THE REACH OF ART A Study in the Prosody of Pope by Jacob H. Adler University of Florida Monographs HUMANITIES No. 16, Spring 1964 THE REACH OF ART A Study in the Prosody of Pope by Jacob H. Adler University of Florida Monographs HUMANITIES No. 16, Spring 1964 THE REACH OF ART A Study in the Prosody of Pope by Jacob H. Adler University of Florida Monographs HUMANITIES No. 16, Spring 1964 P~636 u nxo./6 e" 3 901 A636 v Kco. /6 e.. 3 901 P:636 v xo. /6  UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES it sa UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES ra 3 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES ras  THE REACH OF ART A Study in the Prosody of Pope by Jacob H. Adler University of Florida Monographs HUMANITIES No. 16, Spring 1964 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA PRESS / GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA THE REACH OF ART A Study in the Prosody of Pope by Jacob H. Adler University of Florida Monographs HUMANITIES No. 16, Spring 1964 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA PRESS / GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA THE REACH OF ART A Study in the Prosody of Pope by Jacob H. Adler University of Florida Monographs HUMANITIES No. 16, Spring 1964 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA PRESS / GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA  T. WALERE HERERET, Chairman Prfessor of English Profsso of Speech Pofsso of Philosphy Professor of English AELVIE. VAL~fEE ,OEE 9CA T. WALERE HIERERT, Chairman Prfso El English Pressor ofESpeechE Prfso El Philosophy PEEID PEELE EI~ Pressor of MusicEEEOEE wctt V C, T. WAULER HIERER, ChairmaEn Professor El English PessorEEofESpeech PrEfeEEEr El PhilEEophy PEEfEssEE Ef English <7 C 6ti n8 r IHS + a;k oi CEOPRGH, 1964, BY TEE BOARDEO CATALEGUE CARD NE. 64-63900 PRED BYEEE. O. PAIER EPRINTINGCO., DELENE, FLIDAEE CEPYRIGEE, 1964, EY EEE BOARD O CATALEGUE CARD NE. 64-63900 PEREDEBEE.O. PAIER PRINTINGEC., DELANE, FLEERIDA CEPYEEGHT, 1964. BY TEE BOEARD EE PRED BYEEE. O. PAINTEREPRIEEINGCE., DELAND, EFLEREEA  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Over the years I have owed thanks for their help in my work on Pope's prosody to many people: to the late George Sherburn and to Walter Jackson Bate, the co-directors of my Har- vard University doctoral dissertation in which the present study (under the same title) had its origins; to various colleagues, at the University of Kentucky and elsewhere; to those administer- ing the University of Kentucky Research Fund, from which came money for the typing; and to my wife, without whose multitudinous assist- ance I should probably never write a line. In this study, that portion of Chapter III dealing with An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man parallels in part my article "Balance in Pope's Essays," English Studies, XLIII (Dec., 1962), 457-467. JACOs H. ADLER Over the years I have owed thanks for their help in my work on Pope's prosody to many people: to the late George Sherburn and to Walter Jackson Bate, the co-directors of my Har- vard University doctoral dissertation in which the present study (under the same title) had its origins; to various colleagues, at the University of Kentucky and elsewhere; to those administer- ing the University of Kentucky Research Fund, from which came money for the typing; and to my wife, without whose multitudinous assist- ance I should probably never write a line. In this study, that portion of Chapter III dealing with An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man parallels in part my article "Balance in Pope's Essays," English Studies, XLIII (Dec., 1962), 457-467. JACOB H. ADLER & Over the .years I have owed thanks for their help in my work on Pope's prosody to many people: to the late George Sherburn and to Walter Jackson Bate, the co-directors of my Har- vard University doctoral dissertation in which the present study (under the same title) had its origins; to various colleagues, at the University of Kentucky and elsewhere; to those administer- ing the University of Kentucky Research Fund, from which came money for the typing; and to my wife, without whose multitudinous assist- ance I should probably never write a line. In this study, that portion of Chapter III dealing with An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man parallels in part my article "Balance in Pope's Essays," English Studies, XLIII (Dec., 1962), 457-467. JACOB H. ADLER 'c, J  shall continue my enquiries into Milton's art of versification. Since, however minute the employment may appear, of analysing lines into syllables, and whatever ridicule may be incurred by a solemn deliberation upon accents and pauses, it is certain that without this petty knowledge no man can be a poet; and that from the proper disposition of single sounds results that harmony that adds force to reason, and gives grace to sublimity; that shackles attention and governs passions. -Samuel Johnson, Rambler 88. I shall continue my enquiries into Milton's art of versification. Since, however minute the employment may appear, of analysing lines into syllables, and whatever ridicule may be incurred by a solemn deliberation upon accents and pauses, it is certain that without this petty knowledge no man can be a poet; and that from the proper disposition of single sounds results that harmony that adds force to reason, and gives grace to sublimity; that shackles attention and governs passions. -Samuel Johnson, Rambler 88. shall continue my enquiries into Milton's art of versification. Since, however minute the employment may appear, of analysing lines into syllables, and whatever ridicule may be incurred by a solemn deliberation upon accents and pauses, it is certain that without this petty knowledge no man can be a poet; and that from the proper disposition of single sounds results that harmony that adds force to reason, and gives grace to sublimity; that shackles attention and governs passions. -Samuel Johnson, Rambler 88.  CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS Introduction 1. The Pattern in General 2. Early and Romantic 3. The Essays 4. Late and Satirical Introduction 1. The Pattern in General 2. Early and Romantic 3. The Essays 4. Late and Satirical Introduction 1. The Pattern in General 2. Early and Romantic 3. The Essays 4. Late and Satirical 34 64 86 34 64 86 34 64 86   INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION It is the purpose of this study to offer an analysis of Alexander Pope's prosodic techniques as they varied from poem to poem throughout his career. In spite of all the work which has been done on Pope as a technician in recent decades, this sort of survey has not yet been undertaken. Pope's often-stated belief that the style of a work should vary according to its subject matter, even in the less noticeable aspects of style, suggests that variation is fairly wide, and that a study of the techniques of individual poems will reveal much about Pope's art which has not yet received comment. A major poetic career as long as Pope's would suggest the same thing, though the variety of change is probably not as wide in his case as in many others, since his precocity was exceptional and his verse form remained, almost always, the same. Nevertheless the variety is great. And if it has not so far been adequately studied, several reasons may be suggested: first, the common belief of well over a century that if every warbler has his tune by heart his range must be narrow, that the range of heroic couplets is narrow anyhow, that the technique of a "prose" poet is not worth that particular kind of attention. Second, the twentieth-century scholars and critics who have studied Pope have not concentrated their attention on this particular area; if they cover his whole career, their attention is not altogether on versification;' if they cover one aspect of his versi- fication thoroughly, then they are concerned with the technique generally rather than the variations throughout his career-and in any case they are concerned with only certain aspects.' Finally, the 1. Thus Rebecca Price Parkin, for example, deals with versification hardly at all (The Poetic Workmanship of Alexander Pope EMinneapolis, Univ. of Minnesota Press, 19551), and while she treats a wide variety of aspects of Pope's "workmanship," she only occasionally gives a poem-by-poem treatment, and then only briefly and selectively. Geoffrey Tillotson treats surprisingly few aspects of versification (On the Poetry of Pope, 2d ed. [Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 19501), and his treatment of those aspects is eclectic, if highly illumin- ating. Both Miss Parkin and Tillotson are primarily concerned with Pope's technique in general terms. Robert K. Root is also concerned with general technique (The Poetical Career of Alexander Pope [Princeton, Princeton Univ. Press, 19381), and while he does go through Pope's whole career for critico- biographical purposes, he treats versification in only one chapter, and there treats only certain aspects (e.g., caesura), and treats those aspects generally. 2. E.g., W. K. Wimsatt, "One Relation of Rhyme to Reason," The Verbal It is the purpose of this study to offer an analysis of Alexander Pope's prosodic techniques as they varied from poem to poem throughout his career. In spite of all the work which has been done on Pope as a technician in recent decades, this sort of survey has not yet been undertaken. Pope's often-stated belief that the style of a work should vary according to its subject matter, even in the less noticeable aspects of style, suggests that variation is fairly wide, and that a study of the techniques of individual poems will reveal much about Pope's art which has not yet received comment. A major poetic career as long as Pope's would suggest the same thing, though the variety of change is probably not as wide in his case as in many others, since his precocity was exceptional and his verse form remained, almost always, the same. Nevertheless the variety is great. And if it has not so far been adequately studied, several reasons may be suggested: first, the common belief of well over a century that if every warbler has his tune by heart his range must be narrow, that the range of heroic couplets is narrow anyhow, that the technique of a "prose" poet is not worth that particular kind of attention. Second, the twentieth-century scholars and critics who have studied Pope have not concentrated their attention on this particular area; if they cover his whole career, their attention is not altogether on versification;' if they cover one aspect of his versi- fication thoroughly, then they are concerned with the technique generally rather than the variations throughout his career-and in any case they are concerned with only certain aspects.2 Finally, the 1. Thus Rebecca Price Parkin, for example, deals with versification hardly at all (The Poetic Workmanship of Alexander Pope EMinneapolis, Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1955]), and while she treats a wide variety of aspects of Pope's "workmanship," she only occasionally gives a poem-by-poem treatment, and then only briefly and selectively. Geoffrey Tillotson treats surprisingly few aspects of versification (On the Poetry of Pope, 2d ed. [Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 19501), and his treatment of those aspects is eclectic, if highly illumin- ating. Both Miss Parkin and Tillotson are primarily concerned with Pope's technique in general terms. Robert K. Root is also concerned with general technique (The Poetical Career of Alexander Pope [Princeton, Princeton Univ. Press, 19381), and while he does go through Pope's whole career for critico- biographical purposes, he treats versification in only one chapter, and there treats only certain aspects (e.g., caesura), and treats those aspects generally. 2. E.g., W. K. Wimsatt, "One Relation of Rhyme to Reason," The Verbal INTRODUCTION It is the purpose of this study to offer an analysis of Alexander Pope's prosodic techniques as they varied from poem to poem throughout his career. In spite of all the work which has been done on Pope as a technician in recent decades, this sort of survey has not yet been undertaken. Pope's often-stated belief that the style of a work should vary according to its subject matter, even in the less noticeable aspects of style, suggests that variation is fairly wide, and that a study of the techniques of individual poems will reveal much about Pope's art which has not yet received comment. A major poetic career as long as Pope's would suggest the same thing, though the variety of change is probably not as wide in his case as in many others, since his precocity was exceptional and his verse form remained, almost always, the same. Nevertheless the variety is great. And if it has not so far been adequately studied, several reasons may be suggested: first, the common belief of well over a century that if every warbler has his tune by heart his range must be narrow, that the range of heroic couplets is narrow anyhow, that the technique of a "prose" poet is not worth that particular kind of attention. Second, the twentieth-century scholars and critics who have studied Pope have not concentrated their attention on this particular area; if they cover his whole career, their attention is not altogether on versification;' if they cover one aspect of his versi- fication thoroughly, then they are concerned with the technique generally rather than the variations throughout his career-and in any case they are concerned with only certain aspects.2 Finally, the 1. Thus Rebecca Price Parkin, for example, deals with versification hardly at all (The Poetic Workmanship of Alexander Pope EMinneapolis, Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1955]), and while she treats a wide variety of aspects of Pope's "workmanship," she only occasionally gives a poem-by-poem treatment, and then only briefly and selectively. Geoffrey Tillotson treats surprisingly few aspects of versification (On the Poetry of Pope, 2d ed. [Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 19501), and his treatment of those aspects is eclectic, if highly illumin- ating. Both Miss Parkin and Tillotson are primarily concerned with Pope's technique in general terms. Robert K. Root is also concerned with general technique (The Poetical Career of Alexander Pope EPrinceton, Princeton Univ. Press, 19381), and while he does go through Pope's whole career for critico- biographical purposes, he treats versification in only one chapter, and there treats only certain aspects (e.g., caesura), and treats those aspects generally. 2. E.g., W. K. Wimsatt, "One Relation of Rhyme to Reason," The Verbal  THE REACH OF ART statements of Pope himself about prosody lead to the view, still not entirely obliterated, that his range must have been narrower than it is; and the standard eighteenth-century critical views upon prosody (though they themselves varied much more widely than is usually suspected) have offered support to the mistaken idea that Pope's range is narrow, since he is still considered the standard exemplar of eighteenth-century theories of versification. To be sure, the twentieth-century critics-Sherburn, Root, Tillotson, Miss Sitwell, Miss Parkin, Wimsatt, and others-have convinced us that Pope was capable of a very cunning skill within that narrow range; but the range is wider than the critics have suggested, and in any case no one has traced the variation in technique from major poem to major poem throughout Pope's career. As a preliminary to such a tracing, the first chapter of this study will be concerned with examining Pope's prosodic technique in general, in order, first, to establish the norm, and, second, to de- scribe in detail aspects of Pope's general prosodic technique, which have not yet been given special attention, or even, in certain cases, noted at all. I have in another place' given close attention to the relationship between Pope's general practice in versification, his statements on the subject of versification, and general eighteenth- century critical views, showing that Pope's practice, from the be- ginning, varied both from his own theories as stated in his letter on prosody and from the majority critical opinion of his day, and that this divergence became greater as his career went on. In this study, therefore, that subject will be given only such attention as is needed to determine actual practice and variety of practice, though I have tried throughout to deal with Pope's technique in terms of his and the eighteenth-century's understanding of prosody. Simi- larly, if some aspect of Pope's general practice has already been thoroughly and (in my view) adequately explored, there seems no reason to repeat that exploration; such aspects will be summarized briefly or referred to in notes. When I have examined Pope's general techniques, then, either briefly or more fully as the case may require, I shall turn in the later three chapters to the explora- tion of variation in his practice from major poem to major poem, and an examination of those techniques peculiar to (or mainly prominent in) particular poems throughout his career. But it is Icon (Lexington, Univ. of Kentucky Press, 1954). 3. "Pope and the Rules of Prosody," PMLA, LXXXVI (June, 1961), 218-226. THE REACH OF ART statements of Pope himself about prosody lead to the view, still not entirely obliterated, that his range must have been narrower than it is; and the standard eighteenth-century critical views upon prosody (though they themselves varied much more widely than is usually suspected) have offered support to the mistaken idea that Pope's range is narrow, since he is still considered the standard exemplar of eighteenth-century theories of versification. To be sure, the twentieth-century critics-Sherburn, Root, Tillotson, Miss Sitwell, Miss Parkin, Wimsatt, and others-have convinced us that Pope was capable of a very cunning skill within that narrow range; but the range is wider than the critics have suggested, and in any case no one has traced the variation in technique from major poem to major poem throughout Pope's career. As a preliminary to such a tracing, the first chapter of this study will be concerned with examining Pope's prosodic technique in general, in order, first, to establish the norm, and, second, to de- scribe in detail aspects of Pope's general prosodic technique, which have not yet been given special attention, or even, in certain cases, noted at all. I have in another places given close attention to the relationship between Pope's general practice in versification, his statements on the subject of versification, and general eighteenth- century critical views, showing that Pope's practice, from the be- ginning, varied both from his own theories as stated in his letter on prosody and from the majority critical opinion of his day, and that this divergence became greater as his career went on. In this study, therefore, that subject will be given only such attention as is needed to determine actual practice and variety of practice, though I have tried throughout to deal with Pope's technique in terms of his and the eighteenth-century's understanding of prosody. Simi- larly, if some aspect of Pope's general practice has already been thoroughly and (in my view) adequately explored, there seems no reason to repeat that exploration; such aspects will be summarized briefly or referred to in notes. When I have examined Pope's general techniques, then, either briefly or more fully as the case may require, I shall turn in the later three chapters to the explora- tion of variation in his practice from major poem to major poem, and an examination of those techniques peculiar to (or mainly prominent in) particular poems throughout his career. But it is Icon (Lexington, Univ. of Kentucky Press, 1954). 3. "Pope and the Rules of Prosody," PMLA, LXXXVI (June, 1961), 218-226. THE REACH OF ART statements of Pope himself about prosody lead to the view, still not entirely obliterated, that his range must have been narrower than it is; and the standard eighteenth-century critical views upon prosody (though they themselves varied much more widely than is usually suspected) have offered support to the mistaken idea that Pope's range is narrow, since he is still considered the standard exemplar of eighteenth-century theories of versification. To be sure, the twentieth-century critics-Sherburn, Root, Tillotson, Miss Sitwell, Miss Parkin, Wimsatt, and others-have convinced us that Pope was capable of a very cunning skill within that narrow range; but the range is wider than the critics have suggested, and in any case no one has traced the variation in technique from major poem to major poem throughout Pope's career. As a preliminary to such a tracing, the first chapter of this study will be concerned with examining Pope's prosodic technique in general, in order, first, to establish the norm, and, second, to de- scribe in detail aspects of Pope's general prosodic technique, which have not yet been given special attention, or even, in certain cases, noted at all. I have in another places given close attention to the relationship between Pope's general practice in versification, his statements on the subject of versification, and general eighteenth- century critical views, showing that Pope's practice, from the be- ginning, varied both from his own theories as stated in his letter on prosody and from the majority critical opinion of his day, and that this divergence became greater as his career went on. In this study, therefore, that subject will be given only such attention as is needed to determine actual practice and variety of practice, though I have tried throughout to deal with Pope's technique in terms of his and the eighteenth-century's understanding of prosody. Simi- larly, if some aspect of Pope's general practice has already been thoroughly and (in my view) adequately explored, there seems no reason to repeat that exploration; such aspects will be summarized briefly or referred to in notes. When I have examined Pope's general techniques, then, either briefly or more fully as the case may require, I shall turn in the later three chapters to the explora- tion of variation in his practice from major poem to major poem, and an examination of those techniques peculiar to (or mainly prominent in) particular poems throughout his career. But it is Icon (Lexington, Univ. of Kentucky Press, 1954). 3. "Pope and the Rules of Prosody," PMLA, LXXXVI (June, 1961), 218-226.  