No More Learning

'113-132'

Pope here describes the flatterers who were foolish enough to pay him
personal compliments. They compare him to Horace who was short like
Pope, though fat, and who seems to have suffered from colds; also to
Alexander, one of whose shoulders was higher than the other, and to
Ovid, whose other name, Naso, might indicate that long noses were a
characteristic feature of his family. Pope really had large and
beautiful eyes. Maro, l. 122, is Virgil.


'123'

With this line Pope begins an account of his life as a poet. For his
precocity, see Introduction, p. xii.


'129 ease:'

amuse, entertain.


'friend, not Wife:'

the reference is, perhaps, to Martha Blount, Pope's friend, and may have
been meant as a contradiction of his reported secret marriage to her.


'132 to bear:'

to endure the pains and troubles of an invalid's life.


'133 Granville:'

George Granville, Lord Lansdowne, a poet and patron of letters to whom
Pope had dedicated his 'Windsor Forest. '


'134 Walsh:'

see note on 'Essay on Criticism,' l. 729.


'135 Garth:'

Sir Samuel Garth, like Arbuthnot, a doctor, a man of letters, and an
early friend of Pope.
'137'

Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury; John, Lord Somers; and John
Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham; all leading statesmen and patrons of
literature in Queen Anne's day.


'138 Rochester:'

Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, an intimate friend of Pope.


'139 St. John:'

Bolingbroke. For Pope's relations with him, see introduction to the
'Essay on Man,' p. 116.


'143'

Gilbert Burnet and John Oldmixon had written historical works from the
Whig point of view. Roger Cooke, a now forgotten writer, had published a
'Detection of the Court and State of England. ' Pope in a note on this
line calls them all three authors of secret and scandalous history.


'146'

The reference is to Pope's early descriptive poems, the 'Pastorals' and
'Windsor Forest. '


'147 gentle Fanny's:'

a sneer at Lord Hervey's verses. See the introduction to this poem, p.
126.


'149 Gildon:'

a critic of the time who had repeatedly attacked Pope. The poet told
Spence that he had heard Addison gave Gildon ten pounds to slander him.


'151 Dennis:'

see note on 'Essay on Criticism.