apho to Phaon
.----_.---------------------------------------------- -----------_..
rretch that I am to call that phaon mine!)
tum fair Youth, 're~ and bring along
r to my Soul, and Vigour to my Song.:
sent from thee, the Poet's Flame ~xp~es,
t ahl how fiercely burn the Lover s Fifes?
ds! can no Pray'rs, no Sighs, no Numbers move
Ie savage Heart, or teach it how to love?
e Winds my Pray'rs, my Sighs, my Numbers bear.
:e flying Winds have lost them all in Airl
I when, alasl shall more auspicious Gales.
, these fond Eyes restore thy welcome SaIls?
you return - ah why these long Delays?
or Sapho dies while careless Phaon stays.
launch thy Bark, nor fear the wa~ Pla~,
'nus for thee shall smooth her native MaID.
'launch thy Bark, secure of prosp'r~us G~es.
,pilI for thee shall spread the swelling SaIls.
you will fly - (yet ahl what Cause can be,
)() cruel Youth, that you shou'd fly from me?)
not from Phaon I must hope for Ease,
1 let me seek it from the raging Seas:
) raging Seas unpity'd I'll remove,
lld either cease to live. or cease to love!
AN
ESSAY ON CRITICISM
- - - - - - - S i quid novisti rectius istis,
CandidtlS imperti; si non, his utere mecum.
HORAT.
The Contents of the Essay on Criticism
PART I
Introduction. That 'tis as great a fault to ;udge ill, as to write ill, and a more
dangerous one to the pubUc, v 1.
That a true Taste is as rare to be found, as a true Genius, v 9 to 18.
That most men are born with some Taste, but spoil'd by false Education,
v 19 to 25.
The Multitude of Critics, and causes of them, v 26 to 45.
That we are to study our own Taste, and know the Limits of it, v 46 to 67.
Nature the best guide of Judgment, v 68 to 87.
Improo'd by Art and Rules, which are but methodis'd Nature, v 88.
Rules deriv'd from the Practice of the Ancient Poets, v id. to 110.
That therefore the Ancients are necessary to be study'd by a Critic, particu­
larly Homer and Virgil, v 120 to 138.
Of Lirenses, and the use of them by the Ancients, v 140 to 180.
Reverence due to the Ancients, and praise of them, v 181, &c.
PART u. Ver. 203, &c.
!:;t2.­
Call86S hindering a true Judgment. 1. Pride, v 208. 2. Imperfect Learning,
v 215, 3. Judging by parts, and not by the whole, v 233 to 288. Critics
in Wit, Language, Versiflcation, only, v 288. 305. 339, &c. 4. Belng too
hard to please, or too apt to admire, v 384. 5. Partiality - too much Love
to a Sect, - to the Ancients or Moderns, v 394. 6. Prejudic'J or Prevention,
v 408. 7. Singularity, v 424. 8. Inconstancy, v 430. 9. Party Spirit, v 452,
&c. 10. Envy, v 466. Against Envy, and in praise of Good-nature, v 508,
&c. When Severity is chiefly to be tlSed by Critics, v 526, &c.
,I
PART III. Ver. 560, &c.
Rules for the Conduct of Manners in a Critic, 1. Candour, v 563. Modesty,
v 566. Good-breeding, v 572. Sincerity, and Freedom of Advice, v 578.
Z. When one's Counsel is to be restrained, v. 584. Character qf an in­
37
38
•
Ah Essay on Criticism
An Essay on Criticism
corrigible Poet, v 600. And of an impertinent Critic, v 610, &e. Char,
ter of a good Critic, v 629. The History of Criticism, and Characters
the best Critics, Aristotle, v 645. Horace, v 653. Dionysius, v 665. Petr,
nius, v 667. Quintilian, v 670. Longinus, v 675. Of the Decay of C
cism, and Us Revival. Erasmus, v 693. Vida, v 705. BoUeau, v 714. L
Roscommon, &c. v 725. Conclusion.
~
~".>·O
()cJ'e(
(. ,.,-he:..
~~~'
AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM: First published anonymously on May 15, 1711, the
Essay on Criticism was reprinted at least ten times in the next ten years. The
Latin epigrap't is from Horace, Epistle I vi 67-8: '1f you know anything better
than these pr~cepts, say so frankly; if not, use these with me."
9-14. William Warburton, Pope's friend and editor, commented on these'
lines: "the Judgments of the multitude, like the artificial measure, of Time, go
different, and yet, each relies upon his own. But Taste in the Critic, is as rare
as Genius in the Poet: both are derived from Heaven, and like the sun (the
natural meast.re of Time) always constant and equal."
14. Compare "a poet is born, not made" (poeta nascitur, non fit).
17. Wit: tl'e term has many meanings in the E,say. Depending on the context,
"wit" may re ?er to a poet's genius, his art, his imagination, even his judgment
or good sense.
21. Nature: another ambiguous term in the poem. Often it suggests not so
much the external world, but an ordering and harmonizing principle which lies
behind and sustains all things (ef. 11. 68ff.).
26. Schools: schools of criticism.
t
And some made Coxcombs Nature meant but Fools.
In search of Wit these lose their common Sense,
And then turn Criticks in their own Defence.
Each bums alike, who can, or cannot write,
Or with a Rival's, or an Eunuch's spite.
