Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

An Essay on Criticism: Part 1

Si quid novisti rectius istis, Candidus imperti; si non, his utere mecum [If you have come to know any precept more correct than these, share it with me, brilliant one; if not, use these with me] (Horace, Epistle I.6.67)

PART 1              1 'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill               2Appear in writing or in judging ill;               3But, of the two, less dang'rous is th' offence               4To tire our patience, than mislead our sense.               5Some few in that, but numbers err in this,               6Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss;               7A fool might once himself alone expose,               8Now one in verse makes many more in prose.

              9     'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none             10Go just alike, yet each believes his own.             11In poets as true genius is but rare,             12True taste as seldom is the critic's share;             13Both must alike from Heav'n derive their light,             14These born to judge, as well as those to write.             15Let such teach others who themselves excel,             16And censure freely who have written well.             17Authors are partial to their wit, 'tis true,             18But are not critics to their judgment too?

            19     Yet if we look more closely we shall find             20Most have the seeds of judgment in their mind;             21Nature affords at least a glimm'ring light;             22The lines, tho' touch'd but faintly, are drawn right.             23But as the slightest sketch, if justly trac'd,             24Is by ill colouring but the more disgrac'd,             25So by false learning is good sense defac'd;             26Some are bewilder'd in the maze of schools,             27And some made coxcombs Nature meant but fools.             28In search of wit these lose their common sense,             29And then turn critics in their own defence:             30Each burns alike, who can, or cannot write,             31Or with a rival's, or an eunuch's spite.             32All fools have still an itching to deride,             33And fain would be upon the laughing side.             34 If Mævius scribble in Apollo's spite,             35There are, who judge still worse than he can write.

            36     Some have at first for wits, then poets pass'd,             37Turn'd critics next, and prov'd plain fools at last;             38Some neither can for wits nor critics pass,             39As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass.             40Those half-learn'd witlings, num'rous in our isle             41As half-form'd insects on the banks of Nile;             42Unfinish'd things, one knows not what to call,             43 Their generation's so equivocal:             44 To tell 'em, would a hundred tongues require,             45Or one vain wit's, that might a hundred tire.

            46     But you who seek to give and merit fame,             47And justly bear a critic's noble name,             48Be sure your self and your own reach to know,

            49How far your genius, taste, and learning go;             50Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet,             51And mark that point where sense and dulness meet.

            52     Nature to all things fix'd the limits fit,             53And wisely curb'd proud man's pretending wit:             54As on the land while here the ocean gains,             55In other parts it leaves wide sandy plains;             56Thus in the soul while memory prevails,             57The solid pow'r of understanding fails;             58Where beams of warm imagination play,             59The memory's soft figures melt away.             60 One science only will one genius fit;             61 So vast is art, so narrow human wit:             62Not only bounded to peculiar arts,             63But oft in those, confin'd to single parts.             64Like kings we lose the conquests gain'd before,             65 By vain ambition still to make them more;             66Each might his sev'ral province well command,             67Would all but stoop to what they understand.

            68     First follow NATURE, and your judgment frame             69By her just standard, which is still the same:             70Unerring Nature, still divinely bright,             71One clear, unchang'd, and universal light,             72Life, force, and beauty, must to all impart,             73At once the source, and end, and test of art.             74Art from that fund each just supply provides,             75Works without show, and without pomp presides:             76 In some fair body thus th' informing soul             77 With spirits feeds, with vigour fills the whole,             78Each motion guides, and ev'ry nerve sustains;             79Itself unseen, but in th' effects, remains.             80Some, to whom Heav'n in wit has been profuse,             81Want as much more, to turn it to its use;             82For wit and judgment often are at strife,             83Though meant each other's aid, like man and wife.             84'Tis more to guide, than spur the Muse's steed;             85Restrain his fury, than provoke his speed;             86The winged courser, like a gen'rous horse,             87Shows most true mettle when you check his course.

            88      Those RULES of old discover'd, not devis'd,             89Are Nature still, but Nature methodis'd;             90Nature, like liberty, is but restrain'd             91By the same laws which first herself ordain'd.

            92     Hear how learn'd Greece her useful rules indites,             93When to repress, and when indulge our flights:             94 High on Parnassus' top her sons she show'd,             95And pointed out those arduous paths they trod;             96Held from afar, aloft, th' immortal prize,             97And urg'd the rest by equal steps to rise.             98Just precepts thus from great examples giv'n,             99She drew from them what they deriv'd from Heav'n.           100The gen'rous critic fann'd the poet's fire,           101And taught the world with reason to admire.           102Then criticism the Muse's handmaid prov'd,           103To dress her charms, and make her more belov'd;           104But following wits from that intention stray'd;           105Who could not win the mistress, woo'd the maid;           106Against the poets their own arms they turn'd,           107Sure to hate most the men from whom they learn'd.

          108So modern 'pothecaries, taught the art           109 By doctor's bills to play the doctor's part,           110 Bold in the practice of mistaken rules,           111Prescribe, apply, and call their masters fools.           112Some on the leaves of ancient authors prey,           113Nor time nor moths e'er spoil'd so much as they:           114Some drily plain, without invention's aid,           115Write dull receipts how poems may be made:           116These leave the sense, their learning to display,           117And those explain the meaning quite away.

          118     You then whose judgment the right course would steer,           119Know well each ANCIENT'S proper character;           120His fable, subject, scope in ev'ry page;           121Religion, country, genius of his age:           122Without all these at once before your eyes,           123Cavil you may, but never criticise.           124Be Homer's works your study and delight,           125Read them by day, and meditate by night;           126Thence form your judgment, thence your maxims bring,           127And trace the Muses upward to their spring;           128Still with itself compar'd, his text peruse;           129 And let your comment be the Mantuan Muse.

          130     When first young Maro in his boundless mind           131A work t' outlast immortal Rome design'd,           132Perhaps he seem'd above the critic's law,           133And but from Nature's fountains scorn'd to draw:           134But when t' examine ev'ry part he came,           135Nature and Homer were, he found, the same.           136Convinc'd, amaz'd, he checks the bold design,           137And rules as strict his labour'd work confine,           138 As if the Stagirite o'erlook'd each line.           139Learn hence for ancient rules a just esteem;           140To copy nature is to copy them.

