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The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Ed. With Notes and Intr. Memoir by A.W. Ward
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
564 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1744
24 people are currently reading
804 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Pope
2,237 books684 followersPeople best remember
The Rape of the Lock
(1712) and
The Dunciad
(1728), satirical mock-epic poems of English writer Alexander Pope.
Ariel, a sylph, guards the heroine of The Rape of the Lock of Alexander Pope.
People generally regard Pope as the greatest of the 18th century and know his verse and his translation of Homer. After William Shakespeare and Alfred Tennyson, he ranks as third most frequently quoted in the language. Pope mastered the heroic couplet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexand...
Ariel, a sylph, guards the heroine of The Rape of the Lock of Alexander Pope.
People generally regard Pope as the greatest of the 18th century and know his verse and his translation of Homer. After William Shakespeare and Alfred Tennyson, he ranks as third most frequently quoted in the language. Pope mastered the heroic couplet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexand...
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 2, 2021
So these poems are pretty good, but they are sooo long. I have the collection in two volumes. I finished vol. 1 last night and I’m taking a break.ok so volume two ended with the Dunciad and I’ve already read that, so I zipped through that book. Definitely something people should read if a fan of poetry.
November 8, 2023
Cannot say that this is my exact edition, couldn't find. Pope is definitely a poet of the first rank! The Dunciad, Essay on Man, the epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot.
May 2, 2019
I can't say I read everything in this voluminous collection of Pope's poems and translations, but if you go through it and select the shorter poems, you will find pleasures in the poems and their wording and rhyming.
Pope is rather forgotten these days, but he rewards a reader who takes the time to try. I'd suggest the shorter poems. I'd also suggest, as I plan to do, to read the poems over a period of time, checking in, sampling, and then revisit. The book is also at a good price: a free Nook book at Barnes & Noble. There's something to be said about a poet who writes like this:
Blest, who can unconcernedly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day.
Pope is rather forgotten these days, but he rewards a reader who takes the time to try. I'd suggest the shorter poems. I'd also suggest, as I plan to do, to read the poems over a period of time, checking in, sampling, and then revisit. The book is also at a good price: a free Nook book at Barnes & Noble. There's something to be said about a poet who writes like this:
Blest, who can unconcernedly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day.
March 21, 2011
A lot of people have no patience for Alexander Pope, but I think he was a delightful smart ass, and he is my favorite poet almost solely because of it. Also, I don't really like poets, so that might have something to do with it.
May 7, 2012
You're under-loved these days, Mr Pope, but I'll make up in intensity what your fans lack in numbers.
July 24, 2021
Pope is great. Def an underrated poet/ essayist… but, I did not read the whole thing! Don’t trust me!
May 9, 2024
Ngl just read 45 pages of him babbling some crap and dear Oscar Wilde, my man, you were so right on this one.
July 12, 2017
A good collection of most of Pope’s works, including original work, critical pieces, translations and imitations. One has to love Pope if only for his sense of humor and biting satire. I found a great Pope quote in the preface: “For what I have published, I can only hope to be pardoned; but for what I have burned, I deserve to be praised” (p. xviii). I laughed out loud and smiled inside.
While he is mostly known for his satire and his Homer translation, he also can speak plain truths. One I found touching was in his Ode for music on St. Cecilia’s Day: “Music the fiercest grief can charm, / And fate’s severest rage disarm: / Music can soften pain to ease, / And make despair and madness please” (Stanza VII: 118-121; p. 101, vol. i).
This collection includes some of the phrases he coined, primarily from his Essay on Criticism. These include “A little learning is a dangerous thing: / Drink Deep; or taste not the Pierian spring: / There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain / And drinking largely sobers us again” (lines 215-218; p. 129). A little more complex and complete than what we usually here of that phrase today. Later, in the same essay, we find “to err is human, to forgive divine” (line 525, p. 131) and “for fools rush in where angels fear to tread” (line 625, p. 135).
Overall, his work is so intertwined with the classical world: translating, imitating, analyzing and critiquing so many of the ancient authors including Homer, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Statius, etc. I was taken by his translation of the first book of Statius’s Thebaid. I didn’t like his translations of selections from Ovid: the Fable of Dryope (Metamorphoses, Book 9) and Vertumnus and Pomona (Metamorphoses, Book 14). They were too verbose for me and seemed to embellish more than necessary. Part of it relates to keeping his meter and rhyming scheme going. [For Ovid, I really enjoyed Charles Martin’s very recent translation.] No doubt, Pope would have been a hip-hop star today for his cutting analysis and unbelievable rhymes. But for some of the classics he’s translated, there are better authors (past and present) to choose from. For satire and critiques, Pope’s a good source. For knowledge about who’s who in the times, he is invaluable, especially with his great Dunciad.