.All Fools have still an Itching to deride,
And fain wou'd be upon the Laughing Side:
If M83Vius Scribble in Apollo's spight,
There are, who fudge still worse than he can write.
Some have at first for Wits, then Poets past,
.
Turn'd CriticlCS next and rov'd lam FooG at last; \
orne neit er can or Wits nor rtt c pass,
As heavy Mules are neither Horse nor Ass.
Those half-leam'd Witlings, num'rous in· our Isle,
As half-form'd Insects gn the Banks of Nile; ....
UDflnish'd Things, one knows not what to call,
Their Generation's so equivocal:
, To tell 'em, wou'd a hundred Tongues require,
Or one vain Wit's, that might a hundred tire.
But you who seek to give and merit Fame,
And justly bear a Critick's noble Name,
Be sure your self and your own Reach to know,
How far your Genius, Taste, and Learning go;
Launch not beyond your Depth, but be discreet,
<'ADd mark Dial Pomt where Sense and Dulness meet.
Nature to all thins\; sJ"Q the limits 6t
And Wisely curb'd proud Man's pretendiDlz Wit:
on The Land wnile1wre the Ocean gaIns,
In other Parts it leaves wide sandy Plains;
Thus in the Soul while Memory prevails,
The solid Pow'r of Understanding fails;
Where Beams of warm Imagination play,
The Memory's soft Figures melt away.
One Science only will one Genius fit;
So vast is Art, so narrow Human Wit:
Not only bounded to peculiar Arts,
•
39
30
35
~
.5
.
'1-
O~
t
x.. . .-( ~ ,to
50
<:.p..
.
,
C\.u-h ~')
__,
)? ~'7::!J
60
27. Coxcombs: conceited pretenders to wit and judgment.
34. Malevias: a scribbling contemporary of Virgil and Horace who became the
type of a bad poet.
41-3. The sun was thought to cause insects (a term which included frogs
and snakes) to hatch from the Nile mud by equivocal (i.e., spontaneous) gen­
eration. Their generation is also called "equivocal" because they seem ''half­
Eorm'd" and "unfinish'd," partly alive and partIy unanimated mud.
44. teU: count or describe.
52-67. These lines reflect the Renaissance idea that one faculty of the mind
WBS strengthened at the expense of lUlother, and also emphBSize that proud man
must recognize his limitations.
60, One scieace: one kind of learning.
61. Cf. the first aphorism of Hippocrates: "wfe is short, but art is long."
"Art" in this line suggests learning in general.
62. peculiar: special or individual.
"j
An Essay on Criticism
•
41
The gen'rous C . .
, "
~ -'!.~ 100
aug t t e World, with Reason to Admire.
c.r.t\ c..
Then Criticism the Muse's Handmaid prov'd,
To dress her Charms, and make ,her more belov'd;
But following Wits from that Intention stray'd;
Who cou'd not win the Mistress, woo'd the Maid;
105
Against the Poets their own Arms they turn'd,
Sure to hate most the Men from whom they learn'd.
So modem Pothecaries, taught the Art
By Doctor's Bills to play the Doctor's Part,
Bold in the Practice of mistaken Rules,
110
Prescribe, apply, and call their Masters Fools.
Some on the Leaves of ancient Authors prey,
Nor Time nor Moths e'er spoil'd so much as they:
Some dryly plain, without Invention's Aid,
Write dull Receits how Poems may be made:
115
These leave the Sense, their Learning to display,
And those explain the Meaning quite away.
You then whose Judgment the right Course wou'd steer,
K~ow well each ANCIENT'S proper Character,
A" J" J I'~A
s a e, Bu ect co
I'~'t> n ountr
eni
J..:.
ithout all ese at once before your Eyes,_
Cr~' i<!.~ __
Cavil you m
but never Crittclze.
'"'Be Homer'sorks your Study, and Delight,
Read them by Day, and meditate by Night,
125
Thence form your Judgment, thence your Maxims bring,
And trace the Muses upward to their Spring;
Still with It self compard, his Text peruse;
And let your Comment be the Mantuan Muse.
When first young Mara in his boundless Mind
130
A work t' outlast Immortal Rome design'd,
Perhaps he seem'd above the Critick's Law,
And but from Nature's Fountains scorn'd to draw:
But when t'examine ev'ry Part he came,
Me
I~~L~
~
'
W
......='')~J.Jie Nature sti~l
-.! n
1\.1n#....1"
ULES
or
Mf.t1!6~Z
010 atscover a, not aevtB a,
ut!f atur
a;
l .. l,..o Tit n.+"' • ..
L'I
••
J. _ ........ --~-
90
95
68. Nature: d. 1. 21n.
69. still: always.
75. Pope here recalls the idea that "the art is to conceal the art" (ara ell
celore artem).
76. informing: animating and characterizing.
77. Spirits: the organs of the body were thought to produce certain subtle,'
animating "spirits" which enabled man to perform the various functions of his
nature.
8~3. CE. I. 17n.
84. Muse', Steed: Pegasus, the winged horse of poetic imagination.
86. gen'rou,: spirited.
88. Rule,: the body of generally accepted rules or precepts of good writinr.
94. Pamassus: the mountain sacred to the Muses.
108-11. The lines refer to a quarrel between London doctors and apothe­
caries which developed when the latter began to write their own "bills" (pre­
scriptions) and thereby to usurp the doctor's function. The illegal practices
and high fees of the apothecaries led' the College of Physicians to open a dis­
pensary where drugs were sold at cost to the poor, and also led Dr. Samuel
Garth to write his mock-epic poem, The Dispensary, an attack on the apothe­
. caries (cE. I. 619, below).