          141     Some beauties yet, no precepts can declare,           142For there's a happiness as well as care.           143Music resembles poetry, in each           144Are nameless graces which no methods teach,           145And which a master-hand alone can reach.           146If, where the rules not far enough extend,           147(Since rules were made but to promote their end)           148Some lucky LICENCE answers to the full           149Th' intent propos'd, that licence is a rule.           150Thus Pegasus, a nearer way to take,           151May boldly deviate from the common track.           152Great wits sometimes may gloriously offend,           153And rise to faults true critics dare not mend;           154From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,           155And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art,           156Which, without passing through the judgment, gains           157The heart, and all its end at once attains.           158In prospects, thus, some objects please our eyes,           159Which out of nature's common order rise,           160The shapeless rock, or hanging precipice.           161But tho' the ancients thus their rules invade,           162(As kings dispense with laws themselves have made)           163Moderns, beware! or if you must offend           164Against the precept, ne'er transgress its end;           165Let it be seldom, and compell'd by need,           166And have, at least, their precedent to plead.           167The critic else proceeds without remorse,

          168Seizes your fame, and puts his laws in force.

          169     I know there are, to whose presumptuous thoughts           170 Those freer beauties, ev'n in them, seem faults.           171 Some figures monstrous and misshap'd appear,           172Consider'd singly, or beheld too near,           173Which, but proportion'd to their light, or place,           174Due distance reconciles to form and grace.           175A prudent chief not always must display           176His pow'rs in equal ranks, and fair array,           177But with th' occasion and the place comply,           178Conceal his force, nay seem sometimes to fly.           179Those oft are stratagems which errors seem,           180Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.

          181      Still green with bays each ancient altar stands,           182Above the reach of sacrilegious hands,           183Secure from flames, from envy's fiercer rage,           184Destructive war, and all-involving age.           185See, from each clime the learn'd their incense bring!           186 Hear, in all tongues consenting pæans ring!           187 In praise so just let ev'ry voice be join'd,           188And fill the gen'ral chorus of mankind!           189Hail, bards triumphant! born in happier days;           190Immortal heirs of universal praise!           191Whose honours with increase of ages grow,           192As streams roll down, enlarging as they flow!           193Nations unborn your mighty names shall sound,           194And worlds applaud that must not yet be found!           195Oh may some spark of your celestial fire           196The last, the meanest of your sons inspire,           197(That on weak wings, from far, pursues your flights;           198Glows while he reads, but trembles as he writes)           199To teach vain wits a science little known,           200T' admire superior sense, and doubt their own!

Notes

1] First published in May 1711, when Pope was twenty-three. Pope seems to have started the Essay in 1708. It is representative of a long tradition exemplified by Horace's Ars Poetica, Vida's De Re Poetica in the Renaissance, and Boileau's Art poétique in the seventeenth century. The use of the word "essay" in the title associates Pope's work with the techniques of Bacon and Montaigne. Pope's notes referring to classic analogues have not been reproduced. Pope provided the following outline of the Essay on Criticism: "PART 1.That 'tis as great a fault to judge ill, as to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public, 1. That a true taste is as rare to be found, as a true genius, 9-18. That most men are born with some taste, but spoiled by false education, 19-25. The multitude of critics, and causes of them, 26-45. That we are to study our own taste, and know the limits of it, 46-67. Nature is the best guide of judgment, 68-87. Improved by art and rules, which are but methodized Nature, 88. Rules derived from the practice of the ancient poets, 88-110. That therefore the ancients are necessary to be studied by a critic, particularly Homer and Virgil, 120-138. Of licences, and the use of them by the ancients, 140-180. Reverence due to the ancients, and praise of them, 181 ff. "PART II. Causes hindering a true judgment. 1. Pride, 208. 2. Imperfect learning, 215. 3. Judging by parts, and not by the whole, 233-288. Critics in Wit, Language, Versification, only, 288, 305, 339 ff. 4. Being too hard to please, or too apt to admire, 384. 5. Partiality--too much love to a Sect,--to the Ancients or Modern, 394. 6. Prejudice, or Prevention, 408. 7. Singularity, 424.

8. Inconstancy, 430. 9. Party Spirit, 452 ff. 10. Envy, 466. Against Envy, and in praise of Good Nature, 508 ff. When Severity is chiefly to be used by critics, 526 ff. "PART III. Rules for the Conduct of Manners in a Critic, 1. Candour, 563. Modesty, 566. Good-breeding, 572. Sincerity, and Freedom of Advice, 578. 2. When one's Counsel is to be restrained, 584. Character of an incorrigible Poet, 600. And of an impertinent Critic, 610, etc. Character of a good Critic, 629. The History of Criticism, and characters of the best Critics, Aristotle, 645. Horace, 653. Dionysius, 665. Petronius, 667. Quintilian, 670. Longinus, 675. Of the Decay of Criticism, and its Revival. Erasmus, 693. Vida, 705. Boileau, 714. Lord Roscommon, etc., 725. Conclusion."

34] Mævius: a minor Augustan poet attacked by Virgil and Horace.

43] equivocal: a technical term for spontaneous generation.

44] tell 'em: to count them.

60] One science: one branch of knowledge.

61] art: scholarship, learning, science (OED).

65] still: always.

76] informing: moulding or animating (Lat. informare).

77] spirits. Renaissance physiology taught that subtle substances of three sorts (natural, animal, and vital) permeated the blood and other organs.

88] winged courser: Pegasus, Bellerophon's horse, associated with the Muses and poetic inspiration.gen'rous: thoroughbred (Lat. generosus).

94] Parnassus: a mountain near Delphi associated with the worship of Apollo and the Muses.

109] bills: prescriptions.

110] mistaken: misinterpreted.

129-30] Mantuan Muse ... Maro. Virgil (Publius Virgilius Maro) was born at Mantua. The lines suggest studying Virgil's Aeneid as a gloss on Homer.

138] Stagirite: Aristotle, born at Stagira.

170] faults: Pronounced so as to rhyme with thoughts.

