The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems
of great poets, and ever since of binding force both in the composition
and in the criticism of poetry. The second analyzes with admirable
sagacity the causes of faulty criticism as pride, imperfect learning,
prejudice, and so on. The third part discusses the qualities which a
true critic should possess, good taste, learning, modesty, frankness,
and tact, and concludes with a brief sketch of the history of criticism
from Aristotle to Walsh. This is the general outline of the poem,
sufficient, I think, to show that it is not a mere bundle of poetic
formulae. But within these broad limits the thought of the poem wanders
freely, and is quite rambling, inconsistent, and illogical enough to
show that Pope is not formulating an exact and definitely determined
system of thought.
Such indeed was, I fancy, hardly his purpose. It was rather to give
clear, vivid, and convincing expression to certain ideas which were at
that time generally accepted as orthodox in the realm of literary
criticism. No better expression of these ideas can be found anywhere
than in the 'Essay' itself, but a brief statement in simple prose of
some of the most important may serve as a guide to the young student of
the essay.
In the first place, the ultimate source alike of poetry and criticism is
a certain intuitive faculty, common to all men, though more highly
developed in some than others, called Reason, or, sometimes, Good Sense.
The first rule for the budding poet or critic is "Follow Nature." This,
by the way, sounds rather modern, and might be accepted by any romantic
poet. But by "Nature" was meant not at all the natural impulses of the
individual, but those rules founded upon the natural and common reason
of mankind which the ancient critics had extracted and codified from the
practice of the ancient poets. Pope says explicitly "to follow nature is
to follow them;" and he praises Virgil for turning aside from his own
original conceptions to imitate Homer, for:
Nature and Homer were, he found, the same.
Certain exceptions to these rules were, indeed, allowable,--severer
critics than Pope, by the way, absolutely denied this,--but only to the
ancient poets. The moderns must not dare to make use of them, or at the
very best moderns must only venture upon such exceptions to the rules as
classic precedents would justify. Inasmuch as all these rules were
discovered and illustrated in ancient times, it followed logically that
the great breach with antiquity, which is called the Middle Ages, was a
period of hopeless and unredeemed barbarism, incapable of bringing forth
any good thing. The light of literature began to dawn again with the
revival of learning at the Renaissance, but the great poets of the
Renaissance, Spenser and Shakespeare, for example, were "irregular,"
that is, they trusted too much to their individual powers and did not
accept with sufficient humility the orthodox rules of poetry. This
dogma, by the way, is hardly touched upon in the 'Essay', but is
elaborated with great emphasis in Pope's later utterance on the
principles of literature, the well-known 'Epistle to Augustus'. Finally
with the establishment of the reign of Reason in France under Louis XIV,
and in England a little later, the full day had come, and literary sins
of omission and commission that might be winked at in such an untutored
genius as Shakespeare were now unpardonable. This last dogma explains
the fact that in the brief sketch of the history of criticism which
concludes the 'Essay', Pope does not condescend to name an English poet
or critic prior to the reign of Charles II.
It would be beside the purpose to discuss these ideas to-day or to
attempt an elaborate refutation of their claims to acceptance. Time has
done its work upon them, and the literary creed of the wits of Queen
Anne's day is as antiquated as their periwigs and knee-breeches. Except
for purposes of historical investigation it is quite absurd to take the
'Essay on Criticism' seriously.
And yet it has even for us of to-day a real value. Our age absolutely
lacks a standard of literary criticism; and of all standards the one
least likely to be accepted is that of Pope and his fellow-believers.
Individual taste reigns supreme in this democratic age, and one man's
judgment is as good as, perhaps a little better than, another's. But
even this democratic and individual age may profit by turning back for a
time to consider some of the general truths, as valid to-day as ever, to
which Pope gave such inimitable expression, or to study the outlines of
that noble picture of the true critic which St. Beuve declared every
professed critic should frame and hang up in his study. An age which
seems at times upon the point of throwing classical studies overboard as
useless lumber might do far worse than listen to the eloquent tribute
which the poet pays to the great writers of antiquity. And finally
nothing could be more salutary for an age in which literature itself has
caught something of the taint of the prevailing commercialism than to
bathe itself again in that spirit of sincere and disinterested love of
letters which breathes throughout the 'Essay' and which, in spite of all
his errors, and jealousies, and petty vices, was the master-passion of
Alexander Pope.
'6 censure:'
the word has here its original meaning of "judge," not its modern "judge
severely" or "blame."
'8'
Because each foolish poem provokes a host of foolish commentators and
critics.
'15-16'
This assertion that only a good writer can be a fair critic is not to be
accepted without reservation.
'17'
The word "wit" has a number of different meanings in this poem, and the
student should be careful to discriminate between them. It means
1) mind, intellect, l. 61;
2) learning, culture, l 727;
3) imagination, genius, l. 82;
4) the power to discover amusing analogies, or the apt expression of
such an analogy, ll. 449, 297;
5) a man possessed of wit in its various significations, l. 45;
this last form usually occurs in the plural, ll. 104, 539.