INTRODUCTION the better part of wisdom for any critic to add that Pope's technique is so complex and his devices so various that further exploration will continue to be needed. This is only another way of saying that Pope was a major poet. In considering Pope's versification, I shall treat first techniques of meter (including pause) and of line and couplet; next techniques involving words as words, such as the use of monosyllables and of rhetorical devices; and finally those special techniques of sound, such as alliteration and rime, which are concerned directly with neither words as words nor with meter. To be sure, all three groups have to do with sound. But the techniques involved in producing sound in poetry are sufficiently various in both origin and effect to make a division not only convenient but valid. Rhythm, for instance-which is a matter of sound-is inherent in all speech; rime -also a matter of sound-is externally and eclectically applied. But all techniques of versification have also to do with sense. The danger, as Dr. Samuel Johnson pointed out, though his examples seem not always the wisest, is that one will ascribe to sound alone an effect dependent upon sense alone; and many others have followed Dr. Johnson in showing that different words pro- ducing very similar combinations of sound in very similar arrange- ments will, since the significance is different, produce entirely different effects, or even none at all. Such warnings are undoubtedly salutary. The problem is where to draw the line. I have tried in this study to avoid the fanciful; but since any serious reader of poetry has his own ideas of the limitations of sound in reinforcing sense, no reader can ever be completely satisfied with the perceptions of another. Much the same thing can be said of metrical analysis. Inevitably there will be variation from reader to reader in the placement of 4. E.g., Life of Pope, Lives of the English Poets (New York, Everyman's Library, 1925), I, 219-220. My own view would be close to that of Charles F. Hockett, who finds "the murmuring of innumerable bees" onomatopoetic, and who considers the fact that John Crowe Ransom's "the murdering of innumerable beeves" is not onomatopoetic to be "irrelevant," because "onomatopoeia can be judged only in terms of sound and meaning" (A Course in Modern Linguistics [New York, Macmillan and Co., 19581, pp. 298-299). Note also . A. Richards' belief that "onomatopoeia . .. is rarely independent of the sense" (Principles of Literary Criticism [New York, Harcourt, Brace, and Co., 19251, pp. 128-129). Moreover, Pope's term representative meter is far broader in its implications than mere onomatopoeia, especially as the latter term is likely to be limited to the twentieth century. -INTRODUCTION the better part of wisdom for any critic to add that Pope's technique is so complex and his devices so various that further exploration will continue to be needed. This is only another way of saying that Pope was a major poet. In considering Pope's versification, I shall treat first techniques of meter (including pause) and of line and couplet; next techniques involving words as words, such as the use of monosyllables and of rhetorical devices; and finally those special techniques of sound, such as alliteration and rime, which are concerned directly with neither words as words nor with meter. To be sure, all three groups have to do with sound. But the techniques involved in producing sound in poetry are sufficiently various in both origin and effect to make a division not only convenient but valid. Rhythm, for instance-which is a matter of sound-is inherent in all speech; rime -also a matter of sound-is externally and eclectically applied. But all techniques of versification have also to do with sense. The danger, as Dr. Samuel Johnson pointed oat, though his examples seem not always the wisest, is that one will ascribe to sound alone an effect dependent upon sense alone; and many others have followed Dr. Johnson in showing that different words pro- ducing very similar combinations of sound in very similar arrange- ments will, since the significance is different, produce entirely different effects, or even none at all. Such warnings are undoubtedly salutary. The problem is where to draw the line. I have tried in this study to avoid the fanciful; but since any serious reader of poetry has his own ideas of the limitations of sound in reinforcing sense, no reader can ever be completely satisfied with the perceptions of another. Much the same thing can be said of metrical analysis. Inevitably there will be variation from reader to reader in the placement of 4. E.g., Life of Pope, Lives of the English Poets (New York, Everyman's Library, 1925), IL5 219-220. My own view would be close to that of Charles F. Hockett, who finds "the murmuring of innumerable bees" onomatopoetic, and who considers the fact that John Crowe Ransom's "the murdering of innumerable beeves" is not onomatopoetic to be "irrelevant," because "onomatopoeia can be judged only in terms of sound and meaning" (A Course in Modern Linguistics [New York, Macmillan and Co., 19581, pp. 298-299). Note also 5. A. Richards' belief that "onomatopoeia . .. is rarely independent of the sense" (Principles of Literary Criticism [New York, Harcourt, Brace, and Co., 19251L pp. 128-129). Moreover, Pope's term representative meter is far broader in its implications than mere onomatopoeia, especially as the latter term is likely to be limited to the twentieth century. -INTRODUCTION the better part of wisdom for any critic to add that Pope's technique is so complex and his devices so various that further exploration will continue to be needed. This is only another way of saying that Pope was a major poet. In considering Pope's versification, I shall treat first techniques of meter (including pause) and of line and couplet; next techniques involving words as words, such as the use of monosyllables and of rhetorical devices; and finally those special techniques of sound, such as alliteration and rime, which are concerned directly with neither words as words nor with meter. To be sure, all three groups have to do with sound. But the techniques involved in producing sound in poetry are sufliciently various in both origin and effect to make a division not only convenient but valid. Rhythm, for instance-which is a matter of sound-is inherent in all speech; rime -also a matter of sound-is externally and eclectically applied. But all techniques of versification have also to do with sense. The danger, as Dr. Samuel Johnson pointed out, though his examples seem not always the wisest, is that one will ascribe to sound alone an effect dependent upon sense alone; and many others have followed Dr. Johnson in showing that different words pro- ducing very similar combinations of sound in very similar arrange- ments will, since the significance is different, produce entirely different effects, or even none at all. Such warnings are undoubtedly salutary. The problem is where to draw the line. I have tried in this study to avoid the fanciful; but since any serious reader of poetry has his own ideas of the limitations of sound in reinforcing sense, no reader can ever be completely satisfied with the perceptions of another. Much the same thing can be said of metrical analysis. Inevitably there will be variation from reader to reader in the placement of 4. E.g., Life of Pope, Lives of the English Poets (New York, Everyman's Library, 1925), I, 219-220. My own view would be close to that of Charles F. Hockett, who finds "the murmuring of innumerable bees" onomatopoetic, and who considers the fact that John Crowe Ransom's "the murdering of innumerable beeves" is not onomatopoetic to be "irrelevant," because "onomatopoeia can be judged only in terms of sound and meaning" (A Course in Modern Linguistics [New York, Macmillan and Co., 19581, pp. 298-299). Note also I. A. Richards' belief that "onomatopoeia . .. is rarely independent of the sense" (Principles of Literary Criticism [New York, Harcourt, Brace, and Co., 1925], pp. 128-129). Moreover, Pope's term representative meter is far broader in its implications than mere onomatopoeia, especially as the latter term is likely to be limited to the twentieth century.  THE REACH OF ART caesuras and in the scansion of certain lines. The analyst can only hope that his own ear is reasonably normal; and that his subjectivity partakes of something like that universality by which so many eighteenth-century aestheticians hoped to reconcile personal taste with general and long-lasting approbation. THE REACH OF ART caesuras and in the scansion of certain lines. The analyst can only hope that his own ear is reasonably normal; and that his subjectivity partakes of something like that universality by which so many eighteenth-century aestheticians hoped to reconcile personal taste with general and long-lasting approbation. THE REACH OF ART caesuras and in the scansion of certain lines. The analyst can only hope that his own ear is reasonably normal; and that his subjectivity partakes of something like that universality by which so many eighteenth-century aestheticians hoped to reconcile personal taste with general and long-lasting approbation.  1. THE PATTERN IN GENERAL Pope's principal statement regarding metrics concerned the cae- sura, where his extremely rigid rule, stated in his letter on prosody,' that the pause always occurs after the fourth, fifth, or sixth syllables in a pentameter line, is simply at odds with all ob- servable facts of English versification. It is true that pauses in the couplet are more commonly central than in blank verse; but in Pope himself one finds lines with the pause after the eighth syllable: Musick resembles Poetry,/in each, (E. on C., 143)z after the seventh: And all th'Aerial Audience/clap their Wings, (Spring, 16) the third: Offend her,/and she knows not to forgive; Oblige her,/and she'll hate you while you live, (Moral Essays, II, 137-138) and especially often the second: This Nymph,/to the Destruction of Mankind, (Rape of the Lock, II, 19) Ye Godsl/and is there no Relief for Love? (Summer, 88) Even the pause after the ninth syllable is not unheard of: Superiors?/death!/and Equals?/what a curse! But an Inferior not dependant?/worse, (Moral Essays, II, 135-136) nor after the first: But thou,/false guardian of a charge too good, Thou/mean deserter of thy brother's bloodl (Unfortunate Lady, 29-30) 1. Pope's letter on prosody exists in two versions, that to Henry Cromwell, dated November 25, 1710 (Alexander Pope, Correspondence, ed. George Sher- burn [Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 19561, I, 105-108; referred to henceforth as Sherburn), and that to William Walsh, dated October 22, 1706 (Sherburn, I, 22-25). The Walsh version is not known to exist before the authorized edition of Pope's correspondence in 1735, and is almost surely spurious, an attempt by Pope to attach his letter to a better-known figure and perhaps to support his precocity. It differs somewhat from the Cromwell version, and I shall mention it only when it adds something significant. 2. All quotations from Pope's poetry except the quotation from his Homer 5 1. THE PATTERN IN GENERAL Pope's principal statement regarding metrics concerned the cae- sura, where his extremely rigid rule, stated in his letter on prosody,' that the pause always occurs after the fourth, fifth, or sixth syllables in a pentameter line, is simply at odds with all ob- servable facts of English versification. It is true that pauses in the couplet are more commonly central than in blank verse; but in Pope himself one finds lines with the pause after the eighth syllable: Musick resembles Poetry,/in each, (E. on C., 143)' after the seventh: And all th'Aerial Audience/clap their Wings, (Spring, 16) the third: Offend her,/and she knows not to forgive; Oblige her,/and she'll hate you while you live, (Moral Essays, II, 137-138) and especially often the second: This Nymph,/to the Destruction of Mankind, (Rape of the Lock, II, 19) Ye Gods!/and is there no Relief for Love? (Summer, 88) Even the pause after the ninth syllable is not unheard of: Superiors?/death!/and Equals?/what a curse! But an Inferior not dependant?/worse, (Moral Essays, II, 135-136) nor after the first: But thou,/false guardian of a charge too good, Thou,/mean deserter of thy brother's bloodl (Unfortunate Lady, 29-30) 1. Pope's letter on prosody exists in two versions, that to Henry Cromwell, dated November 25, 1710 (Alexander Pope, Correspondence, ed. George Sher- burn [Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 19561, I, 105-108; referred to henceforth as Sherburn), and that to William Walsh, dated October 22, 1706 (Sherburn, I, 22-25). The Walsh version is not known to exist before the authorized edition of Pope's correspondence in 1735, and is almost surely spurious, an attempt by Pope to attach his letter to a better-known figure and perhaps to support his precocity. It differs somewhat from the Cromwell version, and I shall mention it only when it adds something significant. 2. All quotations from Pope's poetry except the quotation from his Homer 1. THE PATTERN IN GENERAL Pope's principal statement regarding metrics concerned the cae- sura, where his extremely rigid rule, stated in his letter on prosody, that the pause always occurs after the fourth, fifth, or sixth syllables in a pentameter line, is simply at odds with all ob- servable facts of English versification. It is true that pauses in the couplet are more commonly central than in blank verse; but in Pope himself one finds lines with the pause after the eighth syllable: Musick resembles Poetry,/in each, (E. on C., 143)2 after the seventh: And all th'Aerial Audience/clap their Wings, (Spring, 16) the third: Offend her,/and she knows not to forgive; Oblige her,/and she'll hate you while you live, (Moral Essays, II, 137-138) and especially often the second: This Nymph,/to the Destruction of Mankind, (Rape of the Lock, II, 19) Ye Godsl/and is there no Relief for Love? (Summer, 88) Even the pause after the ninth syllable is not unheard of: Superiors?/deathl/and Equals?/what a curse But an Inferior not dependant?/worse, (Moral Essays, II, 135-136) nor after the first: But thou,/false guardian of a charge too good, Thou,/mean deserter of thy brother's blood! (Unfortunate Lady, 29-30) 1. Pope's letter on prosody exists in two versions, that to Henry Cromwell, dated November 25, 1710 (Alexander Pope, Correspondence, ed. George Sher- bum [Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 19561, I, 105-108; referred to henceforth as Sherburn), and that to William Walsh, dated October 22, 1706 (Sherburn, I, 22-25). The Walsh version is not known to exist before the authorized edition of Pope's correspondence in 1735, and is almost surely spurious, an attempt by Pope to attach his letter to a better-known figure and perhaps to support his precocity. It differs somewhat from the Cromwell version, and I shall mention it only when it adds something significant. 2. All quotations from Pope's poetry except the quotation from his Homer  THE REACH OF ART Lines with more than one pause, such as Moral Essays, II, 135, just quoted, are also frequent, and even lines containing no apparent pause whatever do occur.' Pope's practice varies widely from poem to poem. Pauses after the fourth syllable, for example, occur in slightly more than 50 per cent* of the lines in Spring and at less than half that rate in the second Moral Essay. Pauses in his three orthodox positions occur in about 85 per cent of the lines in Spring and in only about two-thirds of the lines in several of the late poems. His early work shows a preference for caesuras in the first half of the lines (over 90 per cent in Summer), and this decreases more or less steadily to around 70 per cent in the late satires. The sixth-place caesura is used for special purposes, in certain passages.' But beyond mere caesural placement Pope's pauses vary widely in degree and quality, for purposes of variety, devices of rhetoric, and representative meter. Many instances will occur in the analy- sis of individual poems. Pope also objected in his letter on prosody to the same pause in more than three successive lines, and while his practice generally avoids this lack of desirable variety, there are exceptions. The famous example near the beginning of Canto II of The Rape of the Lock (11. 7-18), where every pause is after the fourth syllable, may be for the sake of deliberate and obvious over-smoothness, which is one of the techniques Pope uses constantly in The Rape of the Lock; and, if so, this demonstrates what Pope's versification demon- strates again and again: that he was willing to break his own rules, or the rules of his age, for the sake of making the technique match the sense. But other instances of more than three successive pauses after the same syllable have no apparent excuse; and while some- times the repetition is not noticeable, and hence not objectionable are from the Twickenham ed., referred to henceforth as Tw. Quotations from the Homer are from the Cambridge edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Pope, ed. Henry W. Boynton (Boston, Houghton Miffin Co., 1903). See also n. 16, below. 3. Root (p. 40) gives as examples of no pause, Rape of the Lock, II, 55 and 64. 4. Such figures in this study are based on prosodic analyses of the whole of the Pastorals, Windsor-Forest, Messiah, Unfortunate Lady, Eloisa, Moral Essays, I and II, Arbuthnot, the Epistle to Augustus (First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace), and the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace; and of Rape of the Lock, Canto II; E. on C., Part I (i.e., 11. 1-200); E. on M., Epistle I; The Dunciad, Book I; and Dialogue I of the Epilogue to the Satires. 5. See p. 35, below. THE REACH OF ART Lines with more than one pause, such as Moral Essays, II, 135, just quoted, are also frequent, and even lines containing no apparent pause whatever do occur.' Pope's practice varies widely from poem to poem. Pauses after the fourth syllable, for example, occur in slightly more than 50 per cent of the lines in Spring and at less than half that rate in the second Moral Essay. Pauses in his three orthodox positions occur in about 85 per cent of the lines in Spring and in only about two-thirds of the lines in several of the late poems. His early work shows a preference for caesuras in the first half of the lines (over 90 per cent in Summer), and this decreases more or less steadily to around 70 per cent in the late satires. The sixth-place caesura is used for special purposes, in certain passages.' But beyond mere caesural placement Pope's pauses vary widely in degree and quality, for purposes of variety, devices of rhetoric, and representative meter. Many instances will occur in the analy- sis of individual poems. Pope also objected in his letter on prosody to the same pause in more than three successive lines, and while his practice generally avoids this lack of desirable variety, there are exceptions. The famous example near the beginning of Canto II of The Rape of the Lock (11. 7-18), where every pause is after the fourth syllable, may be for the sake of deliberate and obvious over-smoothness, which is one of the techniques Pope uses constantly in The Rape of the Lock; and, if so, this demonstrates what Pope's versification demon- strates again and again: that he was willing to break his own rules, or the rules of his age, for the sake of making the technique match the sense. But other instances of more than three successive pauses after the same syllable have no apparent excuse; and while some- times the repetition is not noticeable, and hence not objectionable are from the Twickenham ed., referred to henceforth as Tw. Quotations from the Homer are from the Cambridge edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Pope, ed. Henry W. Boynton (Boston, Houghton Miffin Co., 1903). See also n. 16, below. 3. Root (p. 40) gives as examples of no pause, Rape of the Lock, II, 55 and 64. 4. Such figures in this study are based on prosodic analyses of the whole of the Pastorals, Windsor-Forest, Messiah, Unfortunate Lady, Eloisa, Moral Essays, I and II, Arbuthnot, the Epistle to Augustus (First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace), and the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace; and of Rape of the Lock, Canto II; E. on C., Part I (i.e., 11. 1-200); E. on M., Epistle I; The Dunciad, Book I; and Dialogue I of the Epilogue to the Satires. 5. See p. 35, below. THE REACH OF ART Lines with more than one pause, such as Moral Essays, II, 135, just quoted, are also frequent, and even lines containing no apparent pause whatever do occur.' Pope's practice varies widely from poem to poem. Pauses after the fourth syllable, for example, occur in slightly more than 50 per cents of the lines in Spring and at less than half that rate in the second Moral Essay. Pauses in his three orthodox positions occur in about 85 per cent of the lines in Spring and in only about two-thirds of the lines in several of the late poems. His early work shows a preference for caesuras in the first half of the lines (over 90 per cent in Summer), and this decreases more or less steadily to around 70 per cent in the late satires. The sixth-place caesura is used for special purposes, in certain passages.' But beyond mere caesural placement Pope's pauses vary widely in degree and quality, for purposes of variety, devices of rhetoric, and representative meter. Many instances will occur in the analy- sis of individual poems. Pope also objected in his letter on prosody to the same pause in more than three successive lines, and while his practice generally avoids this lack of desirable variety, there are exceptions. The famous example near the beginning of Canto II of The Rape of the Lock (11. 7-18), where every pause is after the fourth syllable, may be for the sake of deliberate and obvious over-smoothness, which is one of the techniques Pope uses constantly in The Rape of the Lock; and, if so, this demonstrates what Pope's versification demon- strates again and again: that he was willing to break his own rules, or the rules of his age, for the sake of making the technique match the sense. But other instances of more than three successive pauses after the same syllable have no apparent excuse; and while some- times the repetition is not noticeable, and hence not objectionable are from the Twickenham ed., referred to henceforth as Tw. Quotations from the Homer are from the Cambridge edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Pope, ed. Henry W. Boynton (Boston, Houghton MifRin Co., 1903). See also n. 16, below. 3. Root (p. 40) gives as examples of no pause, Rape of the Lock, II, 55 and 64. 4. Such figures in this study are based on prosodic analyses of the whole of the Pastorals, Windsor-Forest, Messiah, Unfortunate Lady, Eloisa, Moral Essays, I and II, Arbuthnot, the Epistle to Augustus (First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace), and the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace; and of Rape of the Lock, Canto II; E. on C., Part I (i.e., 11. 1-200); E. on M., Epistle I; The Dunciad, Book I; and Dialogue I of the Epilogue to the Satires. 5. See p. 35, below. 6  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL (e.g., Spring, 11. 84-87),0 sometimes it is both: To Phthia's realms/no hostile troops they led; 4 Safe in her vales/my warlike coursers fed; 4 Far hence remov'd,/the hoarse-resounding main, 4 And walls of rocks,/secure my native reign, 4 Whose fruitful soil/luxuriant harvests grace, 4 Rich in her fruits,/and in her martial race. 4 Hither we sail'd/a voluntary throng. 