171] figures: rhetorical and poetic figures.

181] bays: tree, a wreath of whose leaves is worn by poets.

186] consenting: in harmony.

187] Join'd. The word is pronounced so as to rhyme with kind.

An Essay on Criticism: Part 2

          201      Of all the causes which conspire to blind           202Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind,           203What the weak head with strongest bias rules,           204Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.           205Whatever Nature has in worth denied,           206 She gives in large recruits of needful pride;           207For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find           208What wants in blood and spirits, swell'd with wind;           209Pride, where wit fails, steps in to our defence,           210And fills up all the mighty void of sense!           211If once right reason drives that cloud away,           212Truth breaks upon us with resistless day;           213Trust not yourself; but your defects to know,           214Make use of ev'ry friend--and ev'ry foe.

          215     A little learning is a dang'rous thing;           216 Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:           217There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,           218And drinking largely sobers us again.           219Fir'd at first sight with what the Muse imparts,           220 In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts,           221While from the bounded level of our mind,           222Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind,           223But more advanc'd, behold with strange surprise           224New, distant scenes of endless science rise!           225So pleas'd at first, the tow'ring Alps we try,           226Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky;           227Th' eternal snows appear already past,           228And the first clouds and mountains seem the last;           229But those attain'd, we tremble to survey           230The growing labours of the lengthen'd way,           231Th' increasing prospect tires our wand'ring eyes,           232Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!

          233     A perfect judge will read each work of wit           234With the same spirit that its author writ,           235Survey the whole, nor seek slight faults to find,           236Where nature moves, and rapture warms the mind;           237Nor lose, for that malignant dull delight,           238The gen'rous pleasure to be charm'd with wit.           239But in such lays as neither ebb, nor flow,           240 Correctly cold, and regularly low,           241That shunning faults, one quiet tenour keep;           242We cannot blame indeed--but we may sleep.           243In wit, as nature, what affects our hearts           244Is not th' exactness of peculiar parts;           245'Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call,           246But the joint force and full result of all.           247 Thus when we view some well-proportion'd dome,           248(The world's just wonder, and ev'n thine, O Rome!'           249No single parts unequally surprise;           250All comes united to th' admiring eyes;           251No monstrous height, or breadth, or length appear;

          252The whole at once is bold, and regular.

          253     Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see,           254Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be.           255In ev'ry work regard the writer's end,           256Since none can compass more than they intend;           257 And if the means be just, the conduct true,           258Applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due.           259As men of breeding, sometimes men of wit,           260T' avoid great errors, must the less commit:           261 Neglect the rules each verbal critic lays,           262For not to know such trifles, is a praise.           263Most critics, fond of some subservient art,           264Still make the whole depend upon a part:           265 They talk of principles, but notions prize,           266And all to one lov'd folly sacrifice.

          267      Once on a time, La Mancha's knight, they say,           268A certain bard encount'ring on the way,           269Discours'd in terms as just, with looks as sage,           270 As e'er could Dennis of the Grecian stage;           271Concluding all were desp'rate sots and fools,           272 Who durst depart from Aristotle's rules.           273Our author, happy in a judge so nice,           274Produc'd his play, and begg'd the knight's advice,           275Made him observe the subject and the plot,           276The manners, passions, unities, what not?           277All which, exact to rule, were brought about,           278Were but a combat in the lists left out.           279"What! leave the combat out?" exclaims the knight;           280"Yes, or we must renounce the Stagirite."           281"Not so by Heav'n" (he answers in a rage)           282"Knights, squires, and steeds, must enter on the stage."           283So vast a throng the stage can ne'er contain.           284"Then build a new, or act it in a plain."

          285     Thus critics, of less judgment than caprice,           286Curious not knowing, not exact but nice,           287Form short ideas; and offend in arts           288(As most in manners) by a love to parts.

          289      Some to conceit alone their taste confine,           290And glitt'ring thoughts struck out at ev'ry line;           291Pleas'd with a work where nothing's just or fit;           292One glaring chaos and wild heap of wit.           293Poets, like painters, thus, unskill'd to trace           294The naked nature and the living grace,           295With gold and jewels cover ev'ry part,           296And hide with ornaments their want of art.           297True wit is nature to advantage dress'd,           298What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd,           299Something, whose truth convinc'd at sight we find,           300That gives us back the image of our mind.           301As shades more sweetly recommend the light,           302So modest plainness sets off sprightly wit.           303For works may have more wit than does 'em good,           304As bodies perish through excess of blood.

          305     Others for language all their care express,           306And value books, as women men, for dress:           307Their praise is still--"the style is excellent":           308The sense, they humbly take upon content.           309Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,

          310Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.           311False eloquence, like the prismatic glass,           312 Its gaudy colours spreads on ev'ry place;           313The face of Nature we no more survey,           314All glares alike, without distinction gay:           315But true expression, like th' unchanging sun,           316Clears, and improves whate'er it shines upon,           317It gilds all objects, but it alters none.           318Expression is the dress of thought, and still           319 Appears more decent, as more suitable;           320A vile conceit in pompous words express'd,           321 Is like a clown in regal purple dress'd:           322For diff'rent styles with diff'rent subjects sort,           323As several garbs with country, town, and court.           324Some by old words to fame have made pretence,           325Ancients in phrase, mere moderns in their sense;           326Such labour'd nothings, in so strange a style,           327Amaze th' unlearn'd, and make the learned smile.           328 Unlucky, as Fungoso in the play,           329These sparks with awkward vanity display           330What the fine gentleman wore yesterday!           331And but so mimic ancient wits at best,           332As apes our grandsires, in their doublets dress'd.           333In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold;           334Alike fantastic, if too new, or old;           335Be not the first by whom the new are tried,           336Not yet the last to lay the old aside.

