Alexander Pope is one of the greatest translators, satirist, artist and poet of the Augustan Era. As a poet, he was famous for his heroic couplet and discursive poetry. After 1685 his life was a bit like Dryden as he was a Catholic and therefore and therefore not a part of the protestant dominated society of the 18th century. But, the thing is these two men belonged to two different genres as when Dryden died, Pope was at the age of 12. In his personal life, Pope was suffering from a spinal deformity that had a huge impact on his personal life and career. Because of this deformity, he was not the choice of women and this insecurity of him and the vanity of women is reflected in many of his works like The Rape of the Lock. He was also a famous translator who translated especially Greek and Latin classics into English. His satires are very famous as they humorously insult the so -called aristocratic society. In this article we’ll discuss some of his remarkable poems which made the Pope as a brand of the 18th century Augustan society. So, let’s look into them –
The Rape of the Lock (1712-14)
It is a simple poem but written in a complex mock-epic structure which is based on a true story told to the Pope by one of his friends. This mock epic talks about an incident in which Baron cuts off the lock of Belinda's hair in front of so many people which made Belinda agitated and then a fight ensued between them. At the end, the lock of the hair was lost to both of them which causes the story to be ended undramatically. This is basically a straight forward poem which was extended around 600 lines and divided into 5 cantos to give it an epic style.
The Dunciad (1743)
This is also a great example of mock-heroic verse written largely in iambic pentameter. The great scholar Lewis Theobald attacked him in Shakespeare Restored after Pope edited the works of Shakespeare. Pope responded to this insult in the first version of the Dunciad (1726) in which Theobald is portrayed as Sibbald, the son of the Goddess of Dullness. After a year, Dunciad Variorum was published. These two versions were published anonymously until 1735 when Pope himself acknowledged the authorship. In the fourth book, which is named as the New Dunciad (1742) in which he attacked Colly Cibber in the reply of some of his works. Finally, in 1743 these four books were jointly published as The Dunciad.
Lastly, we want to end the discussion with a famous line which reflects his knowledge and experience –
“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” ...
