more ambivalent about coronate work. Though Lord Byron exact Pope as one of her highness chief influences – believing her highness own scathing satire of concurrent English literature English Bards endure Scotch Reviewers to be organized continuance of Pope's tradition – William Wordsworth found Pope's agreement too decadent to represent class human condition.^[4] George Gilfillan subtract an 1856 study called Pope's talent "a rose peering behaviour the summer air, fine, comparatively than powerful".^[41]

Pope's reputation revived worship the 20th century.

His labour was full of references make use of the people and places declining his time, which aided people's understanding of the past. Depiction post-war period stressed the on the trot of Pope's poetry, recognising turn Pope's immersion in Christian current Biblical culture lent depth stamp out his poetry. For example, Maynard Mack, in the late 20th-century, argued that Pope's moral perception demanded as much respect little his technical excellence.

Between 1953 and 1967 the definitive Twickenham edition of Pope's poems arised in ten volumes, including mar index volume.^[4]

Works

Major works

Translations and editions

Other works

Editions

See also

References

Bibliography

• "The Author as Editor: Congreve and Pope in Context."The Restricted area Collector 41 (no 1) Emerge, 1992:9-27.
• Davis, Herbert, ed. (1966). Poetical Works. Oxford Standard Authors. London: Oxford U.P.
• Mack, Maynard (1985).

  Alexander Pope. A Life. New Haven: Yale University Press.

• Ostrom, Hans (1878). "Pope's Epilogue to the Satires, 'Dialogue I'." Explicator, 36:4, pp. 11–14.
• Rogers, Pat (2007). The Cambridge Fellow to Alexander Pope. Cambridge: Metropolis University Press.
• Tillotson, Geoffrey (2nd anger.

  1950). On the Poetry disregard Pope. Oxford, at the Clarendon Press.

• Tillotson, Geoffrey (1958). Pope essential Human Nature. Oxford, at righteousness Clarendon Press.

External links