          337      But most by numbers judge a poet's song;           338And smooth or rough, with them is right or wrong:           339In the bright Muse though thousand charms conspire,           340Her voice is all these tuneful fools admire,           341Who haunt Parnassus but to please their ear,           342Not mend their minds; as some to church repair,           343Not for the doctrine, but the music there.           344These equal syllables alone require,           345Tho' oft the ear the open vowels tire,           346While expletives their feeble aid do join,           347And ten low words oft creep in one dull line,           348While they ring round the same unvaried chimes,           349With sure returns of still expected rhymes.           350Where'er you find "the cooling western breeze",           351In the next line, it "whispers through the trees":           352If "crystal streams with pleasing murmurs creep",           353The reader's threaten'd (not in vain) with "sleep".           354Then, at the last and only couplet fraught           355With some unmeaning thing they call a thought,           356A needless Alexandrine ends the song,           357That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.           358Leave such to tune their own dull rhymes, and know           359What's roundly smooth, or languishingly slow;           360And praise the easy vigour of a line,           361 Where Denham's strength, and Waller's sweetness join.           362True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,           363As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance.           364'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence,           365The sound must seem an echo to the sense.           366Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows,           367And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;           368But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,           369The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar.           370 When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,           371The line too labours, and the words move slow;

          372 Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain,           373Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main.           374 Hear how Timotheus' varied lays surprise,           375And bid alternate passions fall and rise!           376 While, at each change, the son of Libyan Jove           377Now burns with glory, and then melts with love;           378Now his fierce eyes with sparkling fury glow,           379Now sighs steal out, and tears begin to flow:           380 Persians and Greeks like turns of nature found,           381And the world's victor stood subdu'd by sound!           382The pow'r of music all our hearts allow,           383And what Timotheus was, is Dryden now.

          384     Avoid extremes; and shun the fault of such,           385Who still are pleas'd too little or too much.           386At ev'ry trifle scorn to take offence,           387That always shows great pride, or little sense;           388Those heads, as stomachs, are not sure the best,           389Which nauseate all, and nothing can digest.           390Yet let not each gay turn thy rapture move,           391 For fools admire, but men of sense approve;           392As things seem large which we through mists descry,           393Dulness is ever apt to magnify.

          394     Some foreign writers, some our own despise;           395The ancients only, or the moderns prize.           396Thus wit, like faith, by each man is applied           397To one small sect, and all are damn'd beside.           398Meanly they seek the blessing to confine,           399And force that sun but on a part to shine;           400 Which not alone the southern wit sublimes,           401But ripens spirits in cold northern climes;           402Which from the first has shone on ages past,           403Enlights the present, and shall warm the last;           404(Though each may feel increases and decays,           405And see now clearer and now darker days.)           406Regard not then if wit be old or new,           407But blame the false, and value still the true.           408Some ne'er advance a judgment of their own,           409But catch the spreading notion of the town;           410They reason and conclude by precedent,           411And own stale nonsense which they ne'er invent.           412Some judge of authors' names, not works, and then           413Nor praise nor blame the writings, but the men.           414Of all this servile herd, the worst is he           415That in proud dulness joins with quality,           416A constant critic at the great man's board,           417To fetch and carry nonsense for my Lord.           418What woeful stuff this madrigal would be,           419In some starv'd hackney sonneteer, or me?           420But let a Lord once own the happy lines,           421How the wit brightens! how the style refines!           422Before his sacred name flies every fault,           423And each exalted stanza teems with thought!

          424     The vulgar thus through imitation err;           425As oft the learn'd by being singular;           426So much they scorn the crowd, that if the throng           427By chance go right, they purposely go wrong:           428So Schismatics the plain believers quit,           429And are but damn'd for having too much wit.

          430     Some praise at morning what they blame at night;

          431But always think the last opinion right.           432A Muse by these is like a mistress us'd,           433This hour she's idoliz'd, the next abus'd;           434While their weak heads, like towns unfortified,           435Twixt sense and nonsense daily change their side.           436Ask them the cause; they're wiser still, they say;           437 And still tomorrow's wiser than today.           438We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow;           439Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so.           440 Once school divines this zealous isle o'erspread;           441 Who knew most Sentences, was deepest read;           442Faith, Gospel, all, seem'd made to be disputed,           443And none had sense enough to be confuted:           444 Scotists and Thomists, now, in peace remain,           445 Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Duck Lane.           446If Faith itself has different dresses worn,           447What wonder modes in wit should take their turn?           448Oft, leaving what is natural and fit,           449The current folly proves the ready wit;           450 And authors think their reputation safe           451Which lives as long as fools are pleased to laugh.

          452     Some valuing those of their own side or mind,           453Still make themselves the measure of mankind;           454 Fondly we think we honour merit then,           455When we but praise ourselves in other men.           456 Parties in wit attend on those of state,           457And public faction doubles private hate.           458Pride, Malice, Folly, against Dryden rose,           459In various shapes of Parsons, Critics, Beaus;           460But sense surviv'd, when merry jests were past;           461For rising merit will buoy up at last.           462Might he return, and bless once more our eyes,           463 New Blackmores and new Milbourns must arise;           464Nay should great Homer lift his awful head,           465 Zoilus again would start up from the dead.           466Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue,           467But like a shadow, proves the substance true;           468For envied wit, like Sol eclips'd, makes known           469Th' opposing body's grossness, not its own.           470When first that sun too powerful beams displays,           471It draws up vapours which obscure its rays;           472But ev'n those clouds at last adorn its way,           473Reflect new glories, and augment the day.

          474     Be thou the first true merit to befriend;           475His praise is lost, who stays till all commend.           476Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes,           477And 'tis but just to let 'em live betimes.           478No longer now that golden age appears,           479When patriarch wits surviv'd a thousand years:           480Now length of Fame (our second life) is lost,           481And bare threescore is all ev'n that can boast;           482Our sons their fathers' failing language see,           483And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be.           484So when the faithful pencil has design'd           485 Some bright idea of the master's mind,           486Where a new world leaps out at his command,           487And ready Nature waits upon his hand;           488When the ripe colours soften and unite,           489And sweetly melt into just shade and light;           490When mellowing years their full perfection give,           491And each bold figure just begins to live,

          492The treacherous colours the fair art betray,           493And all the bright creation fades away!