4 (Iliad, I, 201-207)' Even here, however, the variation in caesural emphasis and in the rhythm before the pause-three of the lines have initial trochees- reduces the monotony; and Pope's practice often demonstrates that what seems a reasonable rule even to our freedom-prejudiced gen- eration may be broken successfully. Regarding meter itself, Pope apparently took a more central stand than in his statement about caesura, objecting in An Essay on Criti- cism to both the critic and the poet who make a fetish of metrical regularity; speaking favorably in the Epistle to Augustus of knowing "What's long or short, each accent where to place" (1. 207), without saying that the accent should be invariably alternate; and objecting in the same poem (1. 271) to "splay-foot verse," though the context, and particularly the praise of Dryden's "varying verse" (1. 268), makes clear that the objection is to the extremities of metaphysical license, and not to every violation of strict regularity. About metrics-rather surprisingly-he was nowhere very specific. In order, therefore, to establish a norm against which to examine his actual practice, one must look at the majority opinion of his day-recognizing that the variety of views about metrical matters was far greater in the early and middle eighteenth century than is usually recognized. The dicta which would have come nearest to general acceptances are probably as follows: 6. Or Autumn, 8-13, which illustrates another of Pope's dicta (in the letter to Walsh only), that the pause after the fifth syllable can be continued longer without monotony. 7. Another example is Eloisa to Abelard, 45-49. 8. Based on works consulted, including such obvious sources as Dryden's Essays, the Tat/er and Spectator, the critical works of Johnson, Hugh Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, 7th ed. (London, 1798), and Henry Home, Lord Kames' Elements of Criticism (New York, 1852); and, among others, Anselm Bayly, The Alliance of Music, Poetry, and Oratory (London, 1789); James Beattie, "An Essay on Poetry and Music, as they affect the mind," in Es- says (Edinburgh, 1778); Richard Bentley, Milton's Paradise Lost (London, 1732); 7 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL (e.g., Spring, 11. 84-87), sometimes it is both: To Phthia's realms/no hostile troops they led; Safe in her vales/my warlike coursers fed; Far hence remov'd,/the hoarse-resounding main, And walls of rocks,/secure my native reign, Whose fruitful soil/luxuriant harvests grace, Rich in her fruits,/and in her martial race. Hither we sail'd/a voluntary throng. 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 (Iliad, I, 201-207)' Even here, however, the variation in caesural emphasis and in the rhythm before the pause-three of the lines have initial trochees- reduces the monotony; and Pope's practice often demonstrates that what seems a reasonable rule even to our freedom-prejudiced gen- eration may be broken successfully. Regarding meter itself, Pope apparently took a more central stand than in his statement about caesura, objecting in An Essay on Criti- cism to both the critic and the poet who make a fetish of metrical regularity; speaking favorably in the Epistle to Augustus of knowing "What's long or short, each accent where to place" (1. 207), without saying that the accent should be invariably alternate; and objecting in the same poem (1. 271) to "splay-foot verse," though the context, and particularly the praise of Dryden's "varying verse" (1. 268), makes clear that the objection is to the extremities of metaphysical license, and not to every violation of strict regularity. About metrics-rather surprisingly-he was nowheere very specific. In order, therefore, to establish a norm against which to examine his actual practice, one must look at the majority opinion of his day-recognizing that the variety of views about metrical matters was far greater in the early and middle eighteenth century than is usually recognized. The dicta which would have come nearest to general acceptances are probably as follows: 6. Or Autumn, 8-13, which illustrates another of Pope's dicta (in the letter to Walsh only), that the pause after the fifth syllable can be continued longer without monotony. 7. Another example is Eloisa to Abelard, 45-49. 8. Based on works consulted, including such obvious sources as Dryden's Essays, the Tat/er and Spectator, the critical works of Johnson, Hugh Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, 7th ed, (London, 1798), and Henry Home, Lord Kames' Elements of Criticism (New York, 1852); and, among others, Anselm Bayly, The Alliance of Music, Poetry, and Oratory (London, 1789); James Beattie, "An Essay on Poetry and Music, as they affect the mind," in Es- says (Edinburgh, 1778); Richard Bentley, Milton's Paradise Lost (London, 1732); THE PATTERN IN GENERAL (e.g., Spring, 11. 84-87), sometimes it is both: To Phthia's realms/no hostile troops they led; 4 Safe in her vales/my warlike coursers fed; 4 Far hence remov'd,/the hoarse-resounding main, 4 And walls of rocks,/secure my native reign, 4 Whose fruitful soil/luxuriant harvests grace, 4 Rich in her fruits/and in her martial race. 4 Hither we sail'd/a voluntary throng. 4 (Iliad, I, 201-207)' Even here, however, the variation in caesural emphasis and in the rhythm before the pause-three of the lines have initial trochees- reduces the monotony; and Pope's practice often demonstrates that what seems a reasonable rule even to our freedom-prejudiced gen- eration may be broken successfully. Regarding meter itself, Pope apparently took a more central stand than in his statement about caesura, objecting in An Essay on Criti- cism to both the critic and the poet who make a fetish of metrical regularity; speaking favorably in the Epistle to Augustus of knowing "What's long or short, each accent where to place" (1. 207), without saying that the accent should be invariably alternate; and objecting in the same poem (1. 271) to "splay-foot verse," though the context, and particularly the praise of Dryden's "varying verse" (1. 268), makes clear that the objection is to the extremities of metaphysical license, and not to every violation of strict regularity. About metrics-rather surprisingly-he was nowhere very specific. In order, therefore, to establish a norm against which to examine his actual practice, one must look at the majority opinion of his day-recognizing that the variety of views about metrical matters was far greater in the early and middle eighteenth century than is usually recognized. The dicta which would have come nearest to general acceptances are probably as follows: 6. Or Autumn, 8-13, which illustrates another of Pope's dicta (in the letter to Walsh only), that the pause after the fifth syllable can be continued longer without monotony. 7. Another example is Eloisa to Abelard, 45-49. 8. Based on works consulted, including such obvious sources as Dryden's Essays, the Tatter and Spectator, the critical works of Johnson, Hugh Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, 7th ed. (London, 1798), and Henry Home, Lord Kames' Elements of Criticism (New York, 1852); and, among others, Anselm Bayly, The Alliance of Music, Poetry, and Oratory (London, 1789); James Beattie, "An Essay on Poetry and Music, as they affect the mind," in Es- says (Edinburgh, 1778); Richard Bentley, Milton's Paradise Lost (London, 1732);  1. Use of the initial trochee is acceptable, as in Pope's Lost in a cost-ent's solitaty gloom, (El oioa, 38)a bat decidedly not the medial tr-ochee, as in Pope's The wheels absove urg'd by the load telow, (Doodiad, I, 184) O'er head and ears plunge for the Commonweal, (Dusciad, I, 210) and emphatically not the final trochee, foe which Milton was round- ly Ecodemned, and which Pope peobably never used. 2. Io general the spondee is acceptable, either with she pyeehic, as in Pope's To the lst hoorcsftheiBsttsadiays, (DonciadI, 168) Edwrd Byoshe, The Art of doglish Poetry (4th ed., L~ondoo, 1710); William Coocood, Liceotis Poetica Discwss'd (Londoo, 1709); Thomacs Gsay, "Ohsercatioos o Eoglish Metee," is Wsorks, ed. cdwood Gonse (New Yoch, tOOT); Edoaed Moo- waeicg, Of Harmoncy sod Numbhers in Lotin sod English Prose sod is English Poetry (London, 17ff); W. F. Mcod, The Versificasionocf Pope is Ots Reltions ts the Secententh Censory (Leipsig, 1000): Locd Mosboddo, Of she Oeigin sod Progress of Laogosge (Ediobuegh, 1774); Heory Pemherton, Obsevstions on Poetry (London, 1770); "JOD.," Foeface so Joshua Poote's The English Pornsss *..Together woith A shsort Insioutiss ts Eoglish Poesie, by wasy of Prefsce (London, 1077): Joho Rice, As Introduction to the Art of Rteadiog witb Eonergy sod Propriety (London, 1705); OSmuel Say, Poems on Several Occasos: sod Too Critical Esys (Lodo, 174ff; Daniel Webb, Obses'vstions on she Csr- respondesce betwecn Poetry and Music (London, 1700) sod Remarks on she Beaoties of Poetry (Lodon, 1702); SamueltWesley,AnsEpstle tso Fend coo- nering Poetry (Loodon, 1700); and, of couse, Fast Fussel, Jr., Theory of Prosody is Eighteenth-Centory Esglsnd, Coooecticut College Msonograph no. 5 (New Loodon, 19554). 9. tsamsaware, ofcourse, thatssoeotwetit-cetuypsdss,and pr- ticularly lioguiht, woold hancdle scaosio sod other peosodicmatrsoe swhatdiffeeotly. But Isamdealigoithsposodicotchnoiqucste eighteeths ccnturyoondesood i-iothe osdsowittadtioaprsody. Iooldi anf case ageeswihJhnsCroe Ransomsinsisscontrihution othefamos sees of articles o protody is she Kenyo Recieo ("The Straogc Music ot coglish Vesse," XVIII [Smmoer, 19501, 451-460), shot she poets io the anthologics ace traditional Feosodists. And I would agree with Rooald Stherland in his coos seto the lane scries o aetictes ("Structorat Linguistics sod coglish Feosody" College English, XX tOss., 19581, It-17), stsal the rooks sod Wacren analyses is Unoderstanding Poetsy are "strikiog ecidence shot the sld syses works," shot while sowe mosdihiations are osefl they wilt nres effcieocyerathee thanoeise cocluios, and thatsexteeeysohtlencshods of scnincoo apploy only 10 individually recorded ceadiogs, nots so a "universally weaoingfl" analysis. 1. Use of the iiial trochee is acceptable, as in Pope's Lost io a coovent's solitary glo~om, (Eloisa, 38)a bat decidedly not the medial trochee, as io Pope's The wheels alsvair g'd 5y the load telow, (Dusciad, I, 184) O'er head sod ears plooge for rho Commonweal, (Dunciad, I, 210) and emphatically not she final trochee, for which Miltoss was eround- ly coodemned, and which Pope peobably never used. 2. In gonerol the spondee is acceptable, either with she pyeehic, as in Pope's To the lst honoors of thefBottoodays, (DunciadI, 168) Edwaod Bysshe, The Art of English Poetsy (4th ed., London, 1770); W~illiaw Cowasrd, Licentia Poetics Dhisusd (London, 170); Thowos Gray, "Obsrcations on Eniglish Metec," to Wors'h, ed. Edmsnd Gonse (Newo Yock, toss); Edwaed Moo' waring, Of Harmony sod Noumhers is Latin sod English Pose sod is Eoglish Poetry (Loodon, 1744); 'I. E. Meld, Thse t'essification of Pope is is Relations to she Secenteenth Centory (Leipsig, 1009); toed Monhoddo, Of the Origin sod Peogrss of Languoge (cdiohoegh, 1774); Heory Pewberton, Observations son Poetry (Losdoo, 1710); "J.." Foeface to Jcshua Foote's The Engih Parnass *.,Together wish A short Institution to English Poetic, by woy of Preface (Londoo, 1077); Jobs Rice, As OIrodoctios to the Art of Recading wiOh Energy sod Propriety (Lodon, 1705); Samuoel Say, Poemos on Several Occsos: sod Tco Critical Esys (London, 1745); Daoolt Webb, Ohsewoations on ohs Coo' r'espondenceetween Poetrysand MusicLondo,1769)and Remarks onthe Beauoiesof Poetry (Loodo,5172); SawueWsey, AnEpislestosacriend coo- cocos's7 Poetry (London, 1700); sod, of course, Fool Foosel, Jr., Theory of Prosody is Eighteenth-Cbentory England, Conoecticut College Moograph o.5 (Now Losdon, 1054). 9. twmswae, ofcoure, thatsome twneth-centuyo r~sodss,adpar- ticolarly lioguisto, woold haodle scansio aod other psosodic nottcerssoe what diffrentlyf. ButIadealicgwith prsodic tchique as therightecoth crosrycundrsoodOi-inother wordsthtraditinalprosodf.Iwould in soy cse agree with John Crowe Ransom io his constrihution to the famos toee oftarticles onprosody is the Kenyos Roes ("The Stoange Music of Eoglish Veose" XVIII [Sumner, 19501, 451-460), that the pcets is the aothologies ace traditional prosodists. Aod I would agree wish Ronald Sutherlaod io his coos- seto thte sane seriet of articles ("Structursl Liogoistics sod coglish Froscdy," College English, XX lOst., 19507, 12-17), thot the roos sod Warreo sootyses ins Underosading Poetry ace "strihing evideoce that she old sytten works," that while tone modificatios ate useful they wilt nres effiiecyfrathr thantreserconclssions, aod thateterseey subtemthodscof scnincoo apply oly Is individally recorded readiogs, not ts a "onicersally mningfl" analysit. 1. Use of the initial trochee is acceptable, as in Pope's Lotsoin a consent's solitay gloom, (Eloisa, 38)a bat decidedly not the medial trochee, as in Pope's The wheels above org'd by the load telaw, (Doociad, I, 184) O'er hesd sod ears pltunge for The Comon~weal, (Doneiod, I, 210) and emphatically not the final trochee, foe which Milton was round- ly condemned, and which Pope probably never osed. 2. In general the spoodee is acceptable, either with she pyrrhic, solo Pope's To the lost honoctes o'( the float snd Biays, (Dunciad, I, 100) Edward Rysthe, The Art of Eogish Poetry (4th ed., Locdon, 1710); William Coward, diceoltia Poetics Discoss'd (Londoo, 1709); Thono, Gray, "Ohsercatios son Eoglish Metr," io Works, ed. Edmnd Gonse (New Yorks, 1005); Edward Mao- waring, Of Hasrmony sod Numbhers is Lains sod English Prose sod is Englih Poesry (London, 1704); W., E. Mead, The Veroifecation of Pope is its Relations to the Seenteenth Ceotusry (Leipzig, 1000); Lord Mooboddo, Of the Origin sod Pro geese of Language (Ediohurgh, 1774); Heory Fenherton, Obsewvations son Poetry (Loodcon, 1730); "J.D.," FPreface to Joshua Foote', The English Parnssos .Together cith A short Institution to English Poetic, by rosy of Preface (London, 1077); Joho Rice, As Introdoction to the Art of Reading cOOh Enrgy sod Propriety (London, 1705); Samuel Say, Poems on Several Occsoios sod Tco Critical Esays (London, 1745); Danol Webb, Ohsewvations son ohs Coo- respodece btwencoeryand Music (London, 1769) andderson the Beautiesoof Poetry (Loodo,51762);SanueltWesey, AnEpistle tosadriend cew. cerning Poetry (Lonon, 1700); sod, of course, Fool Fussell, Jr., Theory of Prosody is Eighteenth-Century England, Csoonecticut College Monograph o. 5 (New London, 1954). 9. tamoawae, o o rs e, thatsnmtwentithceturyrosodists, andepar ticolarly hongsists, woold handle scansion tod other prosodic wooters tone- whatsdiffeently. ButtIan dealigowh rosdic tehique as the eighteeoth ccnturyoundestdit-inotsher wordswth tradsitolprosody.tIwould in soy case agree wOth John Crowce Raoson in his cootributioo to the fanmcat sees oflaricles on prosody io the Kdenyon Reciec ("The Strassge Music of Eoglish Veote," XVIII [Summer, 19501, 051-400), shot the pools 10 she aothologics ace traditional prosodits. And I would agree witb Rontald Sutherland in hsis con- mnt on the sane sers of sticks ("Strutusral Lioguistict sod Eoglith Froscdy," College Enghish, XX [Oct., 19581, 11-17), that the rosansd Waren analyses io Gndersanding Poetry are "striog evidence shot she old systen wsrks," that white snme modifications ate osefol they wilt nres eflicieocy rather thanorecise coclsios, aod thatetrenely subthemethsodstof scnincoo apply only to individoally recorded eadiogs, ot to a "onicersally neaoingfol" aoalysit. 8  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL or without, as in Pope's Of twelve vast French Romances, neatly gilt. (Rape of the Lock, II, 38) 3. Feet which would be trisyllabic if pronounced in full are ac- ceptable only if they are capable of reduction to dissyllables by elision.10 This elision could be of three types: either the dropping of a vowel before a liquid or nasal (syncope), as in Pope's Explores the lost, the wand'ring Sheep directs; (Messiah, 51) or the joining together of two vowels in one sound (synaeresis), as in Pope's Asleep and naked as an Indian lay, (Moral Essays, III, 361) sometimes in a fashion very difficult to elide: Kind, virtuous drops just gath'ring in my eye; (Eloisa, 278) or the dropping of a final vowel before an initial vowel (apocope), in Pope limited almost entirely to the and (less frequently) to, as in Yet never pass th'insuperable line, (E. on M., 1, 228) A work t'outlast Immortal Rome design'd. (E. on C., 131) 4. Light feet-that is, feet where there must be a metrical accent though there would be little or no prose accent-are acceptable, as in Pope's The various Off'rings of the World appear. (Rape of the Lock, I, 130) As in this case, such a foot in Pope is likely to occur near the middle of the line, and is particularly likely to be split by the pause, so that the "broken light third foot" occurs with sufficient frequency in Pope as to approach the status of a mannerism," though it is a probable phenomenon in heroic couplets generally." 10. But lines like the following from Dryden, Drown'din th'abys of deep idolatry (Hind and the Panther, II, 633) where actual voiced elision is unavoidable because the trisyllable occurs after a trochee, are rare in Pope, if they exist at all, and are rare in good eighteenth- century poetry generally. 11. See Root, p. 41. 12. Pope also objects in his letter on prosody to the Alexandrine, but it is of comparatively little significance in his verse, appearing with noticeable fre. quency only in the Homer. See Adler, "Pope and the Rules of Prosody," pp. 222-223; also Tillotson, pp. 105-112. THE PATTERN IN GENERAL or without, as in Pope's Of twelve vast French Romances, neatly gilt: (Rape of the Lock, II, 38) 3. Feet which would be trisyllabic if pronounced in full are ac- ceptable only if they are capable of reduction to dissyllables by elision.0 This elision could be of three types: either the dropping of a vowel before a liquid or nasal (syncope), as in Pope's Explores the lost, the wand'ring Sheep directs; (Messiah, 51) or the joining together of two vowels in one sound (synaeresis), as in Pope's Asleep and naked as an Indian lay, (Moral Essays, III, 361) sometimes in a fashion very difficult to elide: Kind, virtuous drops just gath'ring in my eye; (Eloisa, 278) or the dropping of a final vowel before an initial vowel (apocope), in Pope limited almost entirely to the and (less frequently) to, as in Yet never pass th'insuperable line, (E. on M., I, 228) A work t'outlast Immortal Rome design'd. (E. on C., 131) 4. Light feet-that is, feet where there must be a metrical accent though there would be little or no prose accent-are acceptable, as in Pope's The various Off'rings of the World appear. (Rape of the Lock, I, 130) As in this case, such a foot in Pope is likely to occur near the middle of the line, and is particularly likely to be split by the pause, so that the "broken light third foot" occurs with sufficient frequency in Pope as to approach the status of a mannerism," though it is a probable phenomenon in heroic couplets generally." 10. But lines like the following from Dryden, Drown'din th abyss of deep idolatry (Hind and the Panther, II, 633) where actual voiced elision is unavoidable because the trisyllable occurs after a trochee, are rare in Pope, if they exist at all, and are rare in good eighteenth- century poetry generally. 11. See Root, p. 41. 12. Pope also objects in his letter on prosody to the Alexandrine, but it is of comparatively little significance in his verse, appearing with noticeable fre- quency only in the Homer. See Adler, "Pope and the Rules of Prosody," pp. 222-223; also Tillotson, pp. 105-112. THE PATTERN IN GENERAL or without, as in Pope's Of twelve vast French Romances, neatly gilt. (Rape of the Lock, II, 38) 3. Feet which would be trisyllabic if pronounced in full are ac- ceptable only if they are capable of reduction to dissyllables by elision." This elision could be of three types: either the dropping of a vowel before a liquid or nasal (syncope), as in Pope's Explores the lost, the wand'ring Sheep directs; (Messiah, 51). or the joining together of two vowels in one sound (synaeresis), as in Pope's Asleep and naked as an Indian lay, (Moral Essays, III, 361) sometimes in a fashion very difficult to elide: Kind, virtuous drops just gath'ring in my eye; (Eloisa, 278) or the dropping of a final vowel before an initial vowel (apocope), in Pope limited almost entirely to the and (less frequently) to, as in Yet never pass th'insuperable line, (E. on M., I, 228) A work t'outlast Immortal Rome design'd. (E. on C., 131) 4. Light feet-that is, feet where there must be a metrical accent though there would be little or no prose accent-are acceptable, as in Pope's The various Off'rings of the World appear. (Rape of the Lock, I, 130) As in this case, such a foot in Pope is likely to occur near the middle of the line, and is particularly likely to be split by the pause, so that the "broken light third foot" occurs with sufficient frequency in Pope as to approach the status of a mannerism," though it is a probable phenomenon in heroic couplets generally." 10. But lines like the following from Dryden, Drown'din th abyss of deep idolatry (Hind and the Panther, II, 633) where actual voiced elision is unavoidable because the trisyllable occurs after a trochee, are rare in Pope, if they exist at all, and are rare in good eighteenth- century poetry generally. 11. See Root, p. 41. 12. Pope also objects in his letter on prosody to the Alexandrine, but it is of comparatively little significance in his verse, appearing with noticeable fre- quency only in the Homer. See Adler, "Pope and the Rules of Prosody," pp. 222-223; also Tillotson, pp. 105-112.  THE REACH OF ART . Pope's practice regarding strictly metrical matters varied con- siderably from poem to poem. The initial trochee, for example, occurs in fewer than one line in ten in Winter, in more than one in four in the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, with the later poems using them more frequently, in a very irregular pro- gression. Elision by apocope occurs more frequently in more formal poems. Pope seldom employed medial trochees, but he certainly did not avoid them altogether, and apparently felt free to use them for "representative" purposes; and lines occasionally occur where no more than two feet" are iambic, or where the iambic is obscured by the complications of elisions: Aid the fleet Shades glide o'r tie dusky Green, (Autumn, 64) Glance on the stone where our cold reliques lie, (Eloisa, 356) Some emanation of th'all-beauteous mind. (Eloisa. 