Pope, who was very
old and feeble, was of course alive when they were first written, but
died more than a year before the passage appeared in its revised form in
this 'Epistle'.
old and feeble, was of course alive when they were first written, but
died more than a year before the passage appeared in its revised form in
this 'Epistle'.
Alexander Pope
each parent':
Pope asserted, perhaps incorrectly, that his father belonged to a
gentleman's family, the head of which was the Earl of Downe. His mother
was the daughter of a Yorkshire gentleman, who lost two sons in the
service of Charles I (cf. l. 386).
'389 Bestia':
probably the elder Horace Walpole, who was in receipt of a handsome
pension.
'391'
An allusion to Addison's unhappy marriage with the Countess of Warwick.
'393 The good man':
Pope's father, who as a devout Roman Catholic refused to take the oath
of allegiance (cf. l. 395), or risk the equivocations sanctioned by the
"schoolmen," 'i. e'. the Catholic casuists of the day (l. 398).
'404 Friend':
Arbuthnot, to whom the epistle is addressed.
'405-411'
The first draft of these appeared in a letter to Aaron Hill, September
3, 1731, where Pope speaks of having sent them "the other day to a
particular friend," perhaps the poet Thomson. Mrs.
Pope, who was very
old and feeble, was of course alive when they were first written, but
died more than a year before the passage appeared in its revised form in
this 'Epistle'.
'412'
An allusion to the promise contained in the fifth commandment.
'415 served a Queen':
Arbuthnot had been Queen Anne's doctor, but was driven out of his rooms
in the palace after her death.
'416 that blessing':
long life for Arbuthnot. It was, in fact, denied, for he died a month or
so after the appearance of the 'Epistle'.
* * * * *
NOTES ON
ODE ON SOLITUDE
Pope says that this delightful little poem was written at the early age
of twelve. It first appeared in a letter to his friend, Henry Cromwell,
dated July 17, 1709. There are several variations between this first
form and that in which it was finally published, and it is probable that
Pope thought enough of his boyish production to subject it to repeated
revision. Its spirit is characteristic of a side of Pope's nature that
is often forgotten. He was, indeed, the poet of the society of his day,
urban, cultured, and pleasure-loving; but to the end of his days he
retained a love for the quiet charm of country life which he had come to
feel in his boyhood at Binfield, and for which he early withdrew from
the whirl and dissipations of London to the groves and the grotto of his
villa at Twickenham.
* * * * *
NOTES ON
THE DESCENT OF DULLNESS
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.
Pope asserted, perhaps incorrectly, that his father belonged to a
gentleman's family, the head of which was the Earl of Downe. His mother
was the daughter of a Yorkshire gentleman, who lost two sons in the
service of Charles I (cf. l. 386).
'389 Bestia':
probably the elder Horace Walpole, who was in receipt of a handsome
pension.
'391'
An allusion to Addison's unhappy marriage with the Countess of Warwick.
'393 The good man':
Pope's father, who as a devout Roman Catholic refused to take the oath
of allegiance (cf. l. 395), or risk the equivocations sanctioned by the
"schoolmen," 'i. e'. the Catholic casuists of the day (l. 398).
'404 Friend':
Arbuthnot, to whom the epistle is addressed.
'405-411'
The first draft of these appeared in a letter to Aaron Hill, September
3, 1731, where Pope speaks of having sent them "the other day to a
particular friend," perhaps the poet Thomson. Mrs.
Pope, who was very
old and feeble, was of course alive when they were first written, but
died more than a year before the passage appeared in its revised form in
this 'Epistle'.
'412'
An allusion to the promise contained in the fifth commandment.
'415 served a Queen':
Arbuthnot had been Queen Anne's doctor, but was driven out of his rooms
in the palace after her death.
'416 that blessing':
long life for Arbuthnot. It was, in fact, denied, for he died a month or
so after the appearance of the 'Epistle'.
* * * * *
NOTES ON
ODE ON SOLITUDE
Pope says that this delightful little poem was written at the early age
of twelve. It first appeared in a letter to his friend, Henry Cromwell,
dated July 17, 1709. There are several variations between this first
form and that in which it was finally published, and it is probable that
Pope thought enough of his boyish production to subject it to repeated
revision. Its spirit is characteristic of a side of Pope's nature that
is often forgotten. He was, indeed, the poet of the society of his day,
urban, cultured, and pleasure-loving; but to the end of his days he
retained a love for the quiet charm of country life which he had come to
feel in his boyhood at Binfield, and for which he early withdrew from
the whirl and dissipations of London to the groves and the grotto of his
villa at Twickenham.
* * * * *
NOTES ON
THE DESCENT OF DULLNESS
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.