          494     Unhappy wit, like most mistaken things,           495Atones not for that envy which it brings.           496In youth alone its empty praise we boast,           497But soon the short-liv'd vanity is lost:           498Like some fair flow'r the early spring supplies,           499That gaily blooms, but ev'n in blooming dies.           500What is this wit, which must our cares employ?           501The owner's wife, that other men enjoy;           502Then most our trouble still when most admir'd,           503And still the more we give, the more requir'd;           504Whose fame with pains we guard, but lose with ease,           505Sure some to vex, but never all to please;           506'Tis what the vicious fear, the virtuous shun;           507By fools 'tis hated, and by knaves undone!

          508     If wit so much from ign'rance undergo,           509Ah let not learning too commence its foe!           510Of old, those met rewards who could excel,           511And such were prais'd who but endeavour'd well:           512Though triumphs were to gen'rals only due,           513 Crowns were reserv'd to grace the soldiers too.           514Now, they who reach Parnassus' lofty crown,           515Employ their pains to spurn some others down;

          516     And while self-love each jealous writer rules,           517Contending wits become the sport of fools:           518But still the worst with most regret commend,           519For each ill author is as bad a friend.           520To what base ends, and by what abject ways,           521Are mortals urg'd through sacred lust of praise!           522Ah ne'er so dire a thirst of glory boast,           523Nor in the critic let the man be lost!           524Good nature and good sense must ever join;           525To err is human; to forgive, divine.

          526     But if in noble minds some dregs remain,           527 Not yet purg'd off, of spleen and sour disdain,           528Discharge that rage on more provoking crimes,           529Nor fear a dearth in these flagitious times.           530No pardon vile obscenity should find,           531Though wit and art conspire to move your mind;           532But dulness with obscenity must prove           533As shameful sure as impotence in love.           534In the fat age of pleasure, wealth, and ease,           535Sprung the rank weed, and thriv'd with large increase:           536 When love was all an easy monarch's care;           537Seldom at council, never in a war:           538Jilts ruled the state, and statesmen farces writ;           539Nay wits had pensions, and young Lords had wit:           540The fair sat panting at a courtier's play,           541 And not a mask went unimprov'd away:           542The modest fan was lifted up no more,           543And virgins smil'd at what they blush'd before.           544 The following licence of a foreign reign           545 Did all the dregs of bold Socinus drain;           546Then unbelieving priests reform'd the nation,           547And taught more pleasant methods of salvation;           548Where Heav'n's free subjects might their rights dispute,           549Lest God himself should seem too absolute:           550Pulpits their sacred satire learned to spare,

          551And Vice admired to find a flatt'rer there!           552Encourag'd thus, wit's Titans brav'd the skies,           553 And the press groan'd with licenc'd blasphemies.           554These monsters, critics! with your darts engage,           555Here point your thunder, and exhaust your rage!           556Yet shun their fault, who, scandalously nice,           557Will needs mistake an author into vice;           558All seems infected that th' infected spy,           559As all looks yellow to the jaundic'd eye.

Notes

201] First published in May 1711, when Pope was twenty-three. Pope seems to have started the Essay in 1708. It is representative of a long tradition exemplified by Horace's Ars Poetica, Vida's De Re Poetica in the Renaissance, and Boileau's Art poétique in the seventeenth century. The use of the word "essay" in the title associates Pope's work with the techniques of Bacon and Montaigne. Pope's notes referring to classic analogues have not been reproduced. Pope provided the following outline of the Essay on Criticism: "PART 1.That 'tis as great a fault to judge ill, as to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public, 1. That a true taste is as rare to be found, as a true genius, 9-18. That most men are born with some taste, but spoiled by false education, 19-25. The multitude of critics, and causes of them, 26-45. That we are to study our own taste, and know the limits of it, 46-67. Nature is the best guide of judgment, 68-87. Improved by art and rules, which are but methodized Nature, 88. Rules derived from the practice of the ancient poets, 88-110. That therefore the ancients are necessary to be studied by a critic, particularly Homer and Virgil, 120-138. Of licences, and the use of them by the ancients, 140-180. Reverence due to the ancients, and praise of them, 181 ff. "PART II. Causes hindering a true judgment. 1. Pride, 208. 2. Imperfect learning, 215. 3. Judging by parts, and not by the whole, 233-288. Critics in Wit, Language, Versification, only, 288, 305, 339 ff. 4. Being too hard to please, or too apt to admire, 384. 5. Partiality--too much love to a Sect,--to the Ancients or Modern, 394. 6. Prejudice, or Prevention, 408. 7. Singularity, 424. 8. Inconstancy, 430. 9. Party Spirit, 452 ff. 10. Envy, 466. Against Envy, and in praise of Good Nature, 508 ff. When Severity is chiefly to be used by critics, 526 ff. "PART III. Rules for the Conduct of Manners in a Critic, 1. Candour, 563. Modesty, 566. Good-breeding, 572. Sincerity, and Freedom of Advice, 578. 2. When one's Counsel is to be restrained, 584. Character of an incorrigible Poet, 6560. And of an impertinent Critic, 610, etc. Character of a good Critic, 629. The History of Criticism, and characters of the best Critics, Aristotle, 645. Horace, 653. Dionysius, 665. Petronius, 667. Quintilian, 670. Longinus, 675. Of the Decay of Criticism, and its Revival. Erasmus, 693. Vida, 705. Boileau, 714. Lord Roscommon, etc., 725. Conclusion."

206] recruits: fresh or additional supplies.

216] Pierian spring: a spring sacred to the Muses located at their original home, Pieria, near Mount Olympus. The Muses are sometimes called Pierades.

220] tempt: try, attempt.

240] regularly low: in accord with the rules (i.e., regulations) of art, but mediocre and uninspired.

247] dome: the dome of St. Peter's, for example.

257] conduct: arrangement of parts.

261] verbal critic: one interested in the mere words of a literary composition.

265] notions: probably punning on the meanings of "whims" and of "small wares."

267 ff.] Once ... la Mancha's knight... . La Mancha's knight is Don Quixote. The passage refers to a story found in the spurious sequel to Cervantes' Don Quixote.

270] Dennis: John Dennis (1657-1734), a major neo-classic literary critic, whose views Pope questioned, possibly because of the systematic and methodical insistence on clear definitions and distinctions. In attacking the Essay on Criticism, Dennis questioned Pope's "failure" in defining "Nature" and "wit" precisely.

