Show j ALEXANDER POPE r AMONG all of the poets whose writings i go to make up the literature of f England up to the beginning of the present century century century cen cen- tury tury there is no one who stands out more more prominently in literary ability and influence than does Alexander Pope He was a man miln about whom few knew little except students of literature or persons interested in the investigation of various forms of poetry The greater NS' NS part of his poetry is of such a character that only those of a deeply intellectual turn of mind find pleasure in reading it s sIn In spite of this however Pope had many characteristics of interest to everyone every every- one who vho has any tendency towards education or the study of humanity As a man he calls forth sympathy on account of his weak physical condition and because of certain mental tendencies tendencies tendencies cies the outgrowth of that weakness asa asa as asa a poet he commands extreme admiration on account of his depth of intellect and loftiness of poetry Pope was born in Lon London on in 1688 at atthe atthe atthe the dawn of one of the most important periods in many respects in the history of English literature The age age of Shakespeare had passed in which the drama burst forth in all its splendor under the encouragement of Elizabeth and vanished again completely under the stern rule of the Puritans the period known as the Commonwealth or or that epoch which marks the reign and deposition deposition deposition depo depo- of Charles I. I and the rule of Oliver Cromwell had come and gone and its mighty poet John Milton had worked out his scheme for the recovery of Paradise and had gone to the grave Immorality had reached its height during during during dur dur- ing the time of the Charles harles and was now on the decline under the more judicious management of William and Mary and Ann With Pope as as a lawgiver lawgiver lawgiver law law- giver and literary leader and John Dryden as a contemporary a school of poetry arose different from any which preceded It was called the Classical or Popian School of Literature The distinguishing features of this new er era can be best determined perhaps perhaps perhaps per per- haps by a study of the personal peculiarities peculiarities of Pope himself for the writings writings writings writ writ- ings ings of almost every poet while keeping in harmony with the age in which they are written partake largely of the mental tendencies of the writer He has thoughts and ideas of his own of certain things but instead of telling III them directly by speech as does the orator he weaves them into his poem or brings them out through the characters in his drama So obvious is this in the case of Faust that some commentators regard regard regard re re- gard him as a of Goethe himself Through fifty six years of bodily suffering Pope labored to place himself among the leading poets of the world and andin andin andin in this judging from the trials through which he had to pass he was remarkably remarkably remarkably remark remark- ably successful Almost his entire physical physical physical phy phy- bein being was a wreck his body was deformed in the extreme and so weak that bone splints had to be applied to enable him to set up He always ate his meals sitting in a high-chair high and at atno atno no time in his life was he able to dress himself His most constant companion and patient attendant t was his mother and to this noble woman is due much in bringing Pope to the height he attained Her many flatteries made the young poet so vain yain that he could not endure the slightest reproach so that often a mild wild criticism upon one of his poems would so enrage him that he would cherish a hitter bitter hatred against the offender for a long time N then one would expect to find satires among his poems Such is the case for his is one of the most bitter merciless satirical poems ever written Another striking feature of the Popian literature is its deep intellectuality intellect and the lack of emotional elem elements en ts It would be strange indeed if there were much of the finer emotions as love and sympathy sympathy sympathy sym sym- pathy for Pope had never tasted them One of the most elaborate discussions and thoroughly intellectual literary productions productions pro pro- in the English language is his II Essay Es ay on Man I It t is so philosophical i- i cal in nature that it would be a much more fit subject for prose than poetry Pope was a sincere Roman Catholic and under the political rules then ex ex- in England could take no part partin in politics consequently much of his time was devoted to religion He wrote a a number of excellent e religious poems which are remarkable for their liberality of thought from a Christian standpoint Among these are The Messiah II The Dying Christian to His soul and The Th Christians Christian's Prayer Besides these we are indebted ted to him for the II Rape of the Lock the best society and mock-heroic mock poem in any language It is intensely lyrical in character and most elaborate in method of treatment In telling that which might easily be condensed into a a. a dozen lines the poet leads us through about twenty pages of splendid figures of speech employing a great number of Greek and Roman allusions using throughout almost perfect English The epic element of the poem or that gr group up of events forming the core about which the lyrical elements are woven is ridiculous and yet the Rape of The Lock stands among the foremost contributions contributions con con- on- on to literature a masterpiece of English So also it is with others of his poems that might be mentioned and while he did not give less attention to very many departments of thought he enriched everyone in which he did write and maintained the same standard of excellence throughout As a summing up I may say again that the influence of Alexander Pope upon the period during which he lived was greater than that of any other ma man M. 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