Introduction
Pope was
born in the year 1688, a century where there was so much confusion in the
society. People were torn between the
extremes of religion, society and politics.
Pope, as a poet, wrote many satires.
Pope and his friends were fondly named as scriblerians. Dr. Arbuthnot, Pope’s friend, was hopelessly
ill. He wrote to Pope that he should be
careful while attacking others. Pope
wrote this poem as a reply in 1734. This
poem attacks Pope’s detractors and defends Pope’s character and career. This poem could be divided into 7 parts.
First Part (lines 1 -
68)
The poem
opens with Pope ordering John, a servant, to shut the door. Pope is afraid of letting in the budding
poets, who are like dogs. He asks John
to ties the knocker of the door. He
thinks that the mental institutions like Bedlam and Parnassus are let loose in
the road. He finds the poets with papers
in their hands and fire in their eyes.
Pope is not left alone; wherever he goes he is followed by the budding
poets. They come into his house by
climbing the wall and shrubs. They get
into his chariot and into his boat. They
do not even leave him pray. Everyone
blames Pope in some way or the other.
All people come to Twitnam, Pope’s house, to scold him. Pope finally addresses Dr. Arbuthnot as
“friend of my life”. Pope finds his
friend’s illness and the troublesome poets as a plague. Pope is confused on what to do and what not
to do. If he appreciated their poetry
they overflow with more poems, if he says something negative about their
poetry, they feel hurt. Pope gives the
advice of Horace to the new poets. He
asks them to wait for nine years before publishing a poem. The writers are unable to accept this
advice. They ask Pope to make some
corrections in their poem. They also try
to bribe him. Some poets blackmail him.
Second Part (lines 69
- 124)
The second
part of the poem talks about the dangers of being popular. Pope elaborates on the comparison of
Midas. He ridicules the poetasters by
using Midas image, which ultimately represents unreliability. Pope scolds a few poets like Colley, Harley,
Bavius, Bishop Philips and Sappho. At
this point Arbuthnot warns Pope not to use names in his poem. He advises Pope to be prudent. Arbuthnot ridicules Pope that he is twice as
tall as Pope but he never uses any names.
Pope is angry again. He is
willing to be honest. He claims that he
would not be called as cruel when he calls a fool as a fool. He then talks about how a few dramatists
approach him to recommend scripts, which are rejected by the theatres and
production companies. They all try to
flatter Pope. Some say that Pope’s nose
is like Ovid’s and they compare Pope with Hercules and Alexander the
Great. Pope does not listen to such
flattery. He calls himself as an
ordinary man.
Third Part (lines 125
- 146)
This part
talks about Pope’s life as a writer. He
starts explaining why he writes. He says
that he wrote not out of any compulsion.
He found it hard to learn numbers but it is not hard for him to write
poetry. Nobody asked him to write poetry
but he did it by himself. He writes
because his friends like Swift, Granville, Congreve and others enjoyed reading
his poetry. He did not write poem for
his personal reasons like loving his wife.
Arbuthnot asks why Pope publishes his works. Pope says that because his friends enjoyed
reading his poetry. They praised his
works. Even Dryden encourages Pope to
write and publish poems so Pope published them.
Fourth Part (lines 147
- 260)
Part IV of
this poem discusses about why Pope attacks other poets through his satire. Pope says that he does not care a little for
those who find fault with him. He calls
them as donkeys and fools. He sometimes
tried to be friendly with them. He tried
to take them out for a dinner. In spite
of all these some cheap critics criticizes him.
Pope says that if their criticism is correct he would readily accept
it. Pope satirizes Ambrose Philips. Ambrose is
a plagiarist. He copies works from Greek
literature and earns money. If he
attempts to be original, he will not cross eight lines a year. Pope then criticizes Addison. Addison, according
to Pope, is a genius. He is a good
writer. His defect is that he wants to
dominate the literary world. He thinks
that he is the greatest of all writers.
Pope calls Addison a coward, because Addison attacks many writers but he
fears being attacked by them. Lord Halifax is attacked next. Lord Halifax loves being flattered. He helps the poetasters who flatter him.
Fifth Part (lines 261
- 304)
This part
describes Pope’s current attitude towards life and career. Pope asks the poetasters to let him leave
live in a peaceful manner. He says that
he lives in debt. He is someone normal
who prays to god regularly. He says that
only liars will fear his satire and attacks.
A man of good intention and honest behavior need not fear him.
Sixth Part (lines 305
- 333)
In this part,
Pope attacks Lord Hervey in the name
Sporus. When Arbuthnot hears the name
Sporus, he starts scolding him. Sporus
is a man who drinks the milk of a donkey.
He is capable only of killing a butterfly with his wheels. He is such a senseless person that he is not
able to distinguish satire and other kinds of poem. If Pope is a paragon of independent
judgment, Hervey is a man who will say anything to please the people at court
and in government. He values glamour, sensual pleasure, and social climbing.
Hervey was also homosexual. Hervey is not only a man-woman but an animal-demon,
a shape-changer, like Satan
Seventh Part (lines 334
- 419)
Part 7
is Pope’s final draft of his self-portrait, summing up the virtues he wants
Arbuthnot to believe he has. Pope
says that he has never been a worshipper of fortune. He is bold and courageous. He has never flattered anyone for selfish
reasons. He attacks his enemies and
critics. He claims that he was brought
up well by his parents. His parents are
peace loving. They are good citizens of
England. They led a happy domestic
life. Pope also wants to live a similar
life. He concludes the poem by praying
that Arbuthnot should lead a happy, peaceful and prosperous life.
