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Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
- Poetic Justice, with her lifted scale.The Dunciad (1742) bk. 1, l. 52
- Gentle Dullness ever loves a joke.The Dunciad (1742) bk. 2, l. 34
- A brain of feathers, and a heart of lead.The Dunciad (1742) bk. 2, l. 44
- All crowd, who foremost shall be damned to Fame.The Dunciad (1742) bk. 3, l. 158
- A wit with dunces, and a dunce with wits.The Dunciad (1742) bk. 4, l. 90
- The Right Divine of Kings to govern wrong.The Dunciad (1742) bk. 4, l. 187
- Lo! thy dread empire, Chaos! is restored;
Light dies before thy uncreating word:
Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall;
And universal darkness buries all.The Dunciad (1742) bk. 4, l. 653 - Vital spark of heav'nly flame!
Quit, oh quit this mortal frame:
Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying,
Oh the pain, the bliss of dying!‘The Dying Christian to his Soul’ (1730); see Hadrian - How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.‘Eloisa to Abelard’ (1717) l. 207 - Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!‘Eloisa to Abelard’ (1717) l. 209
- I am his Highness' dog at Kew;
Pray, tell me sir, whose dog are you?‘Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog which I gave to his Royal Highness’ (1738) - Sir, I admit your gen'ral rule
That every poet is a fool:
But you yourself may serve to show it,
That every fool is not a poet.‘Epigram from the French’ (1732) - You beat your pate, and fancy wit will come:
Knock as you please, there's nobody at home.‘Epigram: You beat your pate’ (1732) - As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame,
I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came.‘An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’ (1735) l. 127 - The Muse but served to ease some friend, not wife,
To help me through this long disease, my life.‘An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’ (1735) l. 131 - Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer.of Addison‘An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’ (1735) l. 201; see Wycherley - ‘Satire or sense, alas! can Sporus feel?
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?’of Lord Hervey‘An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’ (1735) l. 307; see Anonymous - Unlearn'd, he knew no schoolman's subtle art,
No language, but the language of the heart.of his own father‘An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’ (1735) l. 398 - Who shall decide, when doctors disagree?Epistles to Several Persons ‘To Lord Bathurst’ (1733) l. 1
- The ruling passion, be it what it will,
The ruling passion conquers reason still.Epistles to Several Persons ‘To Lord Bathurst’ (1733) l. 155; see Pope - Consult the genius of the place in all.Epistles to Several Persons ‘To Lord Burlington’ (1731) l. 57; see Virgil
- 'Tis education forms the common mind,
Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined.Epistles to Several Persons ‘To Lord Cobham’ (1734) l. 101 - Search then the Ruling Passion: There, alone,
The wild are constant, and the cunning known;
The fool consistent, and the false sincere.Epistles to Several Persons ‘To Lord Cobham’ (1734) l. 174; see Pope - Nature, and Nature's laws lay hid in night.
God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.‘Epitaph: Intended for Sir Isaac Newton’ (1730); see Squire - Unerring Nature, still divinely bright,
One clear, unchanged, and universal light,
Life, force and beauty must to all impart,
At once the source and end and test of art.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 70 - Great wits sometimes may gloriously offend,
And rise to faults true critics dare not mend.
From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 152 - A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 215 - Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 232
- Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see,
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 253 - True wit is Nature to advantage dressed,
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 297 - Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 309 - Expression is the dress of thought.
- A needless Alexandrine ends the song,
That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 356 - True ease in writing comes from art, not chance.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 362
- The sound must seem an echo to the sense.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 365
- But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar.
When Ajax strives, some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line too labours, and the words move slow.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 368 - Some praise at morning what they blame at night;
But always think the last opinion right.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 430 - To err is human; to forgive, divine.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 525; see Anonymous
- All seems infected that th'infected spy,
As all looks yellow to the jaundiced eye.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 558 - Men must be taught as if you taught them not,
And things unknown proposed as things forgot.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 574 - The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read,
With loads of learned lumber in his head.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 612 - For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.An Essay on Criticism (1711) l. 625
- Eye Nature's walks, shoot Folly as it flies,
And catch the Manners living as they rise.
Laugh where we must, be candid where we can;
But vindicate the ways of God to man.An Essay on Man Epistle 1 (1733) l. 13; see Milton - Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never Is, but always To be blest.An Essay on Man Epistle 1 (1733) l. 95 - Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutored mind
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind.An Essay on Man Epistle 1 (1733) l. 99 - Why has not man a microscopic eye?
For this plain reason, man is not a fly.An Essay on Man Epistle 1 (1733) l. 193 - Die of a rose in aromatic pain?An Essay on Man Epistle 1 (1733) l. 200; see Winchilsea
- The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine!
Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.An Essay on Man Epistle 1 (1733) l. 217 - All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body, Nature is, and God the soul.An Essay on Man Epistle 1 (1733) l. 267 - All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony, not understood;
All partial evil, universal good.An Essay on Man Epistle 1 (1733) l. 289 - And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason's spite,
One truth is clear, ‘Whatever is, is right.’An Essay on Man Epistle 1 (1733) l. 293 - Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.An Essay on Man Epistle 2 (1733) l. 1; see Charron - Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled;
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!An Essay on Man Epistle 2 (1733) l. 15 - Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.An Essay on Man Epistle 2 (1733) l. 217 - The learn'd is happy nature to explore,
The fool is happy that he knows no more.An Essay on Man Epistle 2 (1733) l. 263 - Behold the child, by Nature's kindly law
Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw.An Essay on Man Epistle 2 (1733) l. 275 - For forms of government let fools contest;
Whate'er is best administered is best.An Essay on Man Epistle 3 (1733) l. 303 - Thus God and nature linked the gen'ral frame,
And bade self-love and social be the same.An Essay on Man Epistle 3 (1733) l. 317; An Essay on Man Epistle 4 (1734) l. 396 is similar - What can ennoble sots, or slaves, or cowards?
Alas! Not all the blood of all the Howards.An Essay on Man Epistle 4 (1734) l. 205 - An honest man's the noblest work of God.An Essay on Man Epistle 4 (1734) l. 248; see Ingersoll
- Thou wert my guide, philosopher, and friend.An Essay on Man Epistle 4 (1734) l. 380
- Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumbered, heavenly goddess, sing!translation of The Iliad (1715) bk. 1, l. 1; see Homer - Get place and wealth, if possible, with grace;
If not, by any means get wealth and place.Imitations of Horace bk. 1, Epistle 1 (1738) l. 103; see Horace - Not to admire, is all the art I know,
To make men happy, and to keep them so.Imitations of Horace bk. 1, Epistle 6 (1738) l. 1; see Horace - There still remains, to mortify a wit,
The many-headed monster of the pit.Imitations of Horace bk. 2, Epistle 1 (1737) l. 304 - Learn to live well, or fairly make your will;
You've played, and loved, and ate, and drunk your fill:
Walk sober off; before a sprightlier age
Comes tittering on, and shoves you from the stage.Imitations of Horace (1737) bk. 2, epistle 2 - The feast of reason and the flow of soul.Imitations of Horace bk. 2, Satire 1 (1734) l. 128
- For I, who hold sage Homer's rule the best,
Welcome the coming, speed the going guest.Imitations of Horace bk. 2, Satire 2 (1734) l. 159; Pope's translation of The Odyssey (1725–6) bk. 15, l. 84, has ‘Speed the parting guest’ - Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame,
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.Imitations of Horace Epilogue to the Satires (1738) Dialogue 1, l. 135 - Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.‘Ode on Solitude’ (written c.1700, aged about twelve) - Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.‘Ode on Solitude’ (written c.1700, aged about twelve) - Hunger is insolent, and will be fed.translation of The Odyssey (1725) bk. 7, l. 300
- What dire offence from am'rous causes springs,
What mighty contests rise from trivial things.The Rape of the Lock (1714) canto 1, l. 1 - Beauty draws us with a single hair.The Rape of the Lock (1714) canto 2, l. 28
- Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey,
Dost sometimes counsel take—and sometimes tea.The Rape of the Lock (1714) canto 3, l. 7 - At ev'ry word a reputation dies.The Rape of the Lock (1714) canto 3, l. 16
- The hungry judges soon the sentence sign,
And wretches hang that jury-men may dine.The Rape of the Lock (1714) canto 3, l. 21 - Coffee, (which makes the politician wise,
And see thro' all things with his half-shut eyes).The Rape of the Lock (1714) canto 3, l. 117 - Teach me to feel another's woe;
To hide the fault I see;
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me.‘The Universal Prayer’ (1738) - ‘Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed’ was the ninth beatitude.letter to Fortescue, 23 September 1725
- A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser to-day than he was yesterday.Miscellanies (1727) vol. 2 ‘Thoughts on Various Subjects’
- It is with narrow-souled people as with narrow-necked bottles: the less they have in them, the more noise they make in pouring it out.Miscellanies (1727) vol. 2 ‘Thoughts on Various Subjects’
- When men grow virtuous in their old age, they only make a sacrifice to God of the devil's leavings.Miscellanies (1727) vol. 2 ‘Thoughts on Various Subjects’
- All gardening is landscape-painting.Joseph Spence Anecdotes (ed. J. Osborn, 1966) no. 606
- Here am I, dying of a hundred good symptoms.to George, Lord Lyttelton, 15 May 1744