272] Aristotle's rules: the principles set down in the Poetics. Dennis was a critic "excessively given to judging by the rules." Pope, on the other hand, while respecting the ancients, satirized slavish adherence to the rules in his Peri Bathous.

289] conceit: "a fanciful, ingenious or witty notion or expression," (OED), with overtones of "concept" (i.e., thought).

312] colours: (1) a coloured device, badge or dress; (2) rhetorical modes or figures.place: (1) a particular part of space; (2) in rhetoric, a subject or topic.

319] decent: comely, seemly.

321] clown: rustic.

328] Unlucky, as Fungoso: "[Pope] See Ben Jonson's Every Man in His Humour".

337] numbers: versification (with special reference to the concord of sound).

361] Denham: Sir John Denham (1615-1669), Cavalier poet and playwright, whose poem Cooper's Hill was the model for "local" poetry and a standard of easy and correct writing.Waller: Edmund Waller (1606-1687), poet and Parliamentarian, whose poetry set a standard for polish, "smoothness," and "sweetness" for the Restoration.

370] Ajax: one of the Grecian heroes in the Iliad. Pope is referring to a passage in Ajax's battle with Hector, where Ajax picks up a stone (Iliad, VII, 268 ff.).

372] Camilla: a maiden warrior in the Aeneid (see VII, 808 ff.).

374] Timotheus: "[Pope] See Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music; an ode by Mr. Dryden."

376] son of Libyan Jove. The Libyan Jove is Ammon, whose pretended son was Alexander.

380] Turns of nature: referring to the musical modes that result in different feelings.

391] admire: to marvel at.

400] sublimes: exalts.

437] still: always.

440] school divines: scholastic theologians.

441] sentences: books of theological aphorisms with commentary, very popular mediaeval theological works.

444] Scotists and Thomists: theologians and philosophers claiming adherence to the views of (1) Duns Scotus, (2) St. Thomas Aquinas.

445] Duck Lane: "[Pope] A place where old and secondhand books were sold formerly, near Smithfield."

450-51] Safe-laugh: By Pope's time probably an eye-rhyme only, though "safe" rhymed with "laugh" earlier.

454] Fondly: foolishly.

456] attend: to follow closely upon.

463] Blackmore: Sir Richard Blackmore (1655?-1729), physician and poet, famed for long bombastic poems, such as the epic Prince Arthur (1695). Milbourn: Rev. Luke Milbourne (1649-1720), poet and High Church divine.

465] Zoilus: fourth-century rhetorician and critic, whose name has become traditional for the carping critic owing to his criticisms of Homer's invention.

485] idea: image.

513] crowns. When a general had his triumph, various crowns were awarded to soldiers who had distinguished themselves.

527] spleen: cf. Rape of the Lock, IV.

536] easy Monarch: Charles II.

541] mask: refers to Restoration women wearing masks.

544] foreign reign: that of William III, a Hollander.

545] bold Socinus. Laelius Socinus (1525-1562), rejected the doctrine of the divinity of Christ and of the atonement as satisfaction for sin.

553] licenc'd blasphemies: alluding to the Licensing Act of King William.

An Essay on Criticism: Part 3

          560      Learn then what morals critics ought to show,           561For 'tis but half a judge's task, to know.           562'Tis not enough, taste, judgment, learning, join;           563 In all you speak, let truth and candour shine:           564That not alone what to your sense is due,           565All may allow; but seek your friendship too.

          566     Be silent always when you doubt your sense;           567And speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence:           568Some positive, persisting fops we know,           569Who, if once wrong, will needs be always so;           570But you, with pleasure own your errors past,           571 And make each day a critic on the last.

          572     'Tis not enough, your counsel still be true;

          573Blunt truths more mischief than nice falsehoods do;           574Men must be taught as if you taught them not;           575And things unknown proposed as things forgot.           576Without good breeding, truth is disapprov'd;           577That only makes superior sense belov'd.

          578     Be niggards of advice on no pretence;           579For the worst avarice is that of sense.           580 With mean complacence ne'er betray your trust,           581Nor be so civil as to prove unjust.           582Fear not the anger of the wise to raise;           583Those best can bear reproof, who merit praise.

          584     'Twere well might critics still this freedom take,           585 But Appius reddens at each word you speak,           586And stares, Tremendous ! with a threatening eye,           587Like some fierce tyrant in old tapestry!           588Fear most to tax an honourable fool,           589Whose right it is, uncensur'd, to be dull;           590Such, without wit, are poets when they please,           591 As without learning they can take degrees.           592 Leave dangerous truths to unsuccessful satires,           593And flattery to fulsome dedicators,           594Whom, when they praise, the world believes no more,           595Than when they promise to give scribbling o'er.           596'Tis best sometimes your censure to restrain,           597And charitably let the dull be vain:           598Your silence there is better than your spite,           599For who can rail so long as they can write?           600Still humming on, their drowsy course they keep,           601 And lash'd so long, like tops, are lash'd asleep.           602False steps but help them to renew the race,           603As after stumbling, jades will mend their pace.           604What crowds of these, impenitently bold,           605In sounds and jingling syllables grown old,           606Still run on poets, in a raging vein,           607Even to the dregs and squeezings of the brain,           608Strain out the last, dull droppings of their sense,           609And rhyme with all the rage of impotence!

          610     Such shameless bards we have; and yet 'tis true,           611There are as mad, abandon'd critics too.           612The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read,           613With loads of learned lumber in his head,           614With his own tongue still edifies his ears,           615And always list'ning to himself appears.           616All books he reads, and all he reads assails,           617 From Dryden's Fables down to Durfey's Tales.           618With him, most authors steal their works, or buy;           619 Garth did not write his own Dispensary .           620Name a new play, and he's the poet's friend,           621Nay show'd his faults--but when would poets mend?           622No place so sacred from such fops is barr'd,           623 Nor is Paul's church more safe than Paul's churchyard:           624Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead:           625For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.           626Distrustful sense with modest caution speaks;           627It still looks home, and short excursions makes;           628But rattling nonsense in full volleys breaks;           629 And never shock'd, and never turn'd aside,           630Bursts out, resistless, with a thund'ring tide.