62) In the last instance, the necessity of reading the third and fourth feet as either a light foot plus an iamb or as a pyrrhic plus a spondee adds to the difficulty. Such instances are, of course, exceptional. Among the more acceptable variants from pure iambic monotony, Pope felt completely at home; and his use of them was full, fre- quent, and various. Two other elements of verse technique loosely related to metrics are, first, the couplet as a unit of thought, and of grammar, as op- posed to the open series of lines, tending toward the freedom of blank verse, with rime less functional and more incidental; and, second, the matter of end-stopped as opposed to run-on lines within the couplet itself. The tendency in Pope's day was certainly toward maintaining the integrity of both line and couplet, though the variety of opinion was again wider than is usually remembered. Pope apparently made no mention of the subject; and Lord Kames' later view of it probably comes as close as any to Pope's actual practice: "there ought always to be some pause in the sense at the end of every couplet; the same period as to sense may be extended through several couplets; but each couplet ought to contain a dis- tinct member, distinguished by a pause in the sense as well as in the sound; and the whole ought to be closed with a complete ca- dence."" Lord Kames adds elsewhere that this pause may be no 13. Or even one. See p. 32, below. 14. Kames, p. 316. 10 THE REACH OF ART . Pope's practice regarding strictly metrical matters varied con- siderably from poem to poem. The initial trochee, for example, occurs in fewer than one line in ten in Winter, in more than one in four in the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, with the later poems using them more frequently, in a very irregular pro- gression. Elision by apocope occurs more frequently in more formal poems. Pope seldom employed medial trochees, but he certainly did not avoid them altogether, and apparently felt free to use them for "representative" purposes; and lines occasionally occur where no more than two feet"3 are iambic, or where the iambic is obscured by the complications of elisions: And the fleet Shades glide oer the dusky Green, (Autumn, 64) Glance on the stone where our cold reiques lie, (Eloisa, 356) Some emanation of th'all-beauteous mind. (Eloisa. 62) In the last instance, the necessity of reading the third and fourth feet as either a light foot plus an iamb or as a pyrrhic plus a spondee adds to the difficulty. Such instances are, of course, exceptional. Among the more acceptable variants from pure iambic monotony, Pope felt completely at home; and his use of them was full, fre- quent, and various. Two other elements of verse technique loosely related to metrics are, first, the couplet as a unit of thought, and of grammar, as op- posed to the open series of lines, tending toward the freedom of blank verse, with rime less functional and more incidental; and, second, the matter of end-stopped as opposed to run-on lines within the couplet itself. The tendency in Pope's day was certainly toward maintaining the integrity of both line and couplet, though the variety of opinion was again wider than is usually remembered. Pope apparently made no mention of the subject; and Lord Kames' later view of it probably comes as close as any to Pope's actual practice: "there ought always to be some pause in the sense at the end of every couplet; the same period as to sense may be extended through several couplets; but each couplet ought to contain a dis- tinct member, distinguished by a pause in the sense as well as in the sound; and the whole ought to be closed with a complete ca- dence."' Lord Kames adds elsewhere that this pause may be no 13. Or even one. See p. 32, below. 14. Kanes, p. 316. 10 THE REACH OF ART. Pope's practice regarding strictly metrical matters varied con- siderably from poem to poem. The initial trochee, for example, occurs in fewer than one line in ten in Winter, in more than one in four in the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, with the later poems using them more frequently, in a very irregular pro- gression. Elision by apocope occurs more frequently in more formal poems. Pope seldom employed medial trochees, but he certainly did not avoid them altogether, and apparently felt free to use them for "representative" purposes; and lines occasionally occur where no more than two feeta are iambic, or where the iambic is obscured by the complications of elisions: And the fleet Shades glide orr tle dusky Green, (Autumn, 64) Glance on the stone where our cold reliques lie, (Eloisa, 356) Some emanation of th'all-beauteous mind. (Eloisa. 62) In the last instance, the necessity of reading the third and fourth feet as either a light foot plus an iamb or as a pyrrhic plus a spondee adds to the difficulty. Such instances are, of course, exceptional. Among the more acceptable variants from pure iambic monotony, Pope felt completely at home; and his use of them was full, fre- quent, and various. Two other elements of verse technique loosely related to metrics are, first, the couplet as a unit of thought, and of grammar, as op- posed to the open series of lines, tending toward the freedom of blank verse, with rime less functional and more incidental; and, second, the matter of end-stopped as opposed to run-on lines within the couplet itself. The tendency in Pope's day was certainly toward maintaining the integrity of both line and couplet, though the variety of opinion was again wider than is usually remembered. Pope apparently made no mention of the subject; and Lord Kames' later view of it probably comes as close as any to Pope's actual practice: "there ought always to be some pause in the sense at the end of every couplet; the same period as to sense may be extended through several couplets; but each couplet ought to contain a dis- tinct member, distinguished by a pause in the sense as well as in the sound; and the whole ought to be closed with a complete ca- dence."" Lord Kames adds elsewhere that this pause may be no 13. Or even one. See p. 32, below. 14. Kanes, p. 316. 10  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL more than that of a comma." These requirements may be illus- trated by hundreds of passages from Pope; for instance, the famous "poor Indian" passage, An Essay on Man, I, 99-108. And Lord Kames correctly found that Pope seldom transgressed this not very rigid rule. Instances do occur, however, such as a well-known passage from the Messiah: No more the rising sun shall gild the Morn, Nor Evening Cynthia fill her silver Horn, But lost, dissolv'd in thy superior Rays; One Tyde of Glory, one unclouded Blaze, O'erflow thy Courts. (99-103)" Here the unusual overflow of couplet "represents" the meaning. Other instances, however, are without such a purpose, for example: Descends Minerva, in her guardian care, A heav'nly witness of the wrongs I bear From Atreus' son? (Iliad, I, 269-271)" Within the couplet structure itself, a certain degree of run-on is common in Pope; and run-on beyond the possibility of even the slightest pause is less frequent but not really rare. All degrees occur; from complete end-stopping in such a couplet as Know, Nature's children all divide her care; The fur that warms a monarch, warm'd a bear, (E. on M., III, 43-44) to the almost equally complete pause, in spite of a mere comma, in a couplet where the second line is dependent on the first: Back to their caves she bade the winds to fly, And hush'd the blust'ring Brethren of the Sky, (Odyssey, V, 490-491) to the slightly lesser pause in a couplet where the first line is de- pendent on the second: Tho' cold like you, unmov'd, and silent grown, I have not yet forgot my self to stone; (Eloisa, 23-24) 15. Kames, p. 306. 16. Tw. regularly uses the punctuation of the 1st ed. of each poem. In this case (the semicolon in 1. 100), and in many others, some of which will be noted, this punctuation obscures the metrical pattern and may even be impossible grammatically. I have followed the Tw. punctuation and initial capitalization; but I have omitted the Tw. italics, since I shall want to italicize parts of quotations (and occasionally capitalize whole words) for my own purposes. 17. See also p. 36, below. 11 more than that of a comma. These requirements may be illus- trated by hundreds of passages from Pope; for instance, the famous "poor Indian" passage, An Essay on Man, I, 99-108. And Lord Kames correctly found that Pope seldom transgressed this not very rigid rule. Instances do occur, however, such as a well-known passage from the Messiah: No more the rising sun shall gild the Morn, Nor Evening Cynthia fill her silver Horn, But lost, dissolv'd in thy superior Rays; One Tyde of Glory, one unclouded Blaze, O'erflow thy Courts. (99-103)" Here the unusual overflow of couplet "represents" the meaning. Other instances, however, are without such a purpose, for example: Descends Minerva, in her guardian care, A heav'nly witness of the wrongs I bear From Atreus' son? (Iliad, I, 269-271)" Within the couplet structure itself, a certain degree of run-on is common in Pope; and run-on beyond the possibility of even the slightest pause is less frequent but not really rare. All degrees occur; from complete end-stopping in such a couplet as Know, Nature's children all divide her care; The fur that warms a monarch, warm'd a bear, (E. on M., III, 43-44) to the almost equally complete pause, in spite of a mere comma, in a couplet where the second line is dependent on the first: Back to their caves she bade the winds to fly, And hush'd the blust'ring Brethren of the Sky, (Odyssey, V, 490-491) to the slightly lesser pause in a couplet where the first line is de- pendent on the second: Tho' cold like you, unmov'd, and silent grown, I have not yet forgot my self to stone; (Eloisa, 23-24) 15. Kames, p. 306. 16. Tw. regularly uses the punctuation of the 1st ed. of each poem. In this case (the semicolon in 1. 100), and in many others, some of which will be noted, this punctuation obscures the metrical pattern and may even be impossible grammatically. I have followed the Tw. punctuation and initial capitalization; but I have omitted the Tw. italics, since I shall want to italicize parts of quotations (and occasionally capitalize whole words) for my own purposes. 17. See also p. 36, below. 11 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL more than that of a comma. ' These requirements may be illus- trated by hundreds of passages from Pope; for instance, the famous "poor Indian" passage, An Essay on Man, I, 99-108. And Lord Kames correctly found that Pope seldom transgressed this not very rigid rule. Instances do occur, however, such as a well-known passage from the Messiah: No more the rising sun shall gild the Morn, Nor Evening Cynthia fill her silver Horn, But lost, dissolv'd in thy superior Rays; One Tyde of Glory, one unclouded Blaze, O'erflow thy Courts. (99-103)16 Here the unusual overflow of couplet "represents" the meaning. Other instances, however, are without such a purpose, for example: Descends Minerva, in her guardian care, A heav'nly witness of the wrongs I bear From Atreus' son? (Iliad, I, 269-271)" Within the couplet structure itself, a certain degree of run-on is common in Pope; and run-on beyond the possibility of even the slightest pause is less frequent but not really rare. All degrees occur; from complete end-stopping in such a couplet as Know, Nature's children all divide her care; The fur that warms a monarch, warm'd a bear, (E. on M., III, 43-44) to the almost equally complete pause, in spite of a mere comma, in a couplet where the second line is dependent on the first: Back to their caves she bade the winds to fly, And hush'd the blust'ring Brethren of the Sky, (Odyssey, V, 490-491) to the slightly lesser pause in a couplet where the first line is de- pendent on the second: Tho' cold like you, unmov'd, and silent grown, I have not yet forgot my self to stone; (Eloisa, 23-24) 15. Kames, p. 306. 16. Tw. regularly uses the punctuation of the 1st ed. of each poem. In this case (the semicolon in 1. 100), and in many others, some of which will be noted, this punctuation obscures the metrical pattern and may even be impossible grammatically. I have followed the Tw. punctuation and initial capitalization; but I have omitted the Tw. italics, since I shall want to italicize parts of quotations (and occasionally capitalize whole words) for my own purposes. 17. See also p. 36, below. 11  THE REACH OF ART to a couplet where a pause seems possible even though the sense runs on uninterrupted: Relentless walls! whose darksom round contains Repentant sighs, and voluntary pains, (Eloisa, 17-18) to such completely run-on lines as On some, a Priest succinct in amice white Attends; all flesh is nothing in his sight! (Dunciad, IV, 549-550) On shining Altars of Japan they raise The silver Lamp; the fiery Spirits blaze, (Rape of the Lock, III, 107-108) or even From great Assaracus sprung Capys, he Begat Anchises, and Anchises me. (Iliad, XX, 288-289) II To turn from those elements of prosodic technique concerned with metrics to those concerned with words as words, is to turn from a group with fairly definite boundaries to a miscellany with no clearly definable limits whatever. While rhetorical devices, for example, were certainly considered a part of poetry by the Augus- tans, and indeed as a part having to do with "style," they are not usually considered an element of versification. Yet it is not only true that the couplet encourages certain rhetorical methods such as antithesis, but it is also true that the use of certain such methods adds a tone and texture which is as much a part of sound as of sense. Pope himself mentions techniques regarding words, and it is clear that to him they concern versification. In both his letter on prosody and An Essay on Criticism he objected to the use of verbal expletives to fill out the pentameter line. Such practice was fre- quent in the Restoration, but fell largely out of use in the new century. Verbal expletives are extremely rare in Pope.'? On the other hand, Pope has been accused by Saintsbury and others of using superfluous adjectives to fill out lines. Such a charge is occasionally justified, especially in his earlier work" Yet the effect 18. But they were not excised from the early poems till the 1717 ed. See Tw., , 199, and Tillotson, pp. 121-123. See also Tillotson, pp. 91-92, for an example of a purposeful verbal expletive in the Epistle to Augustus. 19. See p. 39, below. Pope himself objected to superfluous epithets in The Art of Sinking in Poetry, but praised the use of epithets for heightening style in the Postscript to Odyssey. 12 THE REACH OF ART to a couplet where a pause seems possible even though the sense runs on uninterrupted: Relentless walls! whose darksom round contains Repentant sighs, and voluntary pains, (Eloisa, 17-18) to such completely run-on lines as On some, a Priest succinct in amice white Attends; all flesh is nothing in his sight! (Dunciad, IV, 549-550) On shining Altars of Japan they raise The silver Lamp; the fiery Spirits blaze, (Rape of the Lock, III, 107-108) or even From great Assaracus sprung Capys, he Begat Anchises, and Anchises me. (Iliad, XX, 288-289) II To turn from those elements of prosodic technique concerned with metrics to those concerned with words as words, is to turn from a group with fairly definite boundaries to a miscellany with no clearly definable limits whatever. While rhetorical devices, for example, were certainly considered a part of poetry by the Augus- tans, and indeed as a part having to do with "style," they are not usually considered an element of versification. Yet it is not only true that the couplet encourages certain rhetorical methods such as antithesis, but it is also true that the use of certain such methods adds a tone and texture which is as much a part of sound as of sense. Pope himself mentions techniques regarding words, and it is clear that to him they concern versification. In both his letter on prosody and An Essay on Criticism he objected to the use of verbal expletives to fill out the pentameter line. Such practice was fre- quent in the Restoration, but fell largely out of use in the new century. Verbal expletives are extremely rare in Pope.?' On the other hand, Pope has been accused by Saintsbury and others of using superfluous adjectives to fill out lines. Such a charge is occasionally justified, especially in his earlier work? Yet the effect 18. But they were not excised from the early poems till the 1717 ed. See Tw., I, 199, and Tillotson, pp. 121-123. See also Tillotson, pp. 91-92, for an example of a purposeful verbal expletive in the Epistle to Augustus. 19. See p. 39, below. Pope himself objected to superfluous epithets in The Art of Sinking in Poetry, but praised the use of epithets for heightening style in the Postscript to Odyssey. 12 THE REACH OF ART to a couplet where a pause seems possible even though the sense runs on uninterrupted: Relentless walls! whose darksom round contains Repentant sighs, and voluntary pains, (Eloisa, 17-18) to such completely run-on lines as On some, a Priest succinct in amice white Attends; all flesh is nothing in his sight! (Dunciad, IV, 549-550) On shining Altars of Japan they raise The silver Lamp; the fiery Spirits blaze, (Rape of the Lock, III, 107-108) or even From great Assaracus sprung Capys, he Begat Anchises, and Anchises me. (Iliad, XX, 288-289) II To turn from those elements of prosodic technique concerned with metrics to those concerned with words as words, is to turn from a group with fairly definite boundaries to a miscellany with no clearly definable limits whatever. While rhetorical devices, for example, were certainly considered a part of poetry by the Augus- tans, and indeed as a part having to do with "style," they are not usually considered an element of versification. Yet it is not only true that the couplet encourages certain rhetorical methods such as antithesis, but it is also true that the use of certain such methods adds a tone and texture which is as much a part of sound as of sense. Pope himself mentions techniques regarding words, and it is clear that to him they concern versification. In both his letter on prosody and An Essay on Criticism he objected to the use of verbal expletives to fill out the pentameter line. Such practice was fre- quent in the Restoration, but fell largely out of use in the new century. Verbal expletives are extremely rare in Pope." On the other hand, Pope has been accused by Saintsbury and others of using superfluous adjectives to fill out lines. Such a charge is occasionally justified, especially in his earlier work." Yet the effect 18. But they were not excised from the early poems till the 1717 ed. See Tw., L, 199, and Tillotson, pp. 121-123. See also Tillotson, pp. 91-92, for an example of a purposeful verbal expletive in the Epistle to Augustus. 19. See p. 39, below. Pope himself objected to superfluous epithets in The Art of Sinking in Poetry, but praised the use of epithets for heightening style in the Postscript to Odyssey. 12  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL of this failing in Pope's versification as a whole is very small. To be noticeable, and therefore objectionable, epithets must be both frequent and either maladroit or unnecessary. Saintsbury finds the epithets in The Rape of the Lock frequent, as they undeniably are; but they are nearly always remarkably apt, and their somewhat obvious effect, their patness, seems both intended and effective. The use of the obvious and overfluent is one of the principal methods in The Rape of the Lock, displayed through numerous effects with delightful results. In his letter on prosody, Pope remarks that "monosyllable lines, unless very artfully managed, are stiff, languishing, and hard," adding in the letter to Walsh that they "may be beautiful to express melancholy, slowness, or labour." And in An Essay on Criticism he makes the same objection by exemplifying it: And ten low Words oft creep in one dull Line. (147) No one needs to be told that when it came to such effects Pope was a wickedly clever technician; and here he succeeds as usual in weight- ing the scale in favor of his argument. Eight of the ten words receive almost equal emphasis, and there is practically no grouping: two circumstances not quite ordinary in monosyllabic lines, where distinct groupings usually occur in unequal arrangements, and the words have quite unequal emphasis-more unequal than the varieties of print can show: And NOW TWO NIGHTS, and NOW TWO DAYS were PAST, (Odyssey, V, 496) SEAS ROLL to WAFT me, SUNS to LIGHT me RISE. (E. on M., I, 139) It is doubtful that anyone would remark the monosyllabic quality of such lines as these in ordinary reading. By the time of the revised letter on prosody Pope apparently felt that monosyllabic lines could express an andante movement suc- cessfully. And so they can. There is an instance in the Messiah: And the same Hand that sow'd, shall reap the Field, (66) a slow line, and mildly expressive of "labour." An attempt to ex- press even the absence of motion is found in a line from Eloisa, the quietly lovely Still as the sea, ere winds were taught to blow; (253) 13 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL of this failing in Pope's versification as a whole is very small. To be noticeable, and therefore objectionable, epithets must be both frequent and either maladroit or unnecessary. Saintsbury finds the epithets in The Rape of the Lock frequent, as they undeniably are; but they are nearly always remarkably apt, and their somewhat obvious effect, their patness, seems both intended and effective. The use of the obvious and overfluent is one of the principal methods in The Rape of the Lock, displayed through numerous effects with delightful results. In his letter on prosody, Pope remarks that "monosyllable lines, unless very artfully managed, are stiff, languishing, and hard," adding in the letter to Walsh that they "may be beautiful to express melancholy, slowness, or labour." And in An Essay on Criticism he makes the same objection by exemplifying it: And ten low Words oft creep in one dull Line. (347) No one needs to be told that when it came to such effects Pope was a wickedly clever technician; and here he succeeds as usual in weight- ing the scale in favor of his argument. Eight of the ten words receive almost equal emphasis, and there is practically no grouping: two circumstances not quite ordinary in monosyllabic lines, where distinct groupings usually occur in unequal arrangements, and the words have quite unequal emphasis-more unequal than the varieties of print can show: And NOW TWO NIGHTS, and NOW TWO DAYS were PAST, (Odyssey, V, 496) SEAS ROLL to WAFT me, SUNS to LIGHT me RISE. (E. on M., I, 139) It is doubtful that anyone would remark the monosyllabic quality of such lines as these in ordinary reading. By the time of the revised letter on prosody Pope apparently felt that monosyllabic lines could express an andante movement suc- cessfully. And so they can. There is an instance in the Messiah: And the same Hand that sow'd, shall reap the Field, (66) a slow line, and mildly expressive of "labour." An attempt to ex- press even the absence of motion is found in a line from Eloisa, the