I wondered if we lack today what Pope had, i.e. a concentrated classical education that “everyone” pulls from and binds us together. Pop culture provides us with that somewhat, but it’s a shallow and ephemeral form of knowledge. Then again, this shared cultural base I saw in Pope, and indeed something I’ve been educated in myself, is not really universal or widespread. It’s a rarified form of culture, generated, consumed, and often valued by a very small portion of the population: primarily white, educated, upper class men. While I value this core of knowledge and indeed immerse myself in it, one thing I know is that it isn’t the only knowledge and it isn’t a preferred knowledge, just one base of many to explore.
I am very happy to have worked through his works and am sure I will return to portions of it in the future.
While he is mostly known for his satire and his Homer translation, he also can speak plain truths. One I found touching was in his Ode for music on St. Cecilia’s Day: “Music the fiercest grief can charm, / And fate’s severest rage disarm: / Music can soften pain to ease, / And make despair and madness please” (Stanza VII: 118-121; p. 101, vol. i).
This collection includes some of the phrases he coined, primarily from his Essay on Criticism. These include “A little learning is a dangerous thing: / Drink Deep; or taste not the Pierian spring: / There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain / And drinking largely sobers us again” (lines 215-218; p. 129). A little more complex and complete than what we usually here of that phrase today. Later, in the same essay, we find “to err is human, to forgive divine” (line 525, p. 131) and “for fools rush in where angels fear to tread” (line 625, p. 135).
Overall, his work is so intertwined with the classical world: translating, imitating, analyzing and critiquing so many of the ancient authors including Homer, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Statius, etc. I was taken by his translation of the first book of Statius’s Thebaid. I didn’t like his translations of selections from Ovid: the Fable of Dryope (Metamorphoses, Book 9) and Vertumnus and Pomona (Metamorphoses, Book 14). They were too verbose for me and seemed to embellish more than necessary. Part of it relates to keeping his meter and rhyming scheme going. [For Ovid, I really enjoyed Charles Martin’s very recent translation.] No doubt, Pope would have been a hip-hop star today for his cutting analysis and unbelievable rhymes. But for some of the classics he’s translated, there are better authors (past and present) to choose from. For satire and critiques, Pope’s a good source. For knowledge about who’s who in the times, he is invaluable, especially with his great Dunciad.
I wondered if we lack today what Pope had, i.e. a concentrated classical education that “everyone” pulls from and binds us together. Pop culture provides us with that somewhat, but it’s a shallow and ephemeral form of knowledge. Then again, this shared cultural base I saw in Pope, and indeed something I’ve been educated in myself, is not really universal or widespread. It’s a rarified form of culture, generated, consumed, and often valued by a very small portion of the population: primarily white, educated, upper class men. While I value this core of knowledge and indeed immerse myself in it, one thing I know is that it isn’t the only knowledge and it isn’t a preferred knowledge, just one base of many to explore.
I am very happy to have worked through his works and am sure I will return to portions of it in the future.
Want to read
March 31, 2023I don't like poetry but feel I should so was going to add this little book to my nightly reading list. Having a flick through I see most of them are long! I have no attention span now so I don't know... will give it a whirl, show willing. My little book is blue and part of Cassell's National Library, not the edition shown. I can't find mine on here.
Published Poems 1700-1714 · Pope, Alexander; Morley, Henry. Cassells National Library, 1886.
Published Poems 1700-1714 · Pope, Alexander; Morley, Henry. Cassells National Library, 1886.
January 31, 2019
Alexander Pope is a poet without comparison - if you want a challenge or are yearning for some classics, give it a read.
March 17, 2019
I don't see what the big deal is.
Read
November 27, 2022My introduction to Pope's verse is posted at http://williamseaton.blogspot.com/201....
February 28, 2024
Read through a selection - Rape of the Lock; Dunciad; Essay on Man and the Epistles Arbuthnot and Pastorals
February 15, 2021
A must have for any admirer of Pope. A master of satirical verse and the heroic couplet. For those unsure of whether to dive in, 'An Essay on Criticism' and 'Epitaph on Sir Isaac Newton' are perfect for testing the water.
March 20, 2018
Alexander Pope: Poems Selected by John Fuller is a volume from a series of books from Faber and Faber featuring poems of notable poets selected by contemporary poets. Revisiting Pope was a bit of a letdown for me as I found his work not as interesting as it was when I studied him fifty years ago. The historical context that one gets in a classroom was absent. I missed the dimension added by a professor who could fill in the background for all the people, places and events that are obscure to me now. There was still a level of familiarity, however. Obvious were Pope’s characteristic bitter satirization of ignorance and pedantry, the ubiquitous heroic couplet and the mock-heroic epic style.
February 4, 2015
I like his writing style, but too many of his poems are concerned with being witty and ostentatious. It seems he can't write a poem without having to make references to Greek/Roman mythology and without dedicating it to other poets and 'illustrious figures'. Both these qualities make him pompous and impure. I can't deny his Essay on Man was good -among others- but I excepted better after hearing so much about him.
June 14, 2011
simply great
August 17, 2012
Not that everything he wrote is that good, and this does include over 800 pages of it, but that's just it.
Read
May 1, 2017Paperback
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews