Table Of ContentALEXANDER POPE
Bust of Alexander Pope by Roubiliac. !The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of
Birmingham)
Alexander Pope
A Literary Life
Felicity Rosslyn
Lecturer in English
University of Leicester
Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 978-0-333-42691-3 ISBN 978-1-349-20564-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-20564-6
©Felicity Rosslyn, 1990
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1990 978-0-333-42690-6
All rights reserved. For information, write:
Scholarly and Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
First published in the United States of America in 1990
ISBN 978-0-312-04021-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rosslyn, Felicity, 1950-
Alexander Pope : a literary life I Felicity Rosslyn.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-312-04021-5
1. Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744-Biography. 2. Poets, English-18th century
Biography. I. Title.
PR3633.R67 1990
821'.5-dc20
[B) 89-24045
CIP
For my grandfathers, H.M., H.A.M.
Contents
Preface ix
Chronological Table xi
Introduction 1
1 Early Life and Juvenilia 11
2 OutintheWorld 28
3 Making it New 61
4 Rewards of Fame, and its Hazards 77
5 Reforming the Mind 97
6 Virtue and Her Friends 116
7 The Progress of Dulness 138
Conclusion 154
Appendix: Pope's Versification 158
Notes 163
Further Reading 171
Index 174
vii
Preface
Some apology may be thought necessary for yet another book on
Alexander Pope. He has been handsomely compensated in this
century for his neglect in the last; the long-felt want of a modern
biography has now been supplied by Maynard Mack, and
academic industry has scrutinised his imagery, allusions, word
dusters and social context until Pope himself (an indefatigable
annotator) might be willing to cry 'hold, enough'.
And yet there has been no study of Pope's life and works from
something approaching his own point of view, placing the stress
where he might have placed it and interpreting his conduct by his
own lights. It is this study I have attempted to write - at the risk, I
realise, of entering so far into his point of view that I have failed to
strain at gnats, and swallowed camels. My excuse is that there are
numerous other studies available whose authors know better than
Pope - much better - and the reader who wants to view him
through modern spectacles can easily do so. I have set myself a
different task, of removing the layers of old varnish from his
portrait till the poet should appear as fresh and intelligible as he
did to his contemporaries.
This does not mean that I have ignored the modern point of view
completely. On the contrary, I have borne in mind the real
difficulty of Pope's verse and his assumptions for the new reader,
and much of my text has been directed to the quietly mystified
student in the corner, of whom I have long experience as a teacher.
But it does mean that where Pope has one explanation for an issue,
and his modern commentators another, I have preferred his - and
tried to elaborate it in his own voice.
The Pope of my portrait is less tormented, self-deluding and vain
than usual. Whether it is a portrait to rank among the varied ones
already available, the reader will judge. But it has in its favour the
assumption that to be a great poet is to live by a different code of
values and realities, and enables the poet to do different things
with his feelings from the rest of us. He may feel as we do, but his
feelings have a different issue: in art. My reason for holding to this
conviction is, I admit, pure intimidation. In the course of writing
about Pope he has become increasingly visible to me, as a sardonic
portrait head (like the brilliant one of Roubiliac) whose muscles
ix
Preface
X
play across his cheeks, as he overlooks my work, with amused
intelligence. When I have attempted to impose my taste or judge
ment upon his, he has shot me an ironic glance and murmured,
'Launch not beyond your Depth, but be discreet ...' . I have
submitted as gracefully as I could.
I can better understand the values of continuity and civilisation
Pope wished to protect for the kindness and encouragement I have
received from other Pope scholars. Dr H.H. Erskine-Hill, Professor
Pat Rogers, and Maynard Mack have gallantly helped me into print
at various times, and I am much indebted to their scholarship -
particularly that of Maynard Mack's biography (Alexander Pope: A
Life, 1985). In my conception of Pope and the 'literary life' I am
conscious of the penetrating influence of H.A. Mason, who first
showed me how literature might lead out of the study and back to
life. His work on Pope has made mine a pleasure, and is the
ultimate reason for the existence of this book. I hope he will not
reject the burden I am laying at his door: it is, to borrow the plea of
the girl with an unlooked-for baby, only a very little one.
Chronological Table
[*Approximate date]
1688 (21 May) Alexander Pope born in Lombard Street, London.
The 'Glorious Revolution' sent James n into exile, and
placed William of Orange on the throne.
1696* At school in a Catholic seminary in Twyford, Hants.
1697* Removed to a Catholic school in Marylebone.
1700* Pope's family moved to Binfield, Windsor Forest; he took
his own education in hand, reading, imitating and translat
ing. Martha Blount a near neighbour. Death of John
Dryden.
1702 Accession of Queen Anne.
1705* Pope introduced into the literary society of London and
'adopted' by Wycherley, Garth and Walsh.
1709 Pastorals published. Birth of Samuel Johnson.
1711 An Essay on Criticism published, and acclaimed in the
Spectator. Pope's friends included Addison, Steele, Caryll,
and the Blount family.
1712 The Messiah published in the Spectator. The first (two canto)
version of the Rape of the Lock published in a Miscellany, and
praised by Addison. Pope's growing acquaintance with
Swift, Arbuthnot, Parnell and Gay, who formed the Scrib
lerus Club. *Friendship with Lord Bolingbroke.
1713 Windsor Forest published, and proposals issued for a trans
lation of the Iliad.
1714 Revised version of the Rape of the Lock. Death of Queen
Anne and accession of George 1. Whigs in power; Swift sent
to Ireland, and end of the Scriblerus Club.
1715 The Temple of Fame. Vol. I of the Iliad published, causing
rupture with Addison. Pope made acquaintance of Lady
Mary Wortley Montagu. Jacobite rebellion.
1716 Iliad, Vol. II. Pope's family sold Binfield, and moved to
Chiswick, near his friend and protector Lord Burlington.
1717 Iliad, Vol. III. Pope's first collection of Works published (incl.
'Eloisa to Abelard' and the 'Elegy to the Memory of an
Unfortunate Lady'). Death of his father.
1718 Iliad, Vol. IV.
xi
Description:Part of a series which follows the outline of writers' working lives, aiming to trace the professional, publishing and social contexts which shaped their writing. This is a sympathetic portrait of the poet who overcame the obscurity of his origins to become the uncrowned Laureate of his age.