112-15. The lines attack first those editors who emend and mar poetic texts,
and second those critics who offer mechanical rules ("Receits" or recipes) for
the writing of poems.
119. Ancient: ancient writers of Greece and Rome.
120. Fable: plot.
'
129. Comment: commentary, gloss.
Mantuan Musel Virgil, born near
Mantua.
130. Maro: Virgil (Publius Virgilius Maro).
An Essay on Criticism
42­
­
43
Conceal his Force, nay seem sometimes to Fly.
Those oft are Stratagems which Errors seem,
A
Nor is it Homer Nods, but We that ·.Dream.
r-t.,-.<;\..J.-r­
c.
SriU green with Bays each ancient Altar stands,
Above the reach of Sacrilegious Hands,
Secure from Flames, from Envy's fiercer Rage,
Destructive War, and all-involving Age.
See, from each Clime the Learn'd their Incense bring;
185
Hear, in all Tongues consenting P83ans ringl
In Praise so just, let ev'ry Voice be join'd,
And fill the Gen'ral Chorus of Mankind!
Hail Bards Triumphant! born in happier Days;
Immortal Heirs of Universal Praise!
Whose Honours with Increase of Ages grow,
V~;~G/
As Streams roll down, enlarging as they flowl
Wations unborn your mighty Names shalI sound,
fl~' '\.c.."..'
And Worlds applaud that must not yet be found!
.~
•~':J2h may some Spark of your Crelestial Fire
:)l'·~:he last, the ~anest of your Sons inspire,
,
W'-'
(That on weak Wm~s, from far, pursues your Flights;
i'~Glows while he reads, but trembles as he writes)
l.fT To teach vain Wits a Science little known,
200
T' admire Superior Sense, and doubt their own!
~ ~i~t~
~:J-s
190f
~l\~~
R~
.-hJ .
p
r
~~\~
f ~"''''
whjcl> l:OJI"';m .. b!jnd
.4-L I
}lan's erring udgment, and mis 'de the Mind, 0
IJ ~
e we
ea WI stron est B s ru es \..,..~
o F
C~~J!
C)
ver Nature has in Worth deny'd,
.s2~r
She gives in large Recruits of needful Pride;
For as in Bodies, thus in Souls, we Bnd
What wants in Blood and Spirits, swelI'd with Wind;
Pride, where Wit fails, steps in to our Defence,
And filIs up alI the mighty Void of Sense!
210
If once right Reason drives that Cloud
rru
on'
ss Day;
t not your self,
Defects to kn
~ake use of ev'ryYeiUleV'rYF0e.
/2.
ana
175
138.
141.
142.
168.
170.
Stagyrite: Aristotle, born at Stagira in 384 B.C.
doec1are: make clear.
Happinell: luckiness or felicity of expression (cf. I. 148)
Seizel: in the legal sense, "to take possession of."
Faults: rhymed with thoughts in Pope's day.
~
ty.
183-4. "The four great causes of the ravage amongst ancient writings are
here alluded to: The destruction of the Alexandrine and Palatine libraries by
fire; the fiercer rage of Zoilus and Mreuius [types of bad critics and writers I and
their followers against Wit; the irruption of the Barbarians into the empire; and
the long reign of Ignorance and Superstition in the cloisters" [Warburton].
186. consenting: harmonizing, agreeing.
187. join'd: rhymed with kind in Pope's day.
i06. Recruits: supplies.
i07-10. The lines recall nature's abhorrence of a vacuum. For "Spirits," see
L 77n.
An Essay on.Criticism
•
45
260
Z65
270
275
280
285
290
~.~"'~~''''~V~'~U~'''~~~'''~';·;]~~[Jii~~j~~ift~£.~~e~:>~·'~~
.
th appear;
250
295
lIel. Verbal Critick: one who devotes himself to mere details and sacri6ces
the spirit to the letter of the rules.
255
267-84. Pope found this story about Don Quixote de la Mancha in a spurious
lequel to Cervantes' work.
270. Dennis: John Dennis (1657-1734), a writer and critic much concerned
with Greek drama. Though a critic of real merit, he was extremely irascible
lUld inflexible of temperament (ef. l. 585n.).
273. nice: finical, fastidious.
276. Unities: the Aristotelian dramatic unity of lICtion, and the supposed Aris­
totelian unities of time and place.
286. Curious: overly careful.
1189. Conceit: farfetched thought or expression.
46
•
An Essay on Criticism
~r-v.<
V:+'­
J
Shades more sweetly recommend the Light,
So modest Plainness sets off sprightly Wit:
For Works may have more Wit than does 'em good,
As Bodies perish through Excess of Blood.
be~'
Others for [,anguage all their Care express,
And value BooKs, as Women Men, for Dress:
Their Praise is still ­ The Stile is excellent:
The Sense, they humbly take upon Content.
Words are like Leaves; and where they most abound,
Much Fruit of Sense beneath is rarely found.
False Eloquence, like the Prismatic Glass,
Its gawdy Colours spreads on ev'ry place;
The Face of Nature we no more Survey,
~
All glares alike, without Distinction gay:
~
But true Expression, like th' unchanging Sun, }
Clears, and improves whate'er it shines upon,
\~S
It gilds all Objects, but it alters none.