quietly lovely Still as the sea, ere winds were taught to blow; (253) 13 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL of this failing in Pope's versification as a whole is very small. To be noticeable, and therefore objectionable; epithets must be both frequent and either maladroit or unnecessary. Saintsbury finds the epithets in The Rape of the Lock frequent, as they undeniably are; but they are nearly always remarkably apt, and their somewhat obvious effect, their patness, seems both intended and effective. The use of the obvious and overfluent is one of the principal methods in The Rape of the Lock, displayed through numerous effects with delightful results. In his letter on prosody, Pope remarks that "monosyllable lines, unless very artfully managed, are stiff, languishing, and hard," adding in the letter to Walsh that they "may be beautiful to express melancholy, slowness, or labour." And in An Essay on Criticism he makes the same objection by exemplifying it: And ten low Words oft creep in one dull Line. (347) No one needs to be told that when it came to such effects Pope was a wickedly clever technician; and here he succeeds as usual in weight- ing the scale in favor of his argument. Eight of the ten words receive almost equal emphasis, and there is practically no grouping: two circumstances not quite ordinary in monosyllabic lines, where distinct groupings usually occur in unequal arrangements, and the words have quite unequal emphasis-more unequal than the varieties of print can show: And NOW TWO NIGHTS, and NOW TWO DAYS were PAST, (Odyssey, V, 496) SEAS ROLL to WAFT me, SUNS to LIGHT me RISE. (E. on M., I, 139) It is doubtful that anyone would remark the monosyllabic quality of such lines as these in ordinary reading. By the time of the revised letter on prosody Pope apparently felt that monosyllabic lines could express an andante movement suc- cessfully. And so they can. There is an instance in the Messiah: And the same Hand that sow'd, shall reap the Field, (66) a slow line, and mildly expressive of "labour." An attempt to ex- press even the absence of motion is found in a line from Eloisa, the quietly lovely Still as the sea, ere winds were taught to blow; (253) 13  THE REACH OF ART while the same poem offers several monosyllabic lines with "melan- choly" effect. Yet instances of such effects are not easy to find; and they illus- trate rather the patent fact that a line of slow or solemn import may be sounded slowly with greater ease if it consists of mono- syllables, than that the monosyllables enforce a slow reading. In other words, the sense dominates the sound; and it is more possible, when the sense demands it, to linger over a monosyllable than over an unaccented syllable of a longer word. It is true that spondees are slow, and that most spondees consist of monosyllables; hence the inherent slowness of a line from Eloisa to A belard which is beautifully representative of stillness even though it contains a dissyllable: Thy life a long, dead calm of fi'd repose. (251) Also, monosyllables may cause a huddling together of consonants, and the resulting difficulty in pronunciation will enforce slowness, as in the famous "Ajax" line-not entirely monosyllabic-or as in the last of the accurately contrasted halves of this line from The Dunciad: Intoxicates the pert, and lulls the grave. (II, 344) In the last two examples, still a third element enters into the lingering quality: the long vowels. And all three-spondees, diffi- cult consonants, long vowels-conspire to make the following line from An Essay on Man slow: v 'ill tird he sleeps, and Life's poor pay is o'er. (II, 282) But another line from An Essay on Man should quickly dispel any illusion that the slowness of a monosyllabic line is inevitable: Ask where's the North? at York, 'tis on the Tweed. (II, 222) Indeed, swift or merely neutral monosyllabic lines are far more plentiful in Pope than slow-and monosyllabic lines are plentiful, ranging from 1 per cent of the lines in some of the early pastorals to 8 per cent in Eloisa and Arbuthnot. They often provide a welcome simplicity: To read and weep is all they now can do, (Eloisa, 48) Thus wilt thou leave me, are we thus to part? (Odyssey, V, 260) But the word order and word choice play a significant part in this 14 THE REACH OF ART while the same poem offers several monosyllabic lines with "melan- choly" effect. Yet instances of such effects are not easy to find; and they illus- trate rather the patent fact that a line of slow or solemn import may be sounded slowly with greater ease if it consists of mono- syllables, than that the monosyllables enforce a slow reading. In other words, the sense dominates the sound; and it is more possible, when the sense demands it, to linger over a monosyllable than over an unaccented syllable of a longer word. It is true that spondees are slow, and that most spondees consist of monosyllables; hence the inherent slowness of a line from Eloisa to A belard which is beautifully representative of stillness even though it contains a dissyllable: Thy life a long, dead calm of fi'd repos'e. (251) Also, monosyllables may cause a huddling together of consonants, and the resulting difficulty in pronunciation will enforce slowness, as in the famous "Ajax" line-not entirely monosyllabic-or as in the last of the accurately contrasted halves of this line from The Dunciad: Intoxicates the pert, and lulls the grave. (II, 344) In the last two examples, still a third element enters into the lingering quality: the long vowels. And all three-spondees, diffi- cult consonants, long vowels-conspire to make the following line from An Essay on Man slow: 'Till tir'd he sleeps, and Life's poor pfay is o'er. (II, 282) But another line from An Essay on Man should quickly dispel any illusion that the slowness of a monosyllabic line is inevitable: Ask where's the North? at York, 'tis on the Tweed. (II, 222) Indeed, swift or merely neutral monosyllabic lines are far more plentiful in Pope than slow-and monosyllabic lines are plentiful, ranging from 1 per cent of the lines in some of the early pastorals to 8 per cent in Eloisa and Arbuthnot. They often provide a welcome simplicity: To read and weep is all they now can do, (Eloisa, 48) Thus wilt thou leave me, are we thus to part? (Odyssey, V, 260) But the word order and word choice play a significant part in this 14 THE REACH OF ART while the same poem offers several monosyllabic lines with "melan- choly" effect. Yet instances of such effects are not easy to find; and they illus- trate rather the patent fact that a line of slow or solemn import may be sounded slowly with greater ease if it consists of mono- syllables, than that the monosyllables enforce a slow reading. In other words, the sense dominates the sound; and it is more possible, when the sense demands it, to linger over a monosyllable than over an unaccented syllable of a longer word. It is true that spondees are slow, and that most spondees consist of monosyllables; hence the inherent slowness of a line from Eloisa to A belard which is beautifully representative of stillness even though it contains a dissyllable: Thy life a long, dead calm of fis'd repose. (251) Also, monosyllables may cause a huddling together of consonants, and the resulting difficulty in pronunciation will enforce slowness, as in the famous "Ajax" line-not entirely monosyllabic-or as in the last of the accurately contrasted halves of this line from The Dunciad: Intoxicates the pert, and lulls the grave. (II, 344) In the last two examples, still a third element enters into the lingering quality: the long vowels. And all three-spondees, diffi- cult consonants, long vowels-conspire to make the following line from An Essay on Man slow: '"ill tir'd he sleeps, and Life's poor play is o'er. (II, 282) But another line from An Essay on Man should quickly dispel any illusion that the slowness of a monosyllabic line is inevitable: Ask where's the North? at York, 'tis on the Tweed. (II, 222) Indeed, swift or merely neutral monosyllabic lines are far more plentiful in Pope than slow-and monosyllabic lines are plentiful, ranging from 1 per cent of the lines in some of the early pastorals to 8 per cent in Eloisa and Arbuthnot. They often provide a welcome simplicity: To read and weep is all they now can do, (Eloisa, 48) Thus wilt thou leave me, are we thus to part? (Odyssey, V, 260) But the word order and word choice play a significant part in this 14  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL effect, and lines not entirely composed of monosyllables can be equally simple: I waste the Matin lamp in sighs for thee, (Eloisa, 267) He has a father too; a man like me. (Iliad, XXII, 536) Monosyllabic lines may also be used for a sense of the solemn and permanent: Ev'n by that God I swear, who rules the day, (Iliad, I, 109)20 Fix'd is the term to all the race of earth. (Iliad, VI, 628). And while in this case too one dissyllable may appear: His are the laws, and him let all obey, (Iliad, II, 244) there is a manifest difference between this sort of line and the more aphoristic, even somewhat glib sort for which Pope has remained best known: For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread, (E. on C., 625) The proper study of Mankind is Man. (E. on M., II, 2) But perhaps the most interesting, if rare, use of the monosyllabic line as a special type is to display a controlled anger: Glad of a quarrel, strait I clap the door, Sir, let me see your works and you no more. (Arbuthnot, 67-69) ~ Here the separateness of each word aids in conveying a kind of slow, contemptuous fury which the intrusion of even a dissyllable would spoil. In general, however, Pope's monosyllabic lines are not noticeably different from his other lines, though they doubtless contribute to an effect of the easy and (when appropriate) the conversational. In both versions of his letter on prosody, Pope modified his state- ment with the phrase "unless very artfully managed." There is every reason to believe that he thought himself capable of a man- agement thoroughly artful." 20. In this study I have considered words on the pattern of een and heaven as monosyllables, because Pope and other eighteenth-century poets freely use them as rimes in poems where no feminine rimes appear unless they them- selves be considered so; and because they seem never to be used as dissyllables to occupy a foot. For similar reasons, and because they are used to rime with pure monosyllables, I have considered words on the pattern of prayer and flower as invariably monosyllabic. 21. It is generally true in Pope that more monosyllables occur in poems involving conversation and in poems of lower style. Thus Eloisa to Abelard has 6.32 monosyllables per line; the First Satire of the Second Book, 6.33; the 15 THE PATrERN IN GENERAL effect, and lines not entirely composed of monosyllables can be equally simple: I waste the Matin lamp in sighs for thee, (Eloisa, 267) He has a father too; a man like me. (Iliad, XXII, 516) Monosyllabic lines may also be used for a sense of the solemn and permanent: Ev'n by that God I swear, who rules the day, (Iliad, I, 109)2° Fix'd is the term to all the race of earth. (Iliad, VI, 628) And while in this case too one dissyllable may appear: His are the laws, and him let all obey, (Iliad, II, 244) there is a manifest difference between this sort of line and the more aphoristic, even somewhat glib sort for which Pope has remained best known: For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread, (E. on C., 625) The proper study of Mankind is Man. (E. on M., II, 2) But perhaps the most interesting, if rare, use of the monosyllabic line as a special type is to display a controlled anger: Glad of a quarrel, strait I clap the door, Sir, let me see your works and you no more. (Arbuthnot, 67-69) st Here the separateness of each word aids in conveying a kind of slow, contemptuous fury which the intrusion of even a dissyllable would spoil. In general, however, Pope's monosyllabic lines are not noticeably different from his other lines, though they doubtless contribute to an effect of the easy and (when appropriate) the conversational. In both versions of his letter on prosody, Pope modified his state- ment with the phrase "unless very artfully managed." There is every reason to believe that he thought himself capable of a man- agement thoroughly artful.21 20. In this study I have considered words on the pattern of een and heaven as monosyllables, because Pope and other eighteenth-century poets freely use them as rimes in poems where no feminine rimes appear unless they them- selves be considered so; and because they seem never to be used as dissyllables to occupy a foot. For similar reasons, and because they are used to rime with pure monosyllables, I have considered words on the pattern of prayer and ftower as invariably monosyllabic. 21. It is generally true in Pope that more monosyllables occur in poems involving conversation and in poems of lower style. Thus Eloisa to Abelard has 6.32 monosyllables per line; the First Satire of the Second Book, 6.33; the 15 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL effect, and lines not entirely composed of monosyllables can be equally simple: I waste the Matin lamp in sighs for thee, (Eloisa, 267) He has a father too; a man like me. (Iliad, XXII, 536) Monosyllabic lines may also be used for a sense of the solemn and permanent: Ev'n by that God I swear, who rules the day, (Iliad, I, 109)20 Fix'd is the term to all the race of earth. (Iliad, VI, 628) And while in this case too one dissyllable may appear: His are the laws, and him let all obey, (Iliad, II, 244) there is a manifest difference between this sort of line and the more aphoristic, even somewhat glib sort for which Pope has remained best known: For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread, (E. on C., 625) The proper study of Mankind is Man. (E. on M., II, 2) But perhaps the most interesting, if rare, use of the monosyllabic line as a special type is to display a controlled anger: Glad of a quarrel, strait I clap the door, Sir, let me see your works and you no more. (Arbuthnot, 67-69) ~ Here the separateness of each word aids in conveying a kind of slow, contemptuous fury which the intrusion of even a dissyllable would spoil. In general, however, Pope's monosyllabic lines are not noticeably different from his other lines, though they doubtless contribute to an effect of the easy and (when appropriate) the conversational.v In both versions of his letter on prosody, Pope modified his state- ment with the phrase "unless very artfully managed." There is every reason to believe that he thought himself capable of a man- agement thoroughly artful."t 20. In this study I have considered words on the pattern of een and heaven as monosyllables, because Pope and other eighteenth-century poets freely use them as rimes in poems where no feminine rimes appear unless they them- selves be considered so; and because they seem never to be used as dissyllables to occupy a foot. For similar reasons, and because they are used to rime with pure monosyllables, I have considered words on the pattern of prayer and flower as invariably monosyllabic. 21. It is generally true in Pope that more monosyllables occur in poems involving conversation and in poems of lower style. Thus Eloisa to Abelard has 6.32 monosyllables per line; the First Satire of the Second Book, 6.33; the 15  THE REACH OF ART Pope's objection to monosyllabic lines represents one aspect of the eighteenth-century fear of the low, which also expresses itself in use of rhetorical devices, foreign constructions, and "poetic diction." Pope's views in this area are rather liberal. In the Postscript to the Odyssey he declares himself opposed to artificial word order, "sudden abruptnesses," "frequent turnings and transpo- sitions"; he objects to the extreme imitations of Milton's style; and it is easy to illustrate out of the Postscript, The Art of Sinking in Poetry, and Spence's Anecdotes his belief that any one style grows monotonous, and that the style must be varied-high style, middle style, low style-to suit the material. Nevertheless, Pope uses rhetorical devices constantly. In his works, those devices which occur frequently and generally, and which have an actual, palpable effect upon versification," include exclamation, apostrophe, interrogation, and rhetorical repetition and antithesis. So far as sound effect is concerned, apostrophe, usually exclamatory, may be considered a part of exclamation. The quality of utterance which the two demand is manifestly different from that of simple statement; and the same may be said for in- terrogation. The three can be illustrated in a single couplet: Come Abelard! for what hast thou to dread? The torch of Venus burns not for the dead. (Eloisa, 257-258) The contrast is plain; and if interrogation, for instance," occurs Epistle to Arbuthnot, 6.37. Compare Windsor-Forest with 5.63; Messiah, 5.64; An Essay on Criticism, 5.70; The Dunciad, 5.71; The Rape of the Lock, 5.92; An Essay on Man, 6.00. Pope used polysyllables (i.e., words of four syllables or more, not reducible to less than four by elision) surprisingly little. The highest count is in Moral Essays, I, with occurrence in 7 per cent of the lines. The comparatively high rate in Eloisa and E. on M. (both 5 per cent) is explainable on the basis of Eloisa's learning (and her repetition of her polysyllabic name) and the nature of the material in the Essay; the figure of only 1 per cent for the four Pastorals accords with their "simple" speakers. Polysyllables in Pope occur generally in between 2 per cent and 3 per cent of the lines. 22. Other than inversion for which see below, pp. 21-22. For rhetorical repe- tition of sound, see below, p. 29. Other rhetorical devices which are especially characteristic of particular poems, such as parenthesis and anticlimax in The Rape of the Lock, are examined in the treatment of such poems later in this study. 23. Questions come many times in pairs: Is this a dinner? this a Genial room? (Moral Essays, IV, 155) 16 THE REACH OF ART Pope's objection to monosyllabic lines represents one aspect of the eighteenth-century fear of the low, which also expresses itself in use of rhetorical devices, foreign constructions, and "poetic diction." Pope's views in this area are rather liberal. In the Postscript to the Odyssey he declares himself opposed to artificial word order, "sudden abruptnesses," "frequent turnings and transpo- sitions"; he objects to the extreme imitations of Milton's style; and it is easy to illustrate out of the Postscript, The Art of Sinking in Poetry, and Spence's Anecdotes his belief that any one style grows monotonous, and that the style must be varied-high style, middle style, low style-to suit the material. Nevertheless, Pope uses rhetorical devices constantly. In his works, those devices which occur frequently and generally, and which have an actual, palpable effect upon versification," include exclamation, apostrophe, interrogation, and rhetorical repetition and antithesis. So far as sound effect is concerned, apostrophe, usually exclamatory, may be considered a part of exclamation. The quality of utterance which the two demand is manifestly different from that of simple statement; and the same may be said for in- terrogation. The three can be illustrated in a single couplet: Come Abelard! for what hast thou to dread? The torch of Venus burns not for the dead. (Eloisa, 257-258) The contrast is plain; and if interrogation, for instance,"' occurs Epistle to Arbuthnot, 6.37. Compare Windsor-Forest with 5.63; Messiah, 5.64; An Essay on Criticism, 5.70; The Dunciad, 5.71; The Rape of the Lock, 5.92; An Essay on Man, 6.00. Pope used polysyllables (i.e., words of four syllables or more, not reducible to less than four by elision) surprisingly little. The highest count is in Moral Essays, I, with occurrence in 7 per cent of the lines. The comparatively high rate in Eloisa and E. on M. (both 5 per cent) is explainable on the basis of Eloisa's learning (and her repetition of her polysyllabic namel) and the nature of the material in the Essay; the figure of only 1 per cent for the four Pastorals accords with their "simple" speakers. Polysyllables in Pope occur generally in between 2 per cent and 3 per cent of the lines. 22. Other than inversion for which see below, pp. 21-22. For rhetorical repe- tition of sound, see below, p. 29. Other rhetorical devices which are especially characteristic of particular poems, such as parenthesis and anticlimax in The Rape of the Lock, are examined in the treatment of such poems later in this study. 23. Questions come many times in pairs: Is this a dinner? this a Genial room? (Moral Essays, IV, 155) 16 THE REACH OF ART Pope's objection to monosyllabic lines represents one aspect of the eighteenth-century fear of the low, which also expresses itself in use of rhetorical devices, foreign constructions, and "poetic diction." Pope's views in this area are rather liberal. In the Postscript to the Odyssey he declares himself opposed to artificial word order, "sudden abruptnesses," "frequent turnings and transpo- sitions"; he objects to the extreme imitations of Milton's style; and it is easy to illustrate out of the Postscript, The Art of Sinking in Poetry, and Spence's Anecdotes his belief that any one style grows monotonous, and that the style must be varied-high style, middle style, low style-to suit the material. Nevertheless, Pope uses rhetorical devices constantly. In his works, those devices which occur frequently and generally, and which have an actual, palpable effect upon versification,ss include exclamation, apostrophe, interrogation, and rhetorical repetition and antithesis. So far as sound effect is concerned, apostrophe, usually exclamatory, may be considered a part of exclamation. The quality of utterance which the two demand is manifestly different from that of simple statement; and the same may be said for in- terrogation. The three can be illustrated in a single couplet: Come Abelardl for what hast thou to dread? The torch of Venus burns not for the dead. (Eloisa, 257-258) The contrast is plain; and if interrogation, for instance,"s occurs Epistle to Arbuthnot, 6.37. Compare Windsor-Forest with 5.63; Messiah, 5.64; An Essay on Criticism, 5.70; The Dunciad, 5.71; The Rape of the Lock, 5.92; An Essay on Man, 6.00. Pope used polysyllables (i.e., words of four syllables or more, not reducible to less than four by elision) surprisingly little. The highest count is in Moral Essays, I, with occurrence in 7 per cent of the lines. The comparatively high rate in Eloisa and E. on M. (both 5 per cent) is explainable on the basis of Eloisa's learning (and her repetition of her polysyllabic name!) and the nature of the material in the Essay; the figure of only 1 per cent for the four Pastorals accords with their "simple" speakers. Polysyllables in Pope occur generally in between 2 per cent and 3 per cent of the lines. 