Alexander Pope and his victims Alexander Pope (1688-1744) - As a poet he ‘threw himself into the controversies of the day and into lively commentary upon the social and literary scene in such a way that the fruits of a critical mind are scattered over his output’. An Essay on Criticism (written at the age of 23) - This is a poem in the tradition of Horace’s Ars Poetica . Scattered here and there in the text are paraphrases of lines from Virgil, Cicero and Quintilian. - The book is not systematic in its approach or analysis. ‘The sheer polish of Pope’s couplets is such that the whole has an air of authoritative guidance from a master who is vastly superior to his subject and provides commonsense . ’ T he qualifications of the true critic : - Pope believes that only poets are fit to be critics . He criticizes failed writers who turn to critic . - He must know his own limitations, and he must ‘follow nature’. - A thorough knowledge of the Ancients is a pre-condition for criticism.