Expression is the Dress of Thought, and still
'\
Appears more decent as more suitable;
A vile Conceit in pompous Words exprest,
....-/,l
Is like a Clown in regal Purple drest;
For diff'rent Styles with difJ'rent Sub;ects sort,
As several Garbs with Country, Town. an
Some b Old WordS to Fame have made Pretence;
Anci~nts in Phrase, meer Modems in their Sense
• Such labour d Nothings, In so strange a Style,
Amaze th'unlearn'd and make the Learned Smile.
Unlucky, as Fungoso in the Play,
} ..
These Sparks with aukward Vanity display
What the Fine Gentleman wore Yesterday!
And but so mimick ancient Wits at best,
As Apes our Grandsires in their Doublets drest.
In Words, as Fashions, the same Rule will hold;
Alike Fantastick, if too New, or Old;
Be not the first by whom the New are try'd,
Nor yet the last to lay the Old aside.
An Essay on Criticism
~~,~~
•
47
.~~
"~~- 300
340
'!Jlt
?~
b..k
355
~-::tt
~
308. take upon Content: accept without question.
319. decent: fitting, becoming.
321. Clown: peasant.
322-3. The subjects appropriate to "Country, Town, arid Court" are prob­
ably pastoral, satire or comedy, and epic respectively.
324-5. Pope possibly glances here at Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), who
had used archaic or Spenserian dialect in his Pastorals and whose practice Pope .
satirized in Guardian 40.
328. Fungoso: a character who unsuccessfully aped the fashionable in Ben
Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour.
360
o
1·
But when loud Surges lash the sounding Shore,
The hoarse, rough Verse shou'd like the Torrent roar.
When A;ax strives, some Rock's vast Weight to throw,
, TI;1!3 Line too labours, an>the Words move slow;
,
~~~ J...")c~
~ ~ II
~..l2..
370
337. Numbers: versification.
J
~
344. Equal Syllables: mecharncally place an-hJar accents.
345. Pope illustrates the faults he describes in this and the following lines.
Open vowels occur when a word ending in a vowel is followed by one beginning
with a vowel, as in TIw' oft, the Ear, etc.
348. Expletives: filler words, like do in this line. Join was pronounced to
rhyme with line.
347. A monosyllabic line (cI.ll. 107 and 226).
357. An Alexandrine, or six-foot line. Contrast the Alexandrine at l. 373.
381. Strength ••• Sweetness: Sir John Denham (1615-69) and Edmund
Waller (1606-87) were commonly thought to have imparted these qualities to
the closed couplet.
388-83. Lines designed as illustrations of the precept that sound should
echo sense in poetry.
370-1. Cf. The Episode of Sarpedon, ll. 97f/.
48
•
An Essay
on Criticism
An Essay on Criticism
I
Not so, when swift Camilla scours the Plain,
J,.I~~~ Flies o'er tb'unbending Corn, and skims along the Main:­
Hear how TiflWtheus'vary'd Lays surprize,
And bid Alternate Passions fall and rise!
While, at each Change, the Son of Lybian Jove
Now burns with Glory, and then melts with Love;
Now his fierce Eyes with sparkling Fury glow;
Now Sighs steal out, and Tears begin to {low:
Persians and Greeks like Turns of Nature found,
And the World's Victor stood subdu'd by Sound!
The Pow'r of Musick all our Hearts allow;
And what Timotheus was, is Dryden now.
.,Avoid fgcea w ; and shun the Fault of such,
Who still are pleas'd too little, or too much.
At ev'ry TriHe scorn to take Offence,
That always shows Great Pride, or Little Sense;
Those Heads as Stomachs are not sure the best
Which nauseate all, and nothing can digest.
Yet let not each gay Turn thy Rapture move,
For Fools Admire, but Men of Sense Approve;
As things seem large which we thro' Mists descry,
Dulness is ever apt to Magnify.
orne foreign Writers, some our own despise;
Toe Ancients""O
Thus Wit, like Faith, by each Man is apply'd
To one small Sect, and All are damn'd beside.}
Meanly they seek the Blessing to confine,
And force that Sun but on a Part to Shine;
Which not alone the Southern Wit sublimes,
But ripens Spirits in cold Northern Climes;
Which from the first has shone on Ages past,
Enlights the present, and shall warm the last:
(Tho' each may feel Increases and Decays,
And see now clearer and now darker Days)
Regard not then if Wit be Old or New,
But blame the False, and value still the True.
Some ne'er advance a Jud
But catch the spreadmg Notion of the Town;
405
372. Camilla: a warrior-maid in Virgil's Aeneid (see especially Book VII,
n.8089.)
374. See Alexander's Feast, Of' the Power of Music; an Ode by Mr. Dryden.
P.
Timotheus was a Theban musician of the time of Alexander the Great.
376. Son: When Alexander visited the oracle of Zeus Ammon in Libya, he was
proclaimed son of the god.
380. Tums of Nature: alternations of feeling.
300. gay Turn: felicitous tum of phrase.
30S-0. Cf. Matthew 5:45: "he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the
good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust:'
400. sublimes: exalts or ripens. Pope here rejects the idea that climate im­
posed limitations on the minds of men.
,They reason and conclude by Precedent,
And own stale Nonsense which they ne'er invent.
Some judge of Authors' Names, not Works, and then
Nor praise nor blame the Writings, but the Men.