          631     But where's the man, who counsel can bestow,

          632Still pleas'd to teach, and yet not proud to know?           633Unbias'd, or by favour or by spite;           634Not dully prepossess'd, nor blindly right;           635Though learn'd, well-bred; and though well-bred, sincere;           636Modestly bold, and humanly severe?           637Who to a friend his faults can freely show,           638And gladly praise the merit of a foe?           639Blest with a taste exact, yet unconfin'd;           640A knowledge both of books and human kind;           641 Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride;           642And love to praise, with reason on his side?

          643     Such once were critics; such the happy few,           644Athens and Rome in better ages knew.           645The mighty Stagirite first left the shore,           646Spread all his sails, and durst the deeps explore:           647He steer'd securely, and discover'd far,           648 Led by the light of the Mæonian Star.           649Poets, a race long unconfin'd and free,           650Still fond and proud of savage liberty,           651Receiv'd his laws; and stood convinc'd 'twas fit,           652 Who conquer'd nature, should preside o'er wit.

          653      Horace still charms with graceful negligence,           654And without methods talks us into sense,           655Will, like a friend, familiarly convey           656 The truest notions in the easiest way.           657He, who supreme in judgment, as in wit,           658Might boldly censure, as he boldly writ,           659Yet judg'd with coolness, though he sung with fire;           660His precepts teach but what his works inspire.           661Our critics take a contrary extreme,           662 They judge with fury, but they write with fle'me:           663Nor suffers Horace more in wrong translations           664By wits, than critics in as wrong quotations.

          665      See Dionysius Homer's thoughts refine,           666And call new beauties forth from ev'ry line!           667      Fancy and art in gay Petronius please,           668The scholar's learning, with the courtier's ease.

          669      In grave Quintilian's copious work we find           670The justest rules, and clearest method join'd;           671Thus useful arms in magazines we place,           672All rang'd in order, and dispos'd with grace,           673But less to please the eye, than arm the hand,           674Still fit for use, and ready at command.

          675      Thee, bold Longinus! all the Nine inspire,           676And bless their critic with a poet's fire.           677An ardent judge, who zealous in his trust,           678With warmth gives sentence, yet is always just;           679Whose own example strengthens all his laws;           680 And is himself that great sublime he draws.

          681     Thus long succeeding critics justly reign'd,           682Licence repress'd, and useful laws ordain'd;           683Learning and Rome alike in empire grew,           684And arts still follow'd where her eagles flew;           685From the same foes, at last, both felt their doom,           686And the same age saw learning fall, and Rome.           687With tyranny, then superstition join'd,           688As that the body, this enslav'd the mind;

          689Much was believ'd, but little understood,           690And to be dull was constru'd to be good;           691A second deluge learning thus o'er-run,           692And the monks finish'd what the Goths begun.

          693      At length Erasmus, that great, injur'd name,           694 (The glory of the priesthood, and the shame!)           695Stemm'd the wild torrent of a barb'rous age,           696And drove those holy Vandals off the stage.

          697      But see! each Muse, in Leo's golden days,           698Starts from her trance, and trims her wither'd bays!           699Rome's ancient genius, o'er its ruins spread,           700Shakes off the dust, and rears his rev'rend head!           701Then sculpture and her sister-arts revive;           702Stones leap'd to form, and rocks began to live;           703With sweeter notes each rising temple rung;           704 A Raphael painted, and a Vida sung.           705Immortal Vida! on whose honour'd brow           706The poet's bays and critic's ivy grow:           707 Cremona now shall ever boast thy name,           708As next in place to Mantua, next in fame!

          709      But soon by impious arms from Latium chas'd,           710Their ancient bounds the banished Muses pass'd;           711Thence arts o'er all the northern world advance;           712 But critic-learning flourish'd most in France.           713The rules a nation born to serve, obeys,           714 And Boileau still in right of Horace sways.           715But we, brave Britons, foreign laws despis'd,           716And kept unconquer'd, and uncivilis'd,           717Fierce for the liberties of wit, and bold,           718We still defied the Romans, as of old.           719Yet some there were, among the sounder few           720Of those who less presum'd, and better knew,           721Who durst assert the juster ancient cause,           722And here restor'd wit's fundamental laws.           723Such was the Muse, whose rules and practice tell           724 "Nature's chief master-piece is writing well."           725 Such was Roscommon--not more learn'd than good,           726With manners gen'rous as his noble blood;           727To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known,           728And ev'ry author's merit, but his own.           729 Such late was Walsh--the Muse's judge and friend,           730Who justly knew to blame or to commend;           731To failings mild, but zealous for desert;           732The clearest head, and the sincerest heart.           733This humble praise, lamented shade! receive,           734This praise at least a grateful Muse may give:           735The Muse, whose early voice you taught to sing,           736Prescrib'd her heights, and prun'd her tender wing,           737(Her guide now lost) no more attempts to rise,           738But in low numbers short excursions tries:           739Content, if hence th' unlearn'd their wants may view,           740The learn'd reflect on what before they knew:           741Careless of censure, nor too fond of fame,           742Still pleas'd to praise, yet not afraid to blame,           743Averse alike to flatter, or offend,           744Not free from faults, nor yet too vain to mend.