22. Other than inversion for which see below, pp. 21-22. For rhetorical repe- tition of sound, see below, p. 29. Other rhetorical devices which are especially characteristic of particular poems, such as parenthesis and anticlimax in The Rape of the Lock, are examined in the treatment of such poems later in this study. 23. Questions come many times in pairs: Is this a dinner? this a Genial room? (Moral Essays, IV, 155) 16  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL frequently throughout a poem, the tone of the poem must be affected. Exclamation and interrogation may also affect both the quality and the placement of the caesura: Without it, proud Versailles! thy glory falls, (Moral Essays, IV, 71) A Quaker? sly: A Presbyterian? sow'r, (Moral Essays, I, 108) Think we all these are for himself? no more Than his fine Wife, alas! or finer Whore. (Moral Essays, IV, I1-12) In some of the serious poems-Messiah, for instance-exclamation seems excessive, as if Pope were attempting to substitute for emotion instead of support it; and the tone becomes consequently a little shrill. In fact all three devices-exclamation, interrogation, apostrophe-are best where Pope himself is best: in satire. Rhetorical repetition is of the very fabric of neoclassic verse. A complete analysis of it in Pope would be a book in itself, and one is confronted with the problem of a reasonable yet adequate limi- tation. In this study the special devices of repetition referred to regularly by name will be confined to four; not because they are the only four which affect the prosody, but because they are the only four (other than simple parallelism and word repetition) which seem both sufficiently characteristic of Pope and sufficiently distinctive in pattern to be noticed throughout Pope's work by the careful nonprofessional reader. The four are: zeugma, anaph- ora, chiasmus, and (somewhat separate from the others) antithesis." The term zeugma is used in this study for any instance of one word serving several words, phrases, or clauses,n whether the usage is normal: And is this present, swineherd! of thy hand? Bring'st thou these vagrants to infest the land? (Odyssey, XVII, 450-451) Canst thou forget that sad, that solemn day, When victims at yon' altar's foot we lay? Canst thou forget what tears that moment fell, When, warm in youth, I bade the world farewell? (Eloisa, 107-110) 24. More detailed treatments of rhetorical devices in Pope are to be found elsewhere, e.g., Wimsatt's treatment in The Verbal Icon of chiasmus (pp. 162- 163) and zeugma (pp. 177-179). 25. This is substantially the first definition in N.E.D. 17 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL frequently throughout a poem, the tone of the poem must be affected. Exclamation and interrogation may also affect both the quality and the placement of the caesura: Without it, proud Versaillesl thy glory falls, (Moral Essays, IV, 71) A Quaker? sly: A Presbyterian? sow'r, (Moral Essays, I, 108) Think we all these are for himself? no more Than his fine Wife, alas! or finer Whore. (Moral Essays, IV, 11-12) In some of the serious poems-Messiah, for instance-exclamation seems excessive, as if Pope were attempting to substitute for emotion instead of support it; and the tone becomes consequently a little shrill. In fact all three devices-exclamation, interrogation, apostrophe-are best where Pope himself is best: in satire. Rhetorical repetition is of the very fabric of neoclassic verse. A complete analysis of it in Pope would be a book in itself, and one is confronted with the problem of a reasonable yet adequate limi- tation. In this study the special devices of repetition referred to regularly by name will be confined to four; not because they are the only four which affect the prosody, but because they are the only four (other than simple parallelism and word repetition) which seem both sufficiently characteristic of Pope and sufficiently distinctive in pattern to be noticed throughout Pope's work by the careful nonprofessional reader. The four are: zeugma, anaph- ora, chiasmus, and (somewhat separate from the others) antithesist The term zeugma is used in this study for any instance of one word serving several words, phrases, or clauses,n whether the usage is normal: And is this present, swineherdl of thy hand? Bring'st thou these vagrants to infest the land? (Odyssey, XVI, 450-451) Canst thou forget that sad, that solemn day, When victims at yon' altar's foot we lay? Canst thou forget what tears that moment fell, When, warm in youth, I bade the world farewell? (Eloisa, 107-110) 24. More detailed treatments of rhetorical devices in Pope are to be found elsewhere, e.g., Wimsatt's treatment in The Verbal Icon of chiasmus (pp. 162- 163) and zeugma (pp. 177-179). 25. This is substantially the first definition in N.E.D. 17 frequently throughout a poem, the tone of the poem must be affected. Exclamation and interrogation may also affect both the quality and the placement of the caesura: Without it, proud Versailles! thy glory falls, (Moral Essays, IV, 71) A Quaker? sly: A Presbyterian? sow'r, (Moral Essays, I, 108) Think we all these are for himself? no more Than his fine Wife, alas! or finer Whore. (Moral Essays, IV, 11-12) In some of the serious poems-Messiah, for instance-exclamation seems excessive, as if Pope were attempting to substitute for emotion instead of support it; and the tone becomes consequently a little shrill. In fact all three devices-exclamation, interrogation, apostrophe-are best where Pope himself is best: in satire. Rhetorical repetition is of the very fabric of neoclassic verse. A complete analysis of it in Pope would be a book in itself, and one is confronted with the problem of a reasonable yet adequate limi- tation. In this study the special devices of repetition referred to regularly by name will be confined to four; not because they are the only four which affect the prosody, but because they are the only four (other than simple parallelism and word repetition) which seem both sufficiently characteristic of Pope and sufficiently distinctive in pattern to be noticed throughout Pope's work by the careful nonprofessional reader. The four are: zeugma, anaph- ora, chiasmus, and (somewhat separate from the others) antithesis.u The term zeugma is used in this study for any instance of one word serving several words, phrases, or clauses," whether the usage is normal: And is this present, swineherdl of thy hand? Bring'st thou these vagrants to infest the land? (Odyssey, XVI, 450-451) Canst thou forget that sad, that solemn day, When victims at yon' altar's foot we lay? Canst thou forget what tears that moment fell, When, warm in youth, I bade the world farewell? (Eloisa, 107-110) 24. More detailed treatments of rhetorical devices in Pope are to be found elsewhere, e.g., Wimsatt's treatment in The Verbal Icon of chiasmus (pp. 162- 163) and zeugma (pp. 177-179). 25. This is substantially the first definition in N.E.D. 17  THE REACH OF ART By Day o'ersees them, and by Night protects, (Messiah, 52) or (as in a more limited definition of zeugma) incongruous: Dost sometimes Counsel take-and sometimes Tea, (Rape of the Lock, III, 8) Or lose her Heart, or Necklace, at a Ball. (Rape of the Lock, It, 109) And it is used whether the word which occurs but once appears in the first phrase or clause (as them, take, and lose in the examples just quoted), or in the last: In Spring the Fields, in Autumn Hills I love. (Spring, 77) Except for the relatively scarce cases of comic incongruity, such usages-they are innumerable in Pope-develop, manifestly, out of the twin desires for balance and condensation. At times, as in the examples just given from the Messiah and Spring, zeugma is likely to be somewhat awkward. Such instances grow rarer in Pope's later career, but never wholly disappear; and even though the zeugma becomes smoother, it is still sometimes undesirably apparent: Nor this a good, nor that a bad we call, (E. on M., II, 55) Manners with Fortunes, Humours turn with Climes. (Moral Essays, I, 166) Sometimes, on the other hand, the usage is so natural that it goes completely unnoticed; and it must be remembered that, like the inevitable M. Jourdain and his prose, we all use zeugma without knowing it: One dy'd in Metaphor, and one in Song, (Rape of the Lock,V, 60) While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory. (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 68) Sometimes the device has even a special felicity: And now a bubble burst, and now a world. (E. on M., 1, 90) But (except, once more, for the instances of incongruity) as a rule only an awkward use of zeugma is suficiently noticeable to be con- sidered an element of versification separate from the more general parallelism and balance. Chiasmus is used in this study to refer to any balance in which THE REACH OF ART By Day o'ersees them, and by Night protects, (Messiah, 52) or (as in a more limited definition of zeugma) incongruous: Dost sometimes Counsel take-and sometimes Tea, (Rape of the Lock, UI, 8) Or lose her Heart, or Necklace, at a Ball. (Rape of the Lock, II, 109) And it is used whether the word which occurs but once appears in the first phrase or clause (as them, take, and lose in the examples just quoted), or in the last: In Spring the Fields, in Autumn Hills I love. (Spring, 77) Except for the relatively scarce cases of comic incongruity, such usages-they are innumerable in Pope-develop, manifestly, out of the twin desires for balance and condensation. At times, as in the examples just given from the Messiah and Spring, zeugma is likely to be somewhat awkward. Such instances grow rarer in Pope's later career, but never wholly disappear; and even though the zeugma becomes smoother, it is still sometimes undesirably apparent: Nor this a good, nor that a bad we call, (E. on M., II, 55) Manners with Fortunes, Humours turn with Climes. (Moral Essays, I, 166) Sometimes, on the other hand, the usage is so natural that it goes completely unnoticed; and it must be remembered that, like the inevitable M. Jourdain and his prose, we all use zeugma without knowing it: One dy'd in Metaphor, and one in Song, (Rape of the Lock, V, 60) While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory. (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 68) Sometimes the device has even a special felicity: And now a bubble burst, and now a world. (E. on M., I, 90) But (except, once more, for the instances of incongruity) as a rule only an awkward use of zeugma is sufficiently noticeable to be con- sidered an element of versification separate from the more general parallelism and balance. Chiasmus is used in this study to refer to any balance in which THE REACH OF ART By Day o'ersees them, and by Night protects, (Messiah, 52) or (as in a more limited definition of zeugma) incongruous: Dost sometimes Counsel take-and sometimes Tea, (Rape of the Lock, III, 8) Or lose her Heart, or Necklace, at a Ball. (Rape of the Lock, II, 109) And it is used whether the word which occurs but once appears in the first phrase or clause (as them, take, and lose in the examples just quoted), or in the last: In Spring the Fields, in Autumn Hills I love. (Spring, 77) Except for the relatively scarce cases of comic incongruity, such usages-they are innumerable in Pope-develop, manifestly, out of the twin desires for balance and condensation. At times, as in the examples just given from the Messiah and Spring, zeugma is likely to be somewhat awkward. Such instances grow rarer in Pope's later career, but never wholly disappear; and even though the zeugma becomes smoother, it is still sometimes undesirably apparent: Nor this a good, nor that a bad we call, (E. on M., II, 55) Manners with Fortunes, Humours turn with Climes. (Moral Essays, I, 166) Sometimes, on the other hand, the usage is so natural that it goes completely unnoticed; and it must be remembered that, like the inevitable M. Jourdain and his prose, we all use zeugma without knowing it: One dy'd in Metaphor, and one in Song, (Rape of the Lock,V, 60) While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory. (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 68) Sometimes the device has even a special felicity: And now a bubble burst, and now a world. (E. on M., I, 90) But (except, once more, for the instances of incongruity) as a rule only an awkward use of zeugma is suficiently noticeable to be con- sidered an element of versification separate from the more general parallelism and balance. Chiasmus is used in this study to refer to any balance in which 18 18 18  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL the elements of the two halves are mirror, rather than identical, images. Thus in this couplet from An Essay on Man the two halves of the second line have the same grammatical order and are hence an example of simple balance (ab ab), not chiasmus: Two Principles in human nature reign: Self-love, to urge, and Reason, to restrain. (II, 53-54) But in this line from Windsor-Forest, the order of grammatical elements in the first part is reversed in the second: and this is chiasmus: Her Weapons blunted, and extinct her Fires. (418) This special kind of balance (ab ba) is quite common in Pope. The method occurs in considerable variety: Sylvia's like Autumn ripe, yet mild as May, (Spring, 81) Directs in council, and in war presides, (Iliad, II, 28) His time a moment, and a point his space, (E. on M., I, 72) The fewer still you name, you wound the more. (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 43) As related to versification, chiasmus in Pope appears to have two purposes: to provide a suitable rime word (though sometimes, as in Windsor-Forest, 418, quoted in the preceding paragraph, the first half-line could be reversed to parallel the second, without disturbing sense or meter, so that the simple balance would provide the same rime), and to gain variety in balance. Also, as with in- version (treated below), chiasmus can emphasize a particular word, or give rime a particularly fine effect. And like zeugma it is es- pecially noticeable when it is awkward. Anaphora is used in this study to refer to the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive, or nearly successive, hemistichs, lines, or couplets. (Pope's other varieties of word repe- tition are too heterogeneous for useful classification.) Anaphora stands up better than zeugma or chiasmus as a special contribution to verse texture. The repetition of exactly the same word or words in parallel positions means a repetition in sound and either a repetition or a conscious contrast in pitch; and frequent occurrence of such repetitions affects the tone as greatly as repeated exclama- tion or interrogation. Anaphora by hemistich occurs in Now warm in love, now with'ring in thy bloom. (Eloisa, 37) By line it occurs in 19 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL the elements of the two halves are mirror, rather than identical, images. Thus in this couplet from An Essay on Man the two halves of the second line have the same grammatical order and are hence an example of simple balance (ab ab), not chiasmus: Two Principles in human nature reign: Self-love, to urge, and Reason, to restrain. (II, 53-54) But in this line from Windsor-Forest, the order of grammatical elements in the first part is reversed in the second: and this is chiasmus: Her Weapons blunted, and extinct her Fires. (418) This special kind of balance (ab ba) is quite common in Pope. The method occurs in considerable variety: Sylvia's like Autumn ripe, yet mild as May, (Spring, 81) Directs in council, and in war presides, (Iliad, II, 28) His time a moment, and a point his space, (E. on M., I, 72) The fewer still you name, you wound the more. (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 43) As related to versification, chiasmus in Pope appears to have two purposes: to provide a suitable rime word (though sometimes, as in Windsor-Forest, 418, quoted in the preceding paragraph, the first half-line could be reversed to parallel the second, without disturbing sense or meter, so that the simple balance would provide the same rime), and to gain variety in balance. Also, as with in- version (treated below), chiasmus can emphasize a particular word, or give rime a particularly fine effect. And like zeugma it is es- pecially noticeable when it is awkward. Anaphora is used in this study to refer to the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive, or nearly successive, hemistichs, lines, or couplets. (Pope's other varieties of word repe- tition are too heterogeneous for useful classification.) Anaphora stands up better than zeugma or chiasmus as a special contribution to verse texture. The repetition of exactly the same word or words in parallel positions means a repetition in sound and either a repetition or a conscious contrast in pitch; and frequent occurrence of such repetitions affects the tone as greatly as repeated exclama- tion or interrogation. Anaphora by hemistich occurs in Now warm in love, now with'ring in thy bloom. (Eloisa, 37) By line it occurs in 19 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL the elements of the two halves are mirror, rather than identical, images. Thus in this couplet from An Essay on Man the two halves of the second line have the same grammatical order and are hence an example of simple balance (ab ab), not chiasmus: Two Principles in human nature reign: Self-love, to urge, and Reason, to restrain. (II, 53-54) But in this line from Windsor-Forest, the order of grammatical elements in the first part is reversed in the second: and this is chiasmus: Her Weapons blunted, and extinct her Fires. (418) This special kind of balance (ab ba) is quite common in Pope. The method occurs in considerable variety: Sylvia's like Autumn ripe, yet mild as May, (Spring, 81) Directs in council, and in war presides, (Iliad, It, 28) His time a moment, and a point his space, (E. on M., I, 72) The fewer still you name, you wound the more. (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 43) As related to versification, chiasmus in Pope appears to have two purposes: to provide a suitable rime word (though sometimes, as in Windsor-Forest, 418, quoted in the preceding paragraph, the first half-line could be reversed to parallel the second, without disturbing sense or meter, so that the simple balance would provide the same rime), and to gain variety in balance. Also, as with in- version (treated below), chiasmus can emphasize a particular word, or give rime a particularly fine effect. And like zeugma it is es- pecially noticeable when it is awkward. Anaphora is used in this study to refer to the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive, or nearly successive, hemistichs, lines, or couplets. (Pope's other varieties of word repe- tition are too heterogeneous for useful classification.) Anaphora stands up better than zeugma or chiasmus as a special contribution to verse texture. The repetition of exactly the same word or words in parallel positions means a repetition in sound and either a repetition or a conscious contrast in pitch; and frequent occurrence of such repetitions affects the tone as greatly as repeated exclama- tion or interrogation. Anaphora by hemistich occurs in Now warm in love, now with'ring in thy bloom. (Eloisa, 37) By line it occurs in 19  THE REACH OF ART As thick as bees o'er vernal blossoms fly, As thick as eggs at Ward in Pillory. (Dunciad, III, 33-34) And by couplet it occurs in For her th'unfading rose of Eden blooms, And wings of Seraphs shed divine perfumes; For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring. (Eloisa, 217-219) It may also be used, though much more rarely, in joining the last line of a couplet to the first of the next: Which never more shall join its parted Hair, Which never more its Honours shall renew. (Rape of the Lock, IV, 134-135) Occasionally too, as in passages in The Rape of the Lock, it may occur through a whole series of lines; but this use is plainly arti- ficial (in The Rape of the Lock, purposely so); and, as in many of the examples just given, anaphora is more usually an integral part of the thought structure than either zeugma or chiasmus." Antithesis occurs frequently through all the poems, and has a decided effect upon the tone, since the contrast involves change in pitch, and since antithesis tends to strong caesura and to the neat- ness of epigram: To cure thy Lambs, but not to heal thy Heart, (Summer, 34) And she who scorns a Man, must die a Maid, (Rape of the Lock, V, 28) Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err, (E. on M., II, 10) Men not afraid of God, afraid of me. (Epilogue to the Satires, II, 209) Beyond zeugma, chiasmus, anaphora, and antithesis, there are numberless examples in Pope of the balancing of phrase with phrase, clause with clause, hemistich with hemistich, line with line, couplet with couplet;27 and artful repetition of word or of word arrangement in a never-ending variety: 26. Examples of especially fine integration: Restore the Lockt she cries; and all around Restore the Lockl the vaulted Roofs rebound, (Rape of the Lock, V, 103-104) So short a space the light of Heav'n to view So short a space and fill'd with sorrow tool (Iliad, L, 544-545) 27. Tillotson treats (pp. 124-130) varieties of balance, especially in connec- tion with variations in the length of balancing elements, and parallels or con- trasts of sense and form in the balance. 20 THE REACH OF ART As thick as bees o'er vernal blossoms fly, As thick as eggs at Ward in Pillory. (Dunciad, III, 33-34) And by couplet it occurs in For her th'unfading rose of Eden blooms, And wings of Seraphs shed divine perfumes; For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring. (Eloisa, 217-219) It may also be used, though much more rarely, in joining the last line of a couplet to the first of the next: Which never more shall join its parted Hair, Which never more its Honours shall renew. (Rape of the Lock, IV, 134-135) Occasionally too, as in passages in The Rape of the Lock, it may occur through a whole series of lines; but this use is plainly arti- ficial (in The Rape of the Lock, purposely so); and, as in many of the examples just given, anaphora is more usually an integral part of the thought structure than either zeugma or chiasmus.26 Antithesis occurs frequently through all the poems, and has a decided effect upon the tone, since the contrast involves change in pitch, and since antithesis tends to strong caesura and to the neat- ness of epigram: To cure thy Lambs, but not to heal thy Heart, (Summer, 34) And she who scorns a Man, must die a Maid, (Rape of the Lock, V, 28) Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err, (E. on M., II, 10) Men not afraid of God, afraid of me. (Epilogue to the Satires, II, 209) Beyond zeugma, chiasmus, anaphora, and antithesis, there are numberless examples in Pope of the balancing of phrase with phrase, clause with clause, hemistich with hemistich, line with line, couplet with couplet;" and artful repetition of word or of word arrangement in a never-ending variety: 26. Examples of especially fine integration: Restore the Lock she cries; and all around Restore the Lockl the vaulted Roofs rebound, (Rape of the Lock, V, 103-104) So short a space the light of Heav'n to view So short a spacel and fill'd with sorrow tool (Iliad, I, 544-545) 27. Tillotson treats (pp. 124-130) varieties of balance, especially in connec- tion with variations in the length of balancing elements, and parallels or con- trasts of sense and form in the balance. 