No More Learning

It is no mosaic of brilliant epigrams, but an organic
creation. It is impossible to detach any one of its witty paragraphs and
read it with the same pleasure it arouses when read in its proper
connection. Thalestris' call to arms and Clarissa's moral reproof are
integral parts of the poem. And as a result, perhaps, of its essential
unity 'The Rape of the Lock' bears witness to the presence of a power in
Pope that we should hardly have suspected from his other works, the
power of dramatic characterization. Elsewhere he has shown himself a
master of brilliant portraiture, but Belinda, the Baron, and Thalestris
are something more than portraits. They are living people, acting and
speaking with admirable consistency. Even the little sketch of Sir Plume
is instinct with life.

Finally 'The Rape of the Lock', in its limitations and defects, no less
than in its excellencies, represents a whole period of English poetry,
the period which reaches with but few exceptions from Dryden to
Wordsworth. The creed which dominated poetic composition during this
period is discussed in the introduction to the Essay on Criticism, (see
p. 103) and is admirably illustrated in that poem itself. Its repression
of individuality, its insistence upon the necessity of following in the
footsteps of the classic poets, and of checking the outbursts of
imagination by the rules of common sense, simply incapacitated the poets
of the period from producing works of the highest order. And its
insistence upon man as he appeared in the conventional, urban society of
the day as the one true theme of poetry, its belief that the end of
poetry was to instruct and improve either by positive teaching or by
negative satire, still further limited its field. One must remember in
attempting an estimate of 'The Rape of the Lock' that it was composed
with an undoubting acceptance of this creed and within all these
narrowing limitations. And when this is borne in mind, it is hardly too
much to say that the poem attains the highest point possible. In its
treatment of the supernatural it is as original as a poem could be at
that day.
The brilliancy of its picture of contemporary society could
not be heightened by a single stroke. Its satire is swift and keen, but
never ill natured. And the personality of Pope himself shines through
every line. Johnson advised authors who wished to attain a perfect style
to give their days and nights to a study of Addison. With equal justice
one might advise students who wish to catch the spirit of our so-called
Augustan age, and to realize at once the limitations and possibilities
of its poetry, to devote themselves to the study of 'The Rape of the
Lock'.




DEDICATION

'Mrs. Arabella':

the title of Mrs. was still given in Pope's time to unmarried ladies as
soon as they were old enough to enter society.


'the Rosicrucian doctrine':

the first mention of the Rosicrucians is in a book published in Germany
in 1614, inviting all scholars to join the ranks of a secret society
said to have been founded two centuries before by a certain Christian
Rosenkreuz who had mastered the hidden wisdom of the East. It seems
probable that this book was an elaborate hoax, but it was taken
seriously at the time, and the seventeenth century saw the formation of
numerous groups of "Brothers of the Rosy Cross. " They dabbled in
alchemy, spiritualism, and magic, and mingled modern science with
superstitions handed down from ancient times. Pope probably knew nothing
more of them than what he had read in 'Le Comte de Gabalis'.

This was the work of a French abbe, de Montfaucon Villars (1635-1673),
who was well known in his day both as a preacher and a man of letters.
It is really a satire upon the fashionable mystical studies, but treats
in a tone of pretended seriousness of secret sciences, of elemental
spirits, and of their intercourse with men. It was translated into
English in 1680 and again in 1714.




CANTO I

Lines '1-2'

Pope opens his mock-epic with the usual epic formula, the statement of
the subject.