The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems

Name: The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems
Author: Pope, Alexander

Pope, Alexander

Catholics -- England -- Poetry; English poetry -- 18th century; Young women -- Poetry

In the fourth book of the 'Dunciad', Pope abandons the satire on the
pretenders to literary fame which had run through the earlier books, and
flies at higher game. He represents the Goddess Dullness as "coming in
her majesty to destroy Order and Science, and to substitute the Kingdom
of the Dull upon earth." He attacks the pedantry and formalism of
university education in his day, the dissipation and false taste of the
traveled gentry, the foolish pretensions to learning of collectors and
virtuosi, and the daringly irreverent speculations of freethinkers and
infidels. At the close of the book he represents the Goddess as
dismissing her worshipers with a speech which she concludes with "a yawn
of extraordinary virtue." Under its influence "all nature nods," and
pulpits, colleges, and Parliament succumb. The poem closes with the
magnificent description of the descent of Dullness and her final
conquest of art, philosophy, and religion. It is said that Pope himself
admired these lines so much that he could not repeat them without his
voice faltering with emotion. "And well it might, sir," said Dr. Johnson
when this anecdote was repeated to him, "for they are noble lines." And
Thackeray in his lecture on Pope in 'The English Humorists' says:

  "In these astonishing lines Pope reaches, I think, to the very
  greatest height which his sublime art has attained, and shows himself
  the equal of all poets of all times. It is the brightest ardor, the
  loftiest assertion of truth, the most generous wisdom, illustrated by
  the noblest poetic figure, and spoken in words the aptest, grandest,
  and most harmonious."

       *       *       *       *       *

EPITAPH ON GAY

John Gay, the idlest, best-natured, and best-loved man of letters of his
day, was the special friend of Pope. His early work, 'The Shepherd's
Week', was planned as a parody on the 'Pastorals' of Pope's rival,
Ambrose Philips, and Pope assisted him in the composition of his
luckless farce, 'Three Hours after Marriage'. When Gay's opera 'Polly'
was forbidden by the licenser, and Gay's patrons, the Duke and Duchess
of Queensberry, were driven from court for soliciting subscriptions for
him, Pope warmly espoused his cause. Gay died in 1732 and was buried in
Westminster Abbey. Pope's epitaph for his tomb was first published in
the quarto edition of Pope's works in 1735--Johnson, in his discussion
of Pope's epitaphs ('Lives of the Poets'), devotes a couple of pages of
somewhat captious criticism to these lines; but they have at least the
virtue of simplicity and sincerity, and are at once an admirable
portrait of the man and a lasting tribute to the poet Gay.

       *       *       *       *       *

APPENDIX

THE RAPE OF THE LOCK

      Nolueram, Belinda, tuos violare capillos
      Sed juvat, hoc precibus me tribuisse tuis.

      MART.

FIRST EDITION

CANTO I

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Rape of the Lock, and Other PoemsPope, Alexander

General

The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems

Pope, Alexander

Catholics -- England -- Poetry; English poetry -- 18th century; Young women -- Poetry

In the fourth book of the 'Dunciad', Pope abandons the satire on the
pretenders to literary fame which had run through the earlier books, and
flies at higher game. He represents the Goddess Dullness as "coming in
her majesty to destroy Order and Science, and to substitute the Kingdom
of the Dull upon earth." He attacks the pedantry and formalism of
university education in his day, the dissipation and false taste of the
traveled gentry, the foolish pretensions to learning of collectors and
virtuosi, and the daringly irreverent speculations of freethinkers and
infidels. At the close of the book he represents the Goddess as
dismissing her worshipers with a speech which she concludes with "a yawn
of extraordinary virtue." Under its influence "all nature nods," and
pulpits, colleges, and Parliament succumb. The poem closes with the
magnificent description of the descent of Dullness and her final
conquest of art, philosophy, and religion. It is said that Pope himself
admired these lines so much that he could not repeat them without his
voice faltering with emotion. "And well it might, sir," said Dr. Johnson
when this anecdote was repeated to him, "for they are noble lines." And
Thackeray in his lecture on Pope in 'The English Humorists' says:

  "In these astonishing lines Pope reaches, I think, to the very
  greatest height which his sublime art has attained, and shows himself
  the equal of all poets of all times. It is the brightest ardor, the
  loftiest assertion of truth, the most generous wisdom, illustrated by
  the noblest poetic figure, and spoken in words the aptest, grandest,
  and most harmonious."

       *       *       *       *       *

EPITAPH ON GAY

John Gay, the idlest, best-natured, and best-loved man of letters of his
day, was the special friend of Pope. His early work, 'The Shepherd's
Week', was planned as a parody on the 'Pastorals' of Pope's rival,
Ambrose Philips, and Pope assisted him in the composition of his
luckless farce, 'Three Hours after Marriage'. When Gay's opera 'Polly'
was forbidden by the licenser, and Gay's patrons, the Duke and Duchess
of Queensberry, were driven from court for soliciting subscriptions for
him, Pope warmly espoused his cause. Gay died in 1732 and was buried in
Westminster Abbey. Pope's epitaph for his tomb was first published in
the quarto edition of Pope's works in 1735--Johnson, in his discussion
of Pope's epitaphs ('Lives of the Poets'), devotes a couple of pages of
somewhat captious criticism to these lines; but they have at least the
virtue of simplicity and sincerity, and are at once an admirable
portrait of the man and a lasting tribute to the poet Gay.

       *       *       *       *       *

APPENDIX

THE RAPE OF THE LOCK

      Nolueram, Belinda, tuos violare capillos
      Sed juvat, hoc precibus me tribuisse tuis.

      MART.

FIRST EDITION

CANTO I

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems

The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems

No reviews yet