20 THE REACH OF ART As thick as bees o'er vernal blossoms fly, As thick as eggs at Ward in Pillory. (Dunciad, III, 33-34) And by couplet it occurs in For her th'unfading rose of Eden blooms, And wings of Seraphs shed divine perfumes; For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring. (Eloisa, 217-219) It may also be used, though much more rarely, in joining the last line of a couplet to the first of the next: Which never more shall join its parted Hair, Which never more its Honours shall renew. (Rape of the Lock, IV, 134-135) Occasionally too, as in passages in The Rape of the Lock, it may occur through a whole series of lines; but this use is plainly arti- ficial (in The Rape of the Lock, purposely so); and, as in many of the examples just given, anaphora is more usually an integral part of the thought structure than either zeugma or chiasmus." Antithesis occurs frequently through all the poems, and has a decided effect upon the tone, since the contrast involves change in pitch, and since antithesis tends to strong caesura and to the neat- ness of epigram: To cure thy Lambs, but not to heal thy Heart, (Summer, 34) And she who scorns a Man, must die a Maid, (Rape of the Lock, V, 28) Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err, (E. on M., II, 10) Men not afraid of God, afraid of me. (Epilogue to the Satires, II, 209) Beyond zeugma, chiasmus, anaphora, and antithesis, there are numberless examples in Pope of the balancing of phrase with phrase, clause with clause, hemistich with hemistich, line with line, couplet with couplet;"' and artful repetition of word or of word arrangement in a never-ending variety: 26. Examples of especially fine integration: Restore the Lockl she cries; and all around Restore the Lockl the vaulted Roofs rebound, (Rape of the Lock, V, 103-104) So short a space the light of Heav'n to viewl So short a spacel and fill'd with sorrow tool (Iliad, I, 544-545) 27. Tillotson treats (pp. 124-130) varieties of balance, especially in connec- tion with variations in the length of balancing elements, and parallels or con- trasts of sense and form in the balance. 20  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL And smooth or rough, with them, is right or wrong, (E. on C., 338) Bright as the Sun, her Eyes and Gazers strike, And, like the Sun, they shine on all alike, (Rape of the Lock, II, 13-14) The world forgetting, by the world forgot, (Eloisa, 208) This, all who know me, know; who love me, tell, (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 138) And Noise and Norton, Brangling and Breval, Dennis and Dissonance, (Dunciad, II, 238-239) It fled, I follow'd; now in hope, now pain; It stopt, I stopt; it mov'd, I mov'd again. (Dunciad, IV, 427-428) As almost any page of Pope will show, these many devices and methods and turns are combined, intermingled, knotted, loosed, and resolved, again and again and again. The effect on versification is very great. Any method involving balance usually at least tends toward metrical regularity, central caesura, and integrity of line and couplet; or if it cuts across this normality, then that itself is a notable effect. On the other hand, too frequent use of the same rhetorical device can, and in some of Pope's poems does, have an adverse effect upon tone. At times too, the awkwardness-or con- versely the very brilliance-directs the attention away from meaning, where Pope would have been the first to say it belonged. But the subtlety and flexibility of Pope's rhetoric increased with the years; its effect upon meter grew less confining, its support of the sense more firm. Inversion is used by Pope, and by neoclassic poets generally, for at least three purposes, the first two of which are essentially rhe- torical: to heighten style; to emphasize a particular word; and to provide rime. These three types are often almost impossible to separate with certainty. Even the existence of inversion is not always definite. Prepositional phrases particularly range rather widely over a sentence without sounding unnatural. Nevertheless, there is much unmistakable inversion in Pope. Sometimes it is clearly for emphasis: If Hampton-Court these Eyes had never seen, (Rape of the Lock, IV, I50) Not twice a twelvemonth you appear in Print; (Epilogue to the Satires, I, 1) 21 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL And smooth or rough, with them, is right or wrong, (E. on C., 338) Bright as the Sun, her Eyes and Gazers strike, And, like the Sun, they shine on all alike, (Rape of the Lock, II, 13-14) The world forgetting, by the world forgot, (Eloisa, 208) This, all who know me, know; who love me, tell, (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 138) And Noise and Norton, Brangling and Breval, Dennis and Dissonance, (Dunciad, II, 238-239) It fled, I follow'd; now in hope, now pain; It stopt, I stopt; it mov'd, I mov'd again. (Dunciad, IV, 427-428) As almost any page of Pope will show, these many devices and methods and turns are combined, intermingled, knotted, loosed, and resolved, again and again and again. The effect on versification is very great. Any method involving balance usually at least tends toward metrical regularity, central caesura, and integrity of line and couplet; or if it cuts across this normality, then that itself is a notable effect. On the other hand, too frequent use of the same rhetorical device can, and in some of Pope's poems does, have an adverse effect upon tone. At times too, the awkwardness-or con- versely the very brilliance-directs the attention away from meaning, where Pope would have been the first to say it belonged. But the subtlety and flexibility of Pope's rhetoric increased with the years; its effect upon meter grew less confining, its support of the sense more firm. Inversion is used by Pope, and by neoclassic poets generally, for at least three purposes, the first two of which are essentially rhe- torical: to heighten style; to emphasize a particular word; and to provide rime. These three types are often almost impossible to separate with certainty. Even the existence of inversion is not always definite. Prepositional phrases particularly range rather widely over a sentence without sounding unnatural. Nevertheless, there is much unmistakable inversion in Pope. Sometimes it is clearly for emphasis: If Hampton-Court these Eyes had never seen, (Rape of the Lock, IV, 150) Not twice a twelvemonth you appear in Print; (Epilogue to the Satires, I, 1) 21 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL And smooth or rough, with them, is right or wrong, (E. on C., 338) Bright as the Sun, her Eyes and Gazers strike, And, like the Sun, they shine on all alike, (Rape of the Lock, II, 13-14) The world forgetting, by the world forgot, (Eloisa, 208) This, all who know me, know; who love me, tell, (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 138) And Noise and Norton, Brangling and Breval, Dennis and Dissonance, (Dunciad, II, 238-239) It fled, I follow'd; now in hope, now pain; It stopt, I stopt; it mov'd, I mov'd again. (Dunciad, IV, 427-428) As almost any page of Pope will show, these many devices and methods and turns are combined, intermingled, knotted, loosed, and resolved, again and again and again. The effect on versification is very great. Any method involving balance usually at least tends toward metrical regularity, central caesura, and integrity of line and couplet; or if it cuts across this normality, then that itself is a notable effect. On the other hand, too frequent use of the same rhetorical device can, and in some of Pope's poems does, have an adverse effect upon tone. At times too, the awkwardness-or con- versely the very brilliance-directs the attention away from meaning, where Pope would have been the first to say it belonged. But the subtlety and flexibility of Pope's rhetoric increased with the years; its effect upon meter grew less confining, its support of the sense more firm. Inversion is used by Pope, and by neoclassic poets generally, for at least three purposes, the first two of which are essentially rhe- torical: to heighten style; to emphasize a particular word; and to provide rime. These three types are often almost impossible to separate with certainty. Even the existence of inversion is not always definite. Prepositional phrases particularly range rather widely over a sentence without sounding unnatural. Nevertheless, there is much unmistakable inversion in Pope. Sometimes it is clearly for emphasis: If Hampton-Court these Eyes had never seen, (Rape of the Lock, IV, 150) Not twice a twelvemonth you appear in Print; (Epilogue to the Satires, I, 1) 21  THE REACH OF ART and it can be undeniably so in instances where inversion does not affect rime or meter: Not on the Cross my eyes were fix'd, but you. (Eloisa, 116) Sometimes, on the other hand, it is merely for rime: Arise, the Pines a noxious Shade diffuse. (Winter, 86) Yet, in accordance with his views in the Postscript to the Odyssey, Pope's inversions are seldom violent; nor are they so frequent as might be supposed. And they grow consistently fewer, especially in the colloquial satires, with their many passages of such completely normal English idiom as this from the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace: F. I'd write no more. P. Not write? but then I think, And for my Soul I cannot sleep a wink. I nod in Company, I wake at Night, Fools rush into my Head, and so I write. F. You could not do a worse thing for your Life. Why, if the Nights seem tedious-take a Wife; Or rather, truly, if your Point be Rest, Lettuce and Cowslip Wine; Probatum est. But talk with Celsus, Celsus will advise Hartshorn, or something that shall close your Eyes. Or if you needs must write, write Caesar's Praise: You'll gain at least a Knighthood, or the Bays. (11-22) Even the earlier and the more formal poems have occasional long passages like this one, with not a word out of normal prose order (e.g., Eloisa, 11. 249-262; Essay on Man, II, 129-144); but they are less likely to be noticed, because less colloquial. Furthermore, the greatest number by far of Pope's inversions occur in only one line of a couplet, the other line being in normal order; and when the inverted line is the first one-as again is true in most cases-the effect is often to make the rime seem especially neat, giving a turn quite characteristic of Pope. But we, brave Britons, Foreign Laws despis'd, And kept unconquer'd, and unciviliz'd, (E. on C., 716) I shriek, start up, the same sad prospect find, And wake to all the griefs I left behind, (Eloisa, 247-248) That not in Fancy's Maze he wander'd long, But stoop'd to Truth, and moraliz'd his song, (Arbuthnot, 340-341) 22 THE REACH OF ART and it can be undeniably so in instances where inversion does not affect rime or meter: Not on the Cross my eyes were fix'd, but you. (Eloisa, 116) Sometimes, on the other hand, it is merely for rime: Arise, the Pines a noxious Shade diffuse. (Winter, 86) Yet, in accordance with his views in the Postscript to the Odyssey, Pope's inversions are seldom violent; nor are they so frequent as might be supposed. And they grow consistently fewer, especially in the colloquial satires, with their many passages of such completely normal English idiom as this from the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace: F. I'd write no more. P. Not write? but then I think, And for my Soul I cannot sleep a wink. I nod in Company, I wake at Night, Fools rush into my Head, and so I write. F. You could not do a worse thing for your Life. Why, if the Nights seem tedious-take a Wife; Or rather, truly, if your Point be Rest, Lettuce and Cowslip Wine; Probatum est. But talk with Celsus, Celsus will advise Hartshorn, or something that shall close your Eyes. Or if you needs must write, write Caesar's Praise: You'll gain at least a Knighthood, or the Bays. (11-22) Even the earlier and the more formal poems have occasional long passages like this one, with not a word out of normal prose order (e.g., Eloisa, 11. 249-262; Essay on Man, II, 129-144); but they are less likely to be noticed, because less colloquial. Furthermore, the greatest number by far of Pope's inversions occur in only one line of a couplet, the other line being in normal order; and when the inverted line is the first one-as again is true in most cases-the effect is often to make the rime seem especially neat, giving a turn quite characteristic of Pope. But we, brave Britons, Foreign Laws despis'd, And kept unconquer'd, and unciviliz'd, (E. on C., 716) I shriek, start up, the same sad prospect find, And wake to all the griefs I left behind, (Eloisa, 247-248) That not in Fancy's Maze he wander'd long, But stoop'd to Truth, and moraliz'd his song, (Arbuthnot, 340-341) 22 THE REACH OF ART and it can be undeniably so in instances where inversion does not affect rime or meter: Not on the Cross my eyes were fix'd, but you, (Eloisa, 116) Sometimes, on the other hand, it is merely for rime: Arise, the Pines a noxious Shade diffuse. (Winter, 86) Yet, in accordance with his views in the Postscript to the Odyssey, Pope's inversions are seldom violent; nor are they so frequent as might be supposed. And they grow consistently fewer, especially in the colloquial satires, with their many passages of such completely normal English idiom as this from the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace: F. I'd write no more. P. Not write? but then I think, And for my Soul I cannot sleep a wink. I nod in Company, I wake at Night, Fools rush into my Head, and so I write. F. You could not do a worse thing for your Life. Why, if the Nights seem tedious-take a Wife; Or rather, truly, if your Point be Rest, Lettuce and Cowslip Wine; Probatum est. But talk with Celsus, Celsus will advise Hartshorn, or something that shall close your Eyes. Or if you needs must write, write Caesar's Praise: You'll gain at least a Knighthood, or the Bays. (11-22) Even the earlier and the more formal poems have occasional long passages like this one, with not a word out of normal prose order (e.g., Eloisa, 11. 249-262; Essay on Man, II, 129-144); but they are less likely to be noticed, because less colloquial. Furthermore, the greatest number by far of Pope's inversions occur in only one line of a couplet, the other line being in normal order; and when the inverted line is the first one-as again is true in most cases-the effect is often to make the rime seem especially neat, giving a turn quite characteristic of Pope. But we, brave Britons, Foreign Laws despis'd, And kept unconquer'd, and unciviliz'd, (E. on C., 716) I shriek, start up, the same sad prospect find, And wake to all the griefs I left behind, (Eloisa, 247-248) That not in Fancy's Maze he wander'd long, But stoop'd to Truth, and moraliz'd his song, (Arbuthnot, 840-341) 22  THE PATrERN IN GENERAL Blockheads with reason wicked wits abhor, But fool with fool a barb'rous civil war. (Dunciad, III, 175-176) Pope's use of inversion, then, affects his versification mainly in three ways: first, more inversion is likely to make the tone more formal; second, it has an effect upon tone when important words are given important position; third, by its appearance in the first line of a couplet only, it may add aptness and point to the rime with which the couplet closes. While foreign words and syntax were an accepted method of heightening style in Pope's day, Pope's well-known Latin and French usages are more often one of his methods of gaining suc- cinctness. Three such usages appear fairly often in Pope's verse, and have become somewhat symbolic of foreign diction both in Pope and in neoclassic verse generally. The first of these is the use of this and that for the former and the latter (as they are, of course, regularly used in French): This mourn'd a faithless, that an absent Love, (Autumn, 3) While these they undermine, and those they rend. (Iliad, XII, 306) The second is the use, as in Latin and French, of or for either and nor for neither: Not one, or male or female, stay'd behind, (Odyssey, IX, 398) Nor other home nor other care intends. (Odyssey, IX, 109) The third is the suppression of the pronoun following there are before a clause beginning with who, whom, or whose: There are, who to my Person pay their court, (Arbuthnot, 115) There are to whom my Satire seems too bold, (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 2) I know there are, to whose presumptuous Thoughts Those Freer Beauties, ev'n in Them, seem Faults. (E. on C., 169.170) In all these un-English usages, the result is condensation-at a minimum, the reduction of a syllable. Otherwise, the effect upon versification is neutral, unless by awkwardness, obscurity, or re- appearance to the point of mannerism, such a usage draws atten- tion to itself and away from meaning. And in any case, most of Pope's diction and syntax are native. 23 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL Blockheads with reason wicked wits abhor, But fool with fool a barb'rous civil war. (Dunciad, III, 175-176) Pope's use of inversion, then, affects his versification mainly in three ways: first, more inversion is likely to make the tone more formal; second, it has an effect upon tone when important words are given important position; third, by its appearance in the first line of a couplet only, it may add aptness and point to the rime with which the couplet closes. While foreign words and syntax were an accepted method of heightening style in Pope's day, Pope's well-known Latin and French usages are more often one of his methods of gaining suc- cinctness. Three such usages appear fairly often in Pope's verse, and have become somewhat symbolic of foreign diction both in Pope and in neoclassic verse generally. The first of these is the use of this and that for the former and the latter (as they are, of course, regularly used in French): This mourn'd a faithless, that an absent Love, (Autumn, 3) While these they undermine, and those they rend. (Iliad, XII, 306) The second is the use, as in Latin and French, of or for either and nor for neither: Not one, or male or female, stay'd behind, (Odyssey, IX, 398) Nor other home nor other care intends. (Odyssey, IX, 109) The third is the suppression of the pronoun following there are before a clause beginning with who, whom, or whose: There are, who to my Person pay their court, (Arbuthnot, 115) There are to whom my Satire seems too bold, (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 2) I know there are, to whose presumptuous Thoughts Those Freer Beauties, ev'n in Them, seem Faults. (E. on C., 169-170) In all these un-English usages, the result is condensation-at a minimum, the reduction of a syllable. Otherwise, the effect upon versification is neutral, unless by awkwardness, obscurity, or re- appearance to the point of mannerism, such a usage draws atten. tion to itself and away from meaning. And in any case, most of Pope's diction and syntax are native. 23 THE PATERN IN GENERAL Blockheads with reason wicked wits abhor, But fool with fool a barb'rous civil war. (Dunciad, III, 175-176) Pope's use of inversion, then, affects his versification mainly in three ways: first, more inversion is likely to make the tone more formal; second, it has an effect upon tone when important words are given important position; third, by its appearance in the first line of a couplet only, it may add aptness and point to the rime with which the couplet closes. While foreign words and syntax were an accepted method of heightening style in Pope's day, Pope's well-known Latin and French usages are more often one of his methods of gaining suc- cinctness. Three such usages appear fairly often in Pope's verse, and have become somewhat symbolic of foreign diction both in Pope and in neoclassic verse generally. The first of these is the use of this and that for the former and the latter (as they are, of course, regularly used in French): This mourn'd a faithless, that an absent Love, (Autumn, 3) While these they undermine, and those they rend. (Iliad, XII, 306) The second is the use, as in Latin and French, of or for either and nor for neither: Not one, or male or female, stay'd behind, (Odyssey, IX, 398) Nor other home nor other care intends. (Odyssey, IX, 109) The third is the suppression of the pronoun following there are before a clause beginning with who, whom, or whose: There are, who to my Person pay their court, (Arbuthnot, 115) There are to whom my Satire seems too bold, (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 2) I know there are, to whose presumptuous Thoughts Those Freer Beauties, ev'n in Them, seem Faults. (E. on C., 169-170) In all these un-English usages, the result is condensation-at a minimum, the reduction of a syllable. Otherwise, the effect upon versification is neutral, unless by awkwardness, obscurity, or re- appearance to the point of mannerism, such a usage draws atten- tion to itself and away from meaning. And in any case, most of Pope's diction and syntax are native. 23  THE REACH OF ART III The problems of rime in connection with heroic couplets may be broken down for convenience into four divisions: (1) inaccurate rimes, unstressed rimes, identities; (2) feminine and triple rimes; (3) rime repetition and rime clichds; and (4) violation of normal word order, syntax, or grammar for the sake of rime. Of these, the last has already been examined, and the second may be quickly disposed of. Feminine rimes were unpopular in the eighteenth century, except for the low genres, such as satire. And Pope used such rimes rarely except in his satirical poems, where they appear fairly frequently. Triple rimes were almost unheard of, and do not occur in Pope's verse. Pope apparently never mentioned the subject of accurate riming; and considering how significant riming is in a tradition of heroic couplets, the subject comes up surprisingly seldom in critical writing generally. Inaccurate rimes are all too frequent in Pope,"8 probably more frequent than in any other important egihteenth-century poets of the heroic couplet tradition; just how frequent is difficult to know, since pronunciations have changed. But clues exist, for ex- ample, the fact that the offending word in what seems to us an in- accurate rime is rimed elsewhere in a way which seems to us correct; the fact that some poems, for example Eloisa to Abelard, have more rimes which seem inaccurate than other poems;0 and of course such knowledge as we have of actual pronunciation shifts, as in the cases of join and tea. Such evidence confirms the impres- sion that Pope was by no means so careful about accurate riming as one might have expected. Even discounting the almost unavoid- able inaccuracies with words like love, God (which Swift never- 28. This discussion of riming might be considered a development of George Sherburn's remarks in The Best of Pope, rev. ed. (New York, The Ronald Press Co., 1940), p. xxxi: "In rhyme Pope is much less an artist. ... Both justness and variety are frequently lacking in his rhymes. He repeats the same rhymes too closely; and even allowing for changes in pronunciation since his day ... he is too often careless and inexact in his sound identities. It follows that for Pope rhyme is a habit rather than an excellence." But see p. 26, below. 