Notes

560] First published in May 1711, when Pope was twenty-three. Pope seems to have started the Essay in 1708. It is representative of a long tradition exemplified by Horace's Ars Poetica, Vida's De Re Poetica in the Renaissance, and Boileau's Art poétique in the seventeenth century. The use of the word "essay" in the title associates Pope's work with the techniques of Bacon and Montaigne. Pope's notes referring to classic analogues have not been reproduced. Pope provided the following outline of the Essay on Criticism: "PART 1.That 'tis as great a fault to judge ill, as to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public, 1. That a true taste is as rare to be found, as a true genius, 9-18. That most men are born with some taste, but spoiled by false education, 19-25. The multitude of critics, and causes of them, 26-45. That we are to study our own taste, and know the limits of it, 46-67. Nature is the best guide of judgment, 68-87. Improved by art and rules, which are but methodized Nature, 88. Rules derived from the practice of the ancient poets, 88-110. That therefore the ancients are necessary to be studied by a critic, particularly Homer and Virgil, 120-138. Of licences, and the use of them by the ancients, 140-180. Reverence due to the ancients, and praise of them, 181 ff. "PART II. Causes hindering a true judgment. 1. Pride, 208. 2. Imperfect learning, 215. 3. Judging by parts, and not by the whole, 233-288. Critics in Wit, Language, Versification, only, 288, 305, 339 ff. 4. Being too hard to please, or too apt to admire, 384. 5. Partiality--too much love to a Sect,--to the Ancients or Modern, 394. 6. Prejudice, or Prevention, 408. 7. Singularity, 424. 8. Inconstancy, 430. 9. Party Spirit, 452 ff. 10. Envy, 466. Against Envy, and in praise of Good Nature, 508 ff. When Severity is chiefly to be used by critics, 526 ff. "PART III. Rules for the Conduct of Manners in a Critic, 1. Candour, 563. Modesty, 566. Good-breeding, 572. Sincerity, and Freedom of Advice, 578. 2. When one's Counsel is to be restrained, 584. Character of an incorrigible Poet, 6745. And of an impertinent Critic, 610, etc. Character of a good Critic, 629. The History of Criticism, and characters of the best Critics, Aristotle, 645. Horace, 653. Dionysius, 665. Petronius, 667. Quintilian, 670. Longinus, 675. Of the Decay of Criticism, and its Revival. Erasmus, 693. Vida, 705. Boileau, 714. Lord Roscommon, etc., 725. Conclusion."

563] candour: "sweetness of temper, openness or kindness of mind."

571] critic: critique.

580] complacence: complaisance.

585] Appius: one of the characters in Dennis's tragedy Appius and Virginia, which had failed in 1709. The name is applied by Pope to Dennis.

591] they can take degrees. Nobility and persons of rank were automatically eligible for an unearned M.A. in an English university.

592] satires: often pronounced "satyrs" in Pope's day, hence rhymes with "dedicators."

601] asleep. When a top moves with a high velocity and spins smoothly so its motion is imperceptible, it is said to be "asleep."

617] Dryden's Fables: the Fables Ancient and Modern (17746), containing tales from Chaucer. Boccaccio, and Ovid.Durfey's Tales. Thomas D'Urfy published Tales Tragical and Comical in 1704.

619] Garth ... Dispensary. Pope's friend, Dr. Samuel Garth, wrote a mock epic poem, The Dispensary, treating of a quarrel between the physicians and the apothecaries.

623] St. Paul's Church: St. Paul's Cathedral, used as a meeting place for business. Paul's Churchyard: the booksellers' quarter was around St. Paul's Cathedral yard.

629] shock'd: stopped.

641] Gen'rous converse: well-bred conversation.

648] Maeonian Star: Homer; Maeoma or Lydia was the supposed birthplace of Homer.

652] Who conquer'd nature.... Aristotle formulated in his Poetics the laws of poetry as, in his scientific works, he had formulated those of nature.

653] Horace. Horace's Ars Poetica was the second most important historical document for neo-classical critics.

656] easiest: smoothest and most flowing.

662] with fle'me: phlegmatically.

665] Dionysius: Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a Greek writer who lived in Augustan Rome. He was a perceptive literary critic and first said "Style is the man." Pope complimented his analysis of Homer's metre.

667] Petronius: (d. A.D. 65), a writer known as the "arbiter of elegance." He was author of a Menippean satire, the Satyricon, which gives an extraordinarily dramatic picture of Nero's Rome and satirizes many of the literary failings and vices of his day.

669] Quintilian: Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (A.D. 35-C.95), educator and rhetorical theorist, whose Institutes both Ben Jonson and Pope praised as fundamental reading for poets, especially Books IV to IX. Pope cites Quintilian extensively, especially in his notes to the Essay on Criticism.

675] Longinus: refers to Longinus on the Sublime, a Greek rhetorical work of unknown date and authorship. This work translated in French by Boileau in the seventeenth century, became a major critical influence in eighteenth-century England.

680] sublime: the art of great writing, as viewed by Pope (not merely exalted writing), "belonging to the highest regions of thought, reality or human activity."

693] Erasmus: Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536), theologian, educator, and humanist, who wrote various works on literature, politics, and theology. Pope had said: "My religion is the religion of Erasmus" referring to the mediate position Erasmus tried to occupy in the Catholic-Protestant controversy.

694] the shame. Erasmus was the priesthood's glory because of his liberalism and learning; the shame because (1) he exposed church abuses, (2) was persecuted by the church, and (3) was inconsistent in his obligations to his vocation.

697] Leo's golden days: Leo X (1513-1521), a patron of scholars, poets, and artists, including Raphael and Michelangelo.

704] Vida: Vida (1490?-1566), poet associated with Leo X, who wrote didactic poems including an important Poetica.

707-08] Cremona ... Mantua: Vida was born in Cremona; Virgil in Mantua.

709] Impious arms. In 1527, the French army of Emperor Charles V sacked Rome.

712] critic ... France: refers to the French critics of the reign of Louis XIV: Boileau, Rapin, Bouhors, Le Bossu, and Dacier.

714] Boileau: Nicolas Despreaux Boileau (1636-1711), leading French neoclassical poet and critic, whose L'Art Poétique (1674) was a major expression of the "neo-classical" doctrines. His Lutrin was a mock epic like Pope's Rape of the Lock and he also wrote a series of satires in the manner of Horace; see also above, note to line 675.

724] "[Pope] Essay on Poetry, by the Duke of Buckingham. Our poet is not the only one of his time who complimented this Essay and its noble author." John Sheffield (1648-1721), first Duke of Buckingham, an edition of whose works was published by Pope in 1723. Dryden dedicated Aureng-Zebe to him.

725] Roscommon: Wentworth Dillon (1633?-1685), fourth earl of Roscommon, poet and critic, whose Essay on Translated Verse was published in 1684. He was one of the first critics to publicly praise Milton.

729] Walsh: William Walsh (1663-1708), poet and critic, one of Pope's earliest friends, of whom Dryden had said: "without flattery he is the best critic of our nation."