Of all this Servile Herd the worst is He
That in proud Dulness joins with Quality,
A constant Critick at the Great-man's Board,
To fetch and carry Nonsense for my Lord.
What woful stuff this Madrigal wou'd be,
In some starv'd Hackny Sonneteer, or me?
But let a Lord once own the happy Lines,
How the Wit brightens! How the Style refines!
Before his sacred Name Hies ev'ry Fault,
And each exalted Stanza teems with Thought!
Th ul ar thus through Imitation err;
As oft the Learn
o
e scorn th
that if the Thron
By Chance go right, they purposely go wrong;
<So Schismatics the plain Believers quit,
And are but damn'd for having too much Wit.
§,Qme praise at Morning what they blame at Night;
But alwals think the last Opinion right.
• A Muse y these IS row a ~Hsl:ress us'd, ......
This hour she's idoliz'd, the next abus'd,
While their weak Heads, like Towns unfortify'd,
'Twixt Sense and Nonsense daily change their Side.
Ask them the Cause; They're wiser still, they say;
And still to Morrow's wiser than to Day.
We think our Fathers Fools, so wise we grow;
Our Wiser Sons, no doubt, will think us so.
Once School-Divines this zealous Isle o'erspread;
Who knew most Sentences was deepest read;
Faith, Gospel, All, seem'd made to be disputed,
And none had Sense enough to be Confuted.
Scotists and Thomists, now, in Peace remain,
Amidst their kindred Cobwebs in Duck-Lane.
If Faith it self has diff'rent Dresses worn,
What wonder Modes in Wit shou'd take their Turn?
• 49
410
415
420
425
430
435
440
445
415. Quality: the nobility.
410; Hackny: hireling.
440. School·Divines: medieval scholastic theologians.
441. Sentences: maxims (sententlae) of the great theologians.
444. Scotists and Thomists: followers of the Franciscan Duns Scotus (from
whose name the word ·'dunce" derives) were often in intellectual conflict with
the followers of the Dominican Thomas Aquinas.
445. kindred Cobwebs: the arguments of medieval schoolmea were fre­
quently compared to cobwebs because they seemed to be so very fine and subtle
Duck-Lane: A place where old and second­
and to be spun out of themselves.
hand books were sold formerly, near Smithfield. P
50
•
An Essay on Criticism
An Essay on Criticism
Oft, leaving what is Natural and fit,
The current Folly proves the ready Wit,
And Authors think their Reputation safe,
Which lives· as long as Fools are pleas'd to Laugh.
Some valuing those of their own Side or ill
sfffi make themselves the measure of Ma' 1 • . 1
ondly we think we honour MerIt then,
I nt.1"'{ ~hen we but praIse Om selves in Other Men.
arties in Wit attend on those of State,
And publick Faction doubles private Hate.
~(r:
Pride, Malice, Folly, against Dryden rose,
~
In various Shapes of Parsons, Criticks, Beaus;
.c •..:"-},,ciS........But Sense surviv'd, when merry lests were past;
For rising Merit will buoy up at last.
Might he return, and bless once more our Eyes,
New Blackmores and new Milbourns must arise;
Nay shou'd great Homer lift his awful Head,
Zoilus again would start up from the Dead.
Envy will Merit as its Shade pursue,
But like a Shadow, proves the Substance true;
For envy'd Wit, like Sol Eclips'd, makes known
Th' opposing Body's Grossness, not its own.
When first that Sun too powerful Beams displays,
It draws up Vapours which obscure its Rays;
But ev'n those Clouds at last adorn its Way,
Reflect new Glories, and augment the Day.
Be thou the first true Merit to befriend;
His Praise is lost, who stays till All commend;
Short is the Date, alas, of Modern Rhymes;
And 'tis but just to let'em live betimes.
No longer now that Golden Age appears,
When Patriarch-Wits surviv'd a thousand Years;
Now Length of Fame (our second Life) is lost,
And bare Threescore is all ev'n That can boast:
Our Sons their Fathers' failing Language see,
And such as Chaucer is; shall Dryden be.
So when the faithful Pencil has design'd
Some bright Idea of the Master's Mind,
P
crfl­
485
454. fondly: vainly or foolishly.
456-7. I.e., writers are divided by political allegiances, Whig or Tory.
459. ParIODJ. Criticka, Beaus: Dryden had been attacked by the Rev. Jeremy
Collier in A Short View of the Profaneness and Immoral/tyaf the English Stage
(1698), and by the Rev. Luke Milbourne (cf. I. 463) in Notes on Dryden's Virgil
(1698); by critics such as Sir Richard Blackmore (I. 463) in A Satyr Against
Wit (1700); by beaus such as George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. in TM
Rehearsal (IB71).
465. Zonus: Greek grammarian of the 3rd or 4th century B.C., famous for his
carping criticisms of Homer.
482, The impermanent nature of the English language was a common com·
plaint in Pope's day.
Where a new World leaps out at his command,
And ready Nature waits upon his Hand;
When the ripe Colours soften and unite,
And sweetly melt into just Shade and Light,
When mellowing Years their full Perfection give,
And each Bold Figure just begins to Live;
The treach'rous Colours the fair Art betray,
And all the bright Creation fades away I
Unhappy Wit, like most mistaken Things,
Attones not for that Envy which it brings.