29. Rimes probably inaccurate, not including identities or rimes on syllables not normally bearing a primary accent, occur as follows: Spring, 12 per cent of the rimes; Windsor-Forest, 10 per cent; E. on C., 10 per cent; Messiah, 9 per cent; Eloisa, 12 per cent; Unfortunate Lady, 5 per cent; Rape of the Lock, 8 per cent; E. on M., 1 per cent; Moral Essays, I, 8 per cent; Moral Essays, II, 9 per cent; Arbuthnot, 6 per cent; First Satire of the Second Book, 3 per cent; Augustus, 8 per cent; Epilogue, 7 per cent; Dunciad, 4 per cent. 24 THE REACH OF ART III The problems of rime in connection with heroic couplets may be broken down for convenience into four divisions: (1) inaccurate rimes, unstressed rimes, identities; (2) feminine and triple rimes; (3) rime repetition and rime cliches; and (4) violation of normal word order, syntax, or grammar for the sake of rime. Of these, the last has already been examined, and the second may be quickly disposed of. Feminine rimes were unpopular in the eighteenth century, except for the low genres, such as satire. And Pope used such rimes rarely except in his satirical poems, where they appear fairly frequently. Triple rimes were almost unheard of, and do not occur in Pope's verse. Pope apparently never mentioned the subject of accurate riming; and considering how significant riming is in a tradition of heroic couplets, the subject comes up surprisingly seldom in critical writing generally. Inaccurate rimes are all too frequent in Pope,"5 probably more frequent than in any other important egihteenth-century poets of the heroic couplet tradition; just how frequent is difficult to know, since pronunciations have changed. But clues exist, for ex- ample, the fact that the offending word in what seems to us an in- accurate rime is rimed elsewhere in a way which seems to us correct; the fact that some poems, for example Eloisa to A belard, have more rimes which seem inaccurate than other poems;- and of course such knowledge as we have of actual pronunciation shifts, as in the cases of join and tea. Such evidence confirms the impres- sion that Pope was by no means so careful about accurate riming as one might have expected. Even discounting the almost unavoid- able inaccuracies with words like love, God (which Swift never- 28. This discussion of riming might be considered a development of George Sherburn's remarks in The Best of Pope, rev. ed. (New York, The Ronald Press Co., 1940), p. xxxi. "In rhyme Pope is much less an artist. ... Both justness and variety are frequently lacking in his rhymes. He repeats the same rhymes too closely; and even allowing for changes in pronunciation since his day ... he is too often careless and inexact in his sound identities. It follows that for Pope rhyme is a habit rather than an excellence." But see p. 26, below. 29. Rimes probably inaccurate, not including identities or rimes on syllables not normally bearing a primary accent, occur as follows: Spring, 12 per cent of the rimes; Windsor-Forest, 10 per cent; E. on C., 10 per cent; Messiah, 9 per cent; Eloisa, 12 per cent; Unfortunate Lady, 5 per cent; Rape of the Lock, 8 per cent; E. on M., 13 per cent; Moral Essays, I, 8 per cent; Moral Essays, II, 9 per cent; Arbuthnot, 6 per cent; First Satire of the Second Book, 3 per cent; Augustus, 8 per cent; Epilogue, 7 per cent; Dunciad, 4 per cent. 24 THE REACH OF ART III The problems of rime in connection with heroic couplets may be broken down for convenience into four divisions: (1) inaccurate rimes, unstressed rimes, identities; (2) feminine and triple rimes; (3) rime repetition and rime cliches; and (4) violation of normal word order, syntax, or grammar for the sake of rime. Of these, the last has already been examined, and the second may be quickly disposed of. Feminine rimes were unpopular in the eighteenth century, except for the low genres, such as satire. And Pope used such rimes rarely except in his satirical poems, where they appear fairly frequently. Triple rimes were almost unheard of, and do not occur in Pope's verse. Pope apparently never mentioned the subject of accurate riming; and considering how significant riming is in a tradition of heroic couplets, the subject comes up surprisingly seldom in critical writing generally. Inaccurate rimes are all too frequent in Pope,25 probably more frequent than in any other important egihteenth-century poets of the heroic couplet tradition; just how frequent is difficult to know, since pronunciations have changed. But clues exist, for ex- ample, the fact that the offending word in what seems to us an in- accurate rime is rimed elsewhere in a way which seems to us correct; the fact that some poems, for example Eloisa to Abelard, have more rimes which seem inaccurate than other poems;" and of course such knowledge as we have of actual pronunciation shifts, as in the cases of join and tea. Such evidence confirms the impres- sion that Pope was by no means so careful about accurate riming as one might have expected. Even discounting the almost unavoid- able inaccuracies with words like love, God (which Swift never- 28. This discussion of riming might be considered a development of George Sherburn's remarks in The Best of Pope, rev. ed. (New York, The Ronald Press Co., 1940), p. xxxi: "In rhyme Pope is much less an artist. ... Both justness and variety are frequently lacking in his rhymes. He repeats the same rhymes too closely; and even allowing for changes in pronunciation since his day ... he is too often careless and inexact in his sound identities. It follows that for Pope rhyme is a habit rather than an excellence." But see p. 26, below. 29. Rimes probably inaccurate, not including identities or rimes on syllables not normally bearing a primary accent, occur as follows: Spring, 12 per cent of the rimes; Windsor-Forest, 10 per cent; E. on C., 10 per cent; Messiah, 9 per cent; Eloisa, 12 per cent; Unfortunate Lady, 5 per cent; Rape of the Lock, 8 per cent; E. on M., 13 per cent; Moral Essays, I, 8 per cent; Moral Essays, II, 9 per cent; Arbuthnot, 6 per cent; First Satire of the Second Book, 3 per cent; Augustus, 8 per cent; Epilogue, 7 per cent; Dunciad, 4 per cent. 24  theless objected to as over-frequent and inaccurate),so and heaven, the number seems large. And Pope's other varieties of carelessness regarding rime are not reassuring. One can find for example, identities: Well might I wish, could mortal wish renew That strength which once in boiling youth I knew, (Iliad, IV, 370-371) an identity with a lightly-accented syllable: Unfinish'd Things, one knows not what to call, Their Generation's so equivocal, (E. on C., 42-43) and even an unquestionably inaccurate identity: What future bliss, he gives not thee to know, But gives that Hope to be thy blessing now. (E. on M., I, 93-94)ts Rimes on unstressed syllables can be noticeable to the point of harshness: So shall each hostile name become our own, And we too boast our Garth and Addison, (Dunciad, II, 139-140) In Puns, or Politicks, or Tales, or Lyes, Or Spite, or Smut, or Rymes, or Blasphemies. (Arbuthnot, 321-322) The immediate succession of very similar rimes can be annoying, and is rather frequent: ome have at first for Wits, then Poets pat,s urn'd Criticks next, and prov'd plain Fools at last; Some neither can for Wits nor Criticks pass, As heavy Mules are neither Horse nor s (E. on C., 36-39) ow Lakes of liquid Gold, Elysian Scenes, And Crystal Domes, and Angels in Machines. Unnumber'd Throngs on ev'ry side are seen Of Bodies chang'd to various Forms by Spleen, (Rape of the Lock, IV, 45-48) and, worse still: - This way and that the spreading torrent roars;, So sweeps the hero thro' the wasted shores. Around him wide immense destruction pours, THE PATTERN IN GENERAL theless objected to as over-frequent and inaccurate),30 and heaven, the number seems large. And Pope's other varieties of carelessness regarding rime are not reassuring. One can find for example, identities: Well might I wish, could mortal wish renew That strength which once in boiling youth I knew, (Iliad, IV, 370-371) an identity with a lightly-accented syllable: Unfinish'd Things, one knows not what to call, Their Generation's so equivocal, (E. on C., 42-43) and even an unquestionably inaccurate identity: What future bliss, he gives not thee to know, But gives that Hope to be thy blessing now. (E. on M., I, 93-94)31 Rimes on unstressed syllables can be noticeable to the point of harshness: So shall each hostile name become our own, And we too boast our Garth and Addison, (Dunciad, II, 139-140) In Puns, or Politicks, or Tales, or Lyes, Or Spite, or Smut, or Rymes, or Blasphemies. (Arbuthnot, 321-322) The immediate succession of very similar rimes can be annoying, and is rather frequent: omnie have as first for Wits, then Poets pat, lTurn'd Criticks next, and prov'd plain Fols at last; Some neither can for Wits nor Criticks pass, As heavy Mules are neither Horse nor As (E. on C., 36-39) ow Lakes of liquid Gold, Elysian Scenes, And Crystal Domes, and Angels in Machines. Unnumber'd Throngs on ev'ry side are seen Of Bodies chang'd to various Forms by Spleen, (Rape of the Lock, IV, 45-48) and, worse still: This way and that the spreading torrent roars; So sweeps the hero thro' the wasted shores. Around him wide immense destruction pours, THE PATTERN IN GENERAL theless objected to as over-frequent and inaccurate),30 and heaven, the number seems large. And Pope's other varieties of carelessness regarding rime are not reassuring. One can find for example, identities: Well might I wish, could mortal wish renew That strength which once in boiling youth I knew, (Iliad, IV, 370-371) an identity with a lightly-accented syllable: Unfinish'd Things, one knows not what to call, Their Generation's so equivocal, (E. on C., 42-43) and even an unquestionably inaccurate identity: What future bliss, he gives not thee to know, But gives that Hope to be thy blessing now. (E. on M., I, 93-94)"1 Rimes on unstressed syllables can be noticeable to the point of harshness: So shall each hostile name become our own, And we too boast our Garth and Addison, (Dunciad, II, 139-140) In Puns, or Politicks, or Tales, or Lyes, Or Spite, or Smut, or Rymes, or Blasphemies. (Arbuthnot, 321-322) The immediate succession of very similar rimes can be annoying, and is rather frequent: tome have at first for Wits, then Poetspat; urn'd Criticks next, and prov'd plain Fools at last; Some neither can for Wits nor Criticks pass, As heavy Mules are neither Horse nor Au, (E. on C., 36-39) Now Lakes of liquid Gold, Elysian Scenes, And Crystal Domes, and Angels in Machines. Unnumber'd Throngs on ev'ry side are seen Of Bodies chang'd to various Forms by Spleen, (Rape of the Lock, IV, 45-48) and, worse still: hA This way and that the spreading torrent roars; So sweeps the hero thro' the wasted shores. Around him wide immense destruction pours, 30. Letter to Pope, June 28, 1715 (Sherburn, I, 309). 31. Another example is in Moral Essays, I, 110-111. ^ Ir 30. Letter to Pope, June 28, 1715 (Sherburn, I, 309). 31. Another example is in Moral Essays, 5, 110-111. 30. Letter to Pope, June 28, 1715 (Sherburn, I, 309). 31. Another example is in Moral Essays, I, 110-111. , 25 25 25  THE REACH OF ART And earth is deluged with the sanguine showers. As with autumnal harvests cover'd o'er, And thick bestrown, lies Ceres' sacred floor. (Iliad, XX, 573-578) Moreover, Pope mentions two faults in the use of rime, and he is guilty of both. First, in his letter on prosody he observes that rime sounds should not be repeated within four to six lines. Second, in An Essay on Criticism he makes fun, in a famous passage, of hackneyed rimes. Avoiding almost immediate repetition of the same rime sound ought to be fairly easy and certainly seems desir- able; yet it would be difficult to find among his poems one in which Pope is not guilty of such repetition. Even in the earlier poems, when the rule might have been fresh in his mind, Pope re- peats his rime sounds; Autumn has even the same actual rimes separated by only a single couplet: move, love (83-84), remove, love (87-88), as does, among others,"2 Eloisa: away, day (221-222), day, away (225-226); and examples of immediate repetition of the rime sound are innumerable. Hackneyed rimes, on the other hand, are harder to avoid. In so overwhelming a number of heroic couplets, it was inevitable that certain rimes should have become commonplace-the God, abode combination which Swift mentions, for example. There is little to rime with death but breath; but, given that deplorable fact about the English language, it would per- haps be wise to allow death to turn up as a rime world only very ex- ceptionally. The number of rime combinations which occur too fre- quently in Pope's poems are far too many. Yet, as W. K. Wimsatt has pointed out,"5 Pope is capable of consummate artistry in riming, giving his rimes all the desirable qualities of accuracy, variety, inevitability, unexpectedness, and rhetorical point. Many of Pope's most famous couplets-most of the aphorisms in An Essay on Criticism, for example-are cases in point. But other couplets from An Essay on Criticism may demon- strate more clearly, precisely because they are less familiar: What woful stuff this Madrigal wou'd be, In some starv'd Hackny Sonneteer, or me? But let a Lord once own the happy Lines, How the Wit brightens! How the Style refines! (418-421) So much they scorn the Crowd, that if the Throng By Chance go right, they purposely go wrong. (426-427) 32. E.g., Epistle to Augustus, 191-192; 195-196. 33. See n. 2, Introduction, above; also p. 19, above. 26 THE REACH OF ART And earth is deluged with the sanguine showers. As with autumnal harvests cover'd o'er, And thick bestrown, lies Ceres' sacred floor. (Iliad, XX, 573-578) Moreover, Pope mentions two faults in the use of rime, and he is guilty of both. First, in his letter on prosody he observes that rime sounds should not be repeated within four to six lines. Second, in An Essay on Criticism he makes fun, in a famous passage, of hackneyed rimes. Avoiding almost immediate repetition of the same rime sound ought to be fairly easy and certainly seems desir- able; yet it would be difficult to find among his poems one in which Pope is not guilty of such repetition. Even in the earlier poems, when the rule might have been fresh in his mind, Pope re- peats his rime sounds; Autumn has even the same actual rimes separated by only a single couplet: move, love (83-84), remove, love (87-88), as does, among otherss Eloisa: away, day (221-222), day, away (225-226); and examples of immediate repetition of the rime sound are innumerable. Hackneyed rimes, on the other hand, are harder to avoid. In so overwhelming a number of heroic couplets, it was inevitable that certain rimes should have become commonplace-the God, abode combination which Swift mentions, for example. There is little to rime with death but breath; but, given that deplorable fact about the English language, it would per- haps be wise to allow death to turn up as a rime world only very ex- ceptionally. The number of rime combinations which occur too fre- quently in Pope's poems are far too many. Yet, as W. K. Wimsatt has pointed out," Pope is capable of consummate artistry in riming, giving his rimes all the desirable qualities of accuracy, variety, inevitability, unexpectedness, and rhetorical point. Many of Pope's most famous couplets-most of the aphorisms in An Essay on Criticism, for example-are cases in point. But other couplets from An Essay on Criticism may demon- strate more clearly, precisely because they are less familiar: What woful stuff this Madrigal wou'd be, In some starv'd Hackny Sonneteer, or me? But let a Lord once own the happy Lines, How the Wit brightens! How the Style refines! (418-421) So much they scorn the Crowd, that if the Throng By Chance go right, they purposely go wrong. (426-427) 32. E.g., Epistle to Augustus, 191-192; 195-196. 33. See n. 2, Introduction, above; also p. 19, above. 26 THE REACH OF ART And earth is deluged with the sanguine showers. As with autumnal harvests cover'd o'er, And thick bestrown, lies Ceres' sacred floor. (Iliad, XX, 573-578) Moreover, Pope mentions two faults in the use of rime, and he is guilty of both. First, in his letter on prosody he observes that rime sounds should not be repeated within four to six lines. Second, in An Essay on Criticism he makes fun, in a famous passage, of hackneyed rimes. Avoiding almost immediate repetition of the same rime sound ought to be fairly easy and certainly seems desir- able; yet it would be difficult to find among his poems one in which Pope is not guilty of such repetition. Even in the earlier poems, when the rule might have been fresh in his mind, Pope re- peats his rime sounds; Autumn has even the same actual rimes separated by only a single couplet: move, love (83-84), remove, love (87-88), as does, among others " Eloisa: away, day (221-222), day, away (225-226); and examples of immediate repetition of the rime sound are innumerable. Hackneyed rimes, on the other hand, are harder to avoid. In so overwhelming a number of heroic couplets, it was inevitable that certain rimes should have become commonplace-the God, abode combination which Swift mentions, for example. There is little to rime with death but breath; but, given that deplorable fact about the English language, it would per- haps be wise to allow death to turn up as a rime world only very ex- ceptionally. The number of rime combinations which occur too fre- quently in Pope's poems are far too many. Yet, as W. K. Wimsatt has pointed out,"3 Pope is capable of consummate artistry in riming, giving his rimes all the desirable qualities of accuracy, variety, inevitability, unexpectedness, and rhetorical point. Many of Pope's most famous couplets-most of the aphorisms in An Essay on Criticism, for example-are cases in point. But other couplets from An Essay on Criticism may demon- strate more clearly, precisely because they are less familiar: What woful stuff this Madrigal wou'd be, In some starv'd Hackny Sonneteer, or me? But let a Lord once own the happy Lines, How the Wit brightens! How the Style refines! (418-421) So much they scorn the Crowd, that if the Throng By Chance go right, they purposely go wrong. (426-427) 32. E.g., Epistle to Augustus, 191-192; 195-196. 33. See n. 2, Introduction, above; also p. 19, above. 26  The wonder is that, given soch superb skill, he shoold have allowed himself to he so careless."t Alliteration, assonance, and other repetition of soands aee among Pope's most frequent and charactristic devices. The vaeiety of ares and the amoant of use vary widely from poem to poem to sash an extentsthatrdiscussionaofthem ishescpstpanedtoathe examination of those poems-especially Eloiaa to Abelardf, Epiotle to Arhuttot, T/heDunciad-wherectorh devices are very important. We come finally so that chameleon of eighteenth-century prosody, representative meter. Depending upon the critic, or the poet, or the reader, it may involve any element of versification-meter, caesura, word usage, alliteration, and so on-and it may "represent" anything from the most obovious noises to the most complex emo- tions, and sash unrelated phenomena as bolk and temperature. The basic, hare minimom consists of onomatopoetic words, like hoar, pare, gargle; bar hy "representative metr" Pope clearly means far more than this."s And even this minimom has no positive limit, 34. tn his ltter so Watsh, Pope objected to sripltsn. Tthey ore rare is his cork, and chat is said in n. 12, abase, on Atesandrines, applies here as cell. 35. Modemn tinguists cwold approach this chale qaestion sonechat differ- entlyheisngikely to consiee any effecotsclearly and sricly oomatopotic (i.e., imitative at sound) to he as teast pantially subjective, or norphemic,.o something in hetceen. Leonard Bloamftetri, tar exampte, salts sash phonis sqecsas the ft at flip, flop, flatter, the sa at aware, sniff, rort, or the eascr of bounce, jeaser, prance, morphemic (Languagr [New York, Henry Halt and Ca., 19331, pp 242-246). Charles r. Hashes, refers to reactions to sorb sounds as "snar asociations" (and thus appascotly subjective rear- tarns to accidestaltsimilaitis); shot is, 'she phonemic shape at lot weed sts uparevrrtioshbyits aouestie similaritytosome otherrcords," especially if therother words havearsimilar manig. Thsniwesetoup a arc cord Bugg toameanabeautyitwaouldseemniapprpriatebecase "its secondarynasoiations cithsoreds likerplugmg, jg,gly,tg,ag,sckaaeto geat" (AtCour is Matters Linguistics, pp. 297-If8). Foc an exaople at 'socething in between" se Zellig G. Harris, Methoda is Structural Linguistics (Chicago, flatversity at Chicago Pern, 1051, p. 193f. While sane at chat I describe agrees rather closely witk Hackett (see a. 39, below),I hose prefrred to take an independenty en- piaical approach, nktheat reference to tcentieth-century viewcs, fo wb raos (1) 1 am deang with the ideas and desires kno, or probably knon, to Pope, whoacould not haseknocn twentieth-censty sherries and conacepts; (2f rape speaks at reprrsentatsvr crter, by which, in tenas at his statecrass an she subject, the examples hr fires, and she techniques he employs, I nast take bin to reer to wbatever stands and mavenents and fatnesns help reprent the meaninf. A larger concept than onomatopoeia, this moss hr taken so in- clude subjective "reresentation' (so tang as she subjectisity is widely expert- rated, perhaps through the acditioingeffec t otadtioof and norbhemic "rprnrentation.' Moreaver, linguists seem inclined to grant that, whateser 27 The wonder is that, given such superb skill, he shoald have allowed himself takbe so sareless.4 Alliteration, assonance' and other repetition of saods are among Pope's marst frequena and characteristic devices. The variety of ores and the amoont of ore vary widely from poem to poem to sash an extent that dissussion of them it herst postponed so she examinasion of those poems-especially Efloiaa to Abelard, Epiatle ta Arbutbnot, The Dunciad-where sash devices are very impoesans. We same finally so that chameleon of eighteenth-rectory prosody, representasive meter. Depending opon she critic, cr the poet, or the reader, is may involve any element of versification-meter, caesura, ward usage, alliteration, and so an-and ie may "represent" anything from the marst obvious noises to the most complex emo- tions, andlsuchbunrelated phenomena as bulkand temperatre. The bask, hoe minimum consists of onomatopoetic words, like hart, pare, gargle; bat by "representative meter" Pope clearly means far mare than thista And even this minimum has no