The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope |
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Page xiv
In his smooth and polished verse, we meet with no prodigies of nature, but with
miracles of wit: the thunders of his pen are whispered flatteries; its forked
lightnings, pointed sarcasm; for “the gaarled oak,” he gives us “the soft myrtle;” for
rocks, ...
In his smooth and polished verse, we meet with no prodigies of nature, but with
miracles of wit: the thunders of his pen are whispered flatteries; its forked
lightnings, pointed sarcasm; for “the gaarled oak,” he gives us “the soft myrtle;” for
rocks, ...
Page 3
... it is ten to one but he must give up all the reasonable aims of life for it. There
are indeed some advantages accruing from a genius to poetry, and they are all I
can think of: the agreeable power of self-amusement when a man is idle or alone;
...
... it is ten to one but he must give up all the reasonable aims of life for it. There
are indeed some advantages accruing from a genius to poetry, and they are all I
can think of: the agreeable power of self-amusement when a man is idle or alone;
...
Page 7
It therefore seems necessary to give some account of this kind of poem, and it is
my design to comprise in this short paper the substance of those numerous
dissertations that critics have made on the subject, without omitting any of their
rule; ...
It therefore seems necessary to give some account of this kind of poem, and it is
my design to comprise in this short paper the substance of those numerous
dissertations that critics have made on the subject, without omitting any of their
rule; ...
Page 8
... shepherds at this day really are, but as they may be conceived then to have
been; when the best of men followed the employment. To carry this resemblance
yet further, it would not be amiss to give these shepherds some skill in astronomy,
...
... shepherds at this day really are, but as they may be conceived then to have
been; when the best of men followed the employment. To carry this resemblance
yet further, it would not be amiss to give these shepherds some skill in astronomy,
...
Page 15
Say, Daphnis, say, in what glad soil appears A wondrous tree that sacred
monarchs bears; Tell me but this, and I'll disclaim the prize, And give the
conquest to thy Sylvia's eyes. HDAPHNIS, Nay tell me first, in what more happy
fields The thistle ...
Say, Daphnis, say, in what glad soil appears A wondrous tree that sacred
monarchs bears; Tell me but this, and I'll disclaim the prize, And give the
conquest to thy Sylvia's eyes. HDAPHNIS, Nay tell me first, in what more happy
fields The thistle ...
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Popular passages
Page 53 - Tis not enough no harshness gives offence. The sound must seem an echo to the sense : Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows ; But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar : When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, The line too labours, and the words move slow ; Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main.
Page 224 - That, changed through all, and yet in all the same, Great in the earth as in the ethereal frame, Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees, Lives...
Page 26 - Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise! Exalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes! See a long race thy spacious courts adorn; See future sons and daughters yet unborn, In crowding ranks, on every side arise Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
Page 464 - Night primeval, and of Chaos old ! Before her, Fancy's gilded clouds decay, And all its varying rainbows die away. Wit shoots in vain its momentary fires, The meteor drops, and in a flash expires. As one by one, at dread Medea's strain, The sickening stars fade off the ethereal plain ; As Argus
Page 46 - First follow nature and your judgment frame By her just standard, which is still the same : Unerring Nature, still divinely bright, One clear, unchanged, and universal light, Life, force, and beauty, must to all impart, At once the source, and end, and test of art. Art from that fund each just supply provides, Works without show, and without pomp presides; In some fair body thus th...
Page 50 - Fired at first sight with what the muse imparts, In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts, While from the bounded level of our mind Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind; But more advanced, behold with strange surprise New distant scenes of endless science rise!
Page 82 - And hence th' egregious wizard shall foredoom The fate of Louis, and the fall of Rome. Then cease, bright nymph ! to mourn thy ravished hair, Which adds new glory to the shining sphere! Not all the tresses that fair head can boast, Shall draw such envy as the Lock you lost. For after all the murders of your eye, When, after millions slain, yourself shall die; When those fair suns shall set, as set they must, And all those tresses shall be laid in dust, This lock the Muse shall consecrate to fame,...
Page 230 - Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As, to be hated, needs but to be seen ; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
Page 283 - His gardens next your admiration call, On every side you look, behold the wall! No pleasing intricacies intervene, No artful wildness to perplex the scene; Grove nods at grove, each alley has a brother, And half the platform just reflects the other.
Page 277 - Of mimic statesmen, and their merry king. No wit to flatter, left of all his store ! No fool to laugh at, which he valued more. There, victor of his health, of fortune, friends, And fame ; this lord of useless thousands ends.