In Youth alone its empty Praise we boast,
But soon the Short-liv'd Vanity is lost!
Like some fair Flow'r the early Spring supplies,
That gaily Blooms, but ev'n in blooming Dies.
What is this Wit which must our Cares employ?
The Owner's Wife, that other Men enjoy,
Then most our Trouble still when most admir'd,
And still the more we give, the more requir'd;
Whose Fame with Pains we guard, but lose with Ease,
Sure some to vex, but never aU to please; ,
'Tis what the Vicious fear, the Virtuous shun;
By Fools 'tis hated, and by Knaves undone!
If Wit so much from Ign'rance underllo
et not LearninlZ too co
ota, those met Rewards who cou'd excel,
And such were Prais'd who but endeavour'd well:
Tho' Triumphs were to Gen'rals only due,
Crowns were reserv'd to grace the Soldiers too.
Now, they who reach Parnassus' lofty Crown,
Employ their Pains to spurn some others down;
And while Self-Love each jealous Writer rules,
Contending Wits become the Sport of Fools:
But still the Worst with most Regret commend,
For each III Author is as bad a Friend.
To what base Ends, and by what abject Ways,
Are Mortals urg'd thro' Sacred Lust of Praise!
Ah ne'er so dire a Thirst of Glory boast,
Nor in the Critick let the Man be lost!
Good-Nature and Good-Sense must ever join;
To Err is Humane; to Forgive, Divine.
But if in Noble Minds some Dre~
N~ vet purll'd off. of Spleen:mEl »Ow for -
remaw. _
•
51
490
495
500
505
510
515
520
525
512. Triumphs: the magnificent cerem6liies WJIlC
who had !ained decisive victories over foreign enemies.
513. CroWDS: at the time of a general's triumph, crowns of various kinds
were awarded to soldiers who had distinguished themselves in the field.
521. Sacred: Latinism for accursed.
525: Humane: human.
52
•
An Essay on Criticism
An Essay on Critiotsm
S~,-i~~
/'. "k<.
Li'i
-6
',­
~
0
nere
Oilll: our J.uunaer, ana eX.llaus{ your
et shun their au
II seems Infected that th' Infected s
~+ ~s all looks yellow to
CJ~~
?~r'~
.
na~el
.
J
{.(J'ro..
C~""'s,M-
---r:EARN then what MORALS Criticks ought to show,
For 'tis but half a Judge's Task, to Know.
'Tis not enough, Taste, Judgment, Learning, join;
534. Age: that of Charles II.
538. Jilts: Charles' mistresses.
541. Mask: a woman wearing a mask to the theater.
544. Licence: a glance at the increased religious toleration, especially to­
wards Nonconformists, under the "Foreign Reign" of William III, a Dutchman.
545. Socinus: Laelius Socinus (1525-62) rejected the divinity of Christ and
conceived the doctrines which ultimately developed into Unitarianism.
546. Unbelieving Priests: an attack on some of the more liberal divines 01
the 17th century.
552. Witt', Titans: the deists, who seemed to some to rebel against God in
the way the Titans rebelled against Zeus.
553. Liceac'd: the Commons refused in 1695 to renew the Licensing Act,
and writers were then free to publish anything theY chose.
In all you speak, let Truth and Candor shine:
That not alone what to your Sense is due,
All may allow; but seek your Friendship too.
Be silent always when you doubt your Sense;
And speak, tho' sure, with seeming Diffidence:
Some positive persisting 'Fops we know,
Who, if once wrong, will needs be always so;
But you, with Pleasure own your Errors past,
And make each Day a Critick on the last.
.,,!!fr§~ough your Counsel still be true
~ more MisChief than nice FJllSh~ods do'
enroust be taught as if ~ou tau~them not·
AM things unknown prCLos'd as jniS tar@t.
Without Good Breeding, Truth is disapprov'd;
That only makes Superior Sense belo1J'd.
Be Niggards of Advice on no Pretence;
For the worst Avarice is that of Sense:
With mean Complacence ne'er betray your Trust,
Nor be so Civil as to prove Uniust;
Fear not the Anger of the Wise to raise;
Those best can bear Reproof, who merit Praise.
'Twere well, might Criticks still this Freedom take;
But Appius reddens at each Word you speak,
An~· Tremendous! with a threatnirtg Eye,
Like some fierce Tyrant in Old Tapestry!
Fear most to tax an Honourable Fool,
Whose Right it is, uncensur'd to be dull;
Such without Wit are Poets when they please,
As without Learning they can take Degrees.
Leave daIlg'rous Truths to unsuccessful Satyrs,
And Flattery to fulsome Dedicators,
Whom, when they Praise, the World believes no more,
Than when they promise to give Scribling o'er.
'Tis best sometimes your Censure to restrain,
•
53
565
570
I~
Cl~~~
7J,Ll-.
580
~
590
595
563. Candor: sweetness of temper.
571. Critick: critique, criticism.
580. Complacence: anxiety to please.
585. Thi8 picture wa.t taken to hil1l3elf by Iohn Dennis, a furious old Critic
profession, who, upon no other provocation, wrote against thi8 Essay an4 iU
IJUthor, in a manner perfectly lunatic: For, a.t to the mention made of him in
270. he took it a.t a Compliment, an4 said it wa.t treacherowly meant to
caUBfl him to o.,erlook thi8 Abuse of hia Person.
P.