'26 the maze of schools:'
the labyrinth of conflicting systems of thought, especially of criticism.
'21 coxcombs ... fools:'
what is the difference in meaning between these words in this passage?
'30-31'
In this couplet Pope hits off the spiteful envy of conceited critics
toward successful writers. If the critic can write himself, he hates the
author as a rival; if he cannot, he entertains against him the deep
grudge an incapable man so often cherishes toward an effective worker.
'34 Maevius:'
a poetaster whose name has been handed down by Virgil and Horace. His
name, like that of his associate, Bavius, has become a by-word for a
wretched scribbler.
'Apollo':
here thought of as the god of poetry. The true poet was inspired by
Apollo; but a poetaster like Maevius wrote without inspiration, as it
were, in spite of the god.
'40-43'
Pope here compares "half-learned" critics to the animals which old
writers reported were bred from the Nile mud. In 'Antony and Cleopatra',
for example, Lepidus says, "Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your
mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile." Pope thinks of
these animals as in the unformed stage, part "kindled into life, part a
lump of mud." So these critics are unfinished things for which no proper
name can be found. "Equivocal generation" is the old term used to denote
spontaneous generation of this sort. Pope applies it here to critics
without proper training who spring spontaneously from the mire of
ignorance.
'44 tell:'
count.
'45'
The idea is that a vain wit's tongue could out-talk a hundred ordinary
men's.
'53 pretending wit:'
presuming, or ambitious mind.
'56-58 memory ... understanding imagination.'
This is the old threefold division of the human mind. Pope means that
where one of these faculties is above the average in any individual,
another of them is sure to fall below. Is this always the case?
'63 peculiar arts:'
special branches of knowledge.
'73'
In what sense can nature be called the source, the end, and the test of
art?
'76 th' informing soul:'
the soul which not only dwells in, but animates
and molds the body.
'80-81'
What two meanings are attached to "wit" in this couplet?
'84 'Tis more:'
it is more important.
'the Muse's steed:'
Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology, was supposed to be the
horse of the Muses and came to be considered a symbol of poetic genius.
'86 gen'rous:'
high-bred.
'88'
What is the difference between "discovered" and "devised"?
'94 Parnassus' top:'
the Muses were supposed to dwell on the top of Parnassus, a mountain in
Greece. Great poets are here thought of as having climbed the mountain
to dwell with the Muses.
'96'
What is (cf. text) "the immortal prize"?
'99 She',
i.e. learned Greece, especially Greek criticism, which obtained the
rules of poetry from the practice of great poets, and, as it were,
systematized their inspiration.
'104 following wits':
later scholars.
'105'
What is meant by "the mistress" and "the maid" in this line?
'109 Doctor's bills:'
prescriptions.
'112'
These are the prosy commentators on great poets, whose dreary notes
often disgust readers with the original.
'120 fable:'
plot.
'123'
What is the difference between "cavil" and "criticise"?
'129 the Mantuan Muse:'
the poetry of Virgil, which Pope thinks the best commentary on Homer. In
what sense is this to be understood?
'130 Maro:'
Virgil, whose full name was Publius Vergilius Maro, Pope here praises
Virgil's well-known imitation of Homer. Since "nature and Homer were the
same," a young poet like Virgil could do nothing better than copy Homer.
'138 the Stagirite:'
Aristotle, a native of Stagyra, was the first and one of the greatest of
literary critics. His "rules" were drawn from the practice of great
poets, and so, according to Pope, to imitate Homer was to obey the
"ancient rules."
'141'
There are some beauties in poetry which cannot be explained by criticism.
'142 happiness:'
used here to express the peculiar charm of spontaneous poetic expression
as contrasted with "care," 'i.e.' the art of revising and improving,
which can be taught.
'152 vulgar bounds:'
the limitations imposed upon ordinary writers.
'157 out of ... rise:'
surpass the ordinary scenes of nature.
'159 Great wits:'
poets of real genius.
'160 faults:'
here used in the sense of irregularities, exceptions to the rules of
poetry. When these are justified by the poet's genius, true critics do
not presume to correct them. In many editions this couplet comes after
l. 151. This was Pope's first arrangement, but he later shifted it to
its present position.
'162 As Kings:'
the Stuart kings claimed the right to "dispense with laws," that is, to
set them aside in special instances. In 1686 eleven out of twelve
English judges decided in a test case that "it is a privilege
inseparably connected with the sovereignty of the king to dispense with
penal laws, and that according to his own judgment." The English people
very naturally felt that such a privilege opened the door to absolute
monarchy, and after the fall of James II, Parliament declared in 1689
that "the pretended power of suspending of laws ... without the consent
of Parliament, is illegal."
'164 its End:'
the purpose of every law of poetry, namely, to please the reader. This
purpose must not be "transgressed," 'i.e.' forgotten by those who wish
to make exceptions to these laws.
'166 their precedent:'
the example of classic poets.
'179 stratagems ... error:'