The name Appiw recalls
Dennis' tragedy, Appiw an4 Virginia, which had failed on the stage in 1709.
Dennis was fond of the word tremendow. and a stare was one of his notable
characteristics.
588-91. Peers and other persons of "honorable" rank were admitted to un·
earned degree.. at the universities.
593. fulsome Dedicators: writers whose dedications were mere servile ap­
peals for pabonage.
54
•
An Essay on Criticism
An Essay on Criticism
And charitably let the Dull be vain:
Your Silence there is better than your Spite,
For who can rail so long as they can write?
Still humming on, their drowzy Course they keep,
And lash'd so long, like Tops, are lash'd asleep.
False Steps but help them to renew the Race,
As after Stumbling, Jades will mend their Pace.
What Crouds of these, impenitently bold,
In Sounds and jingling Syllables grown old,
Still run on Poets in a raging Vein,
Ev'n to the Dregs and Squeezings of the Brain;
Strain out the last, dull droppings of their Sense,
And Rhyme with all the Rage of Impotence!
Such shameless Bards we have; and yet 'tis true,
There are as mad, abandon'd Criticks too.
The Bookful Blockhead, ignorantly read,
With Loads of Learned Lumber in his Head,
With his own Tongue still edifies his Ears,
And always List'ning to Himself appears.
All Books he reads, and all he reads assails,
From Dryden's Fables down to Durfey's Tales.
With him, most Authors steal their Works, or buy;
Garth did not write his own Dispensary.
Name a new Play, and he's the Poet's Friend,
Nay show'd his Faults ­ but when wou'd Poets mend?
No Place so Sacred from such Fops is barr'd,
Nor is Paurs Church more safe than Paurs Church-yard:
Nay, fly to Altars; there they'll talk you dead;
For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.
Distrustful Sense with modest Caution speaks; }
It still looks home, and short Excursions makes;
But ratling Nonsense in full VoUies breaks;
And never shock'd, and never turn'd aside,
Bursts out, resistless, with a thundring Tydel
But where's the Man, who Counsel can bestow,
Still pleas'd to teach, and yet not proud to know?
Unbiass'd, or by Favour or by Spite;
Not dully prepossest, nor blindly right;
Tho' Learn'd, well-bred; and tho' well-bred, sincere;
Modestly bold, and Humanly severe?
Who to a Friend his Faults can freely show,
And gladly praise the Merit of a Foe?
Blest with a Taste exact, yet unconnn'd;
A Knowledge both of Books and Humankind;
Gen'rous Converse; a Soul exempt from Pride;
And Love to Praise, with Reason on his Side?
Such once were Criticks, such the lIa'
Atnens and Rome In--oetter
Ie mlghtY ~tagytite fJ.rst left the Shore,
Spread all his Sails, and durst the Deeps explore:
He steer'd securely, and discover'd far,
Led by the Light of the MlBooian Star.
~Qets,
610
615
620
625
630
635
801. A top is said to sleep when it spins so fast that its motion is imperceptible.
603. mend their Pace: travel faster.
613. Lumber: juilk.
619. Garth: see 11. 108-11n.,above, and also Summer, I. 9.
623. St. Paul's Cathedral was often used as a meeting-place by businessmen
as well as by loiterers and gallants. Paul's Churchyard was the booksellen'
quarter around the Cathedral.
•
55
640
645
2 Race JODi" uDconfinJd and free,
Still fond and proud of Savage T.iberty,
650
<'Receiv'd his Laws, and stood convinc'd 'twas fit
Who conquer'd Nature, shon'd pr:egiQ9 9'er Wit,
,-1
<::: Horace still charms with graceful Negligence,
I~
And without Method talks us into Sense,
L
Will like a Friend familiarly convey
c.C""\--f'le:..> 655
The truest Notions in the easiest way.
~
He, who Supream in Judgment, as in Wit,
\
....L.
Might boldly censure, as he boldly writ,
Yet judg'd with Coolness tho' he sung with Fire;
His Precepts teach but what his Works inspire.
660
Our Criticks take a contrary Extream,
They judge with Fury, but they write with Fle'me:
Nor suffers Horace more in wrong Translations
By Wits, than Criticks in as wrong Quotations.
See Dionysius Homer's Thoughts refine,
665
And can new Beauties forth from ev'ry Linel
Fancy and Art in gay Petronius please,
The Scholar's Learning, with the Courtier's Ease.
In grave iuintilian's copious Work we find
The justest ules, and clearest Method join'd;
670
Thus useful Arms in Magazines we place,
All rang'd in Order, and dispos'd with Grace,
But less to please the Eye, than arm the Hand,
Still fit for Use, and ready at Command.
Thee, bold Longinus/ all the Nine inspire,
675
And bless their Critick with a Poet's Fire.
G'
r;;J
645. Stagyrite: Aristotle.
648. MlII!ODian Star: Homer. born in Maeonia (Lydia).
652. A tribute to Aristotle's work in science as well as to his Poetics.
662. Fle'me: phlegm (coldness, sluggishness).
664. than Criticks: than by critics.
665. Dionysius of Halicarnassus (c. 30 B.C.), Greek critic and rhetorician.
See Pope's Preface to the Iliad. 11, 393-6.
667. Petronios: Petronius Arbiter (d. 66 A.D.), elegant voluptuary and writer
It the court of Nero.
669. Quintilian: noted Roman rhetorician of the first century A.D.
675. Longinus: Greek critic of the first century A.D. to whom the treatise 011
the Sublime is attributed.
56
•
An Essay on Criticism
An Essay on Criticism
An ardent Judge, who Zealous in his Trust,
With Warmth gives Sentence, yet is always Just;
Whose own Example strengthens all his Laws,
And Is himself that great Sublime he draws.
Thus long succeeding Criticks justly reign'd,
Licence repress'd, and useful Laws ordain'd;
Learning and Rome alike in Empire grew,
And Arts still follow'd where her Eagles flew;
From the same Foes, at last, both felt their Doom,
And the same Age saw Learning fall, and Rome.
With Tyranny, then Superstition join'd,
As that the Body, this enslav'd the Mind;
Much was Believ'd, but little understood,
And to be dull was constru'd to be good;
A second Deluge Learning thus o'er-run,
And the Monks finish'd what the Goths begun.
At length,.,Emswm that great, iniur'd Name,
(The Glory of the Priesthood, and the Shame!)
Stemm'd the wild Torrent of a barb'rous Age,
And drove those Holy Vandals off the Stage.
But see! each Muse, in Leo's Golden Days,
Starts from her Trance, and trims her wither'd Baysl
Rome's ancient Genius, o'er its Ruins spread,
Shakes off the Dust, and rears his rev'rend Headl
Then Sculpture and her Sister-Arts revive;
Stonesleap'd to Form, and Rocks began to live;
With sweeter Notes each rising Temple rung;
A Raphael painted, and a Vida sung!
Immortal Vida! on whose honour'd Brow
The Poet's Bays and Critick's Ivy grow:
Cremona now shall ever boast thy Name,
As next in Place to Mantua, next in Fame!
But soon by Impious Arms from Latium chas'd,
Their ancient Bounds the banish'd Muses past;
Thence Arts o'er all the Northern World advance;
684. Eagle.: the Eagles carried as standards by the Roman legions.
686. Rome: Pope uses an older pronunciation of Rome, to rhyme with Doom.
893-4. Pope considered Erasmus (1466-1536) the gIOTt) of the priesthood
because of his learning, and its shame because of the treatment he received at
its hands. See also The First Satire of the Second Book, II. 63-7.
697. Leo'. Golden Day.: the Italian Renaissance reached its zenith under
Leo X, pope from 1513 to 1521.
898. trim.: restores.
704. Vida: M. Hieronymus Vida, an excellent Latin Poet, who writ an Art
of Poetry in Verse. He fIourish'd in the time of Leo, the Tenth. P.
706. Critiek's Ivy: Pope apparently was the first to crown a critic with ivy'
(traditionally associated with poets).
707-8, Vida was born in Cremona, very near to Mantua, the birthplace 01
Virgil.
709. Impious Anns: a reference to the Sack of Rome
of the Emperor Charles V.
Latium: Italy.
But Critic Learning flourish'd most in France.
The Rules, a Nation born to serve, obeys,
And Boileau still in Right of Horace sways.
But we, brave Britons, Foreign Laws despis'd,
And kept unconquer'd, and unciviliz'd,
Fierce for the Liberties of Wit, and bold,
We still defy'd the Romans, as of old.
Yet some there were, among the sounder Few
Of those who less presum'd, and better knew,
Who durst assert the iuster Ancient Cause,
And here restor'd Wit's Fundamental Laws.
Such was the Muse, whose Rules and Practice tell,
Nature's chief Master-piece is writing well.
Such was Roscomon ­ not more learn'd than good,
With Mlinners gen'rous as his Noble Blood;
To him the Wit of G1'eece and Rome was known,
And ev'ry Author's Merit, but his own.
Such late was Walsh, ­ the Muse's Judge and Friend,
Who justly ldiew to 151ame or to commend;
To Failings mild, but zealous for Desert;
The clearest Head, and the sincerest Heart.
This humble Praise, lamented Shade! receive,
This Praise at least a grateful Muse may give!
The Muse, whose early Voice you taught to Sing,
Prescrib'd her Heights, and prun'd her tender Wing,
(Her Guide now lost) no more attempts to rise,
But in low Numbers short Excursions tries:
Content, if hence th' Unlearn'd their Wants may view,
The Learn'd reflect on what before theinknew:
Careless of Censure nor too fond of Fa e
'Still pJeas'd to praise. yet not afraid to blame._
•
57
715
720
725
730
735
740
Ave~e a~~oFauIfS,ryaj
Flattl3.T::.·~~etti nto mend.~
.. Not Jeero
713. Nation born to serve: it was customary for the English to sneer at the
.ervility of the French.
714. Boileau: Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux (1636-1711), distinguished poet
IDd critic, author of L'An Poetique.
718. I.e., modem English writers seem to defy thc precept:; of classical
Roman criticism in the same way their ancestors defied the ancient Roman legions
who invaded Britain.
723. the Muse: John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham (1648-1721), author
of An Essay upon Poetry, from which I. 724 is taken.
725. Roseomon: Wentworth Dillon, fourth Earl of Roscommon (1633-85).
luthor of An Essay on Translated Verse.
729. Walsh: William Walsh (1663-1708), minor poet who befrieaded the
young Pope and gave him critical advice (see first note to Winter).
the Muse',
Judge: the muse here and at 11. 734-5 is Pope himself.
736. prun'd: refers to a trimming or dressing of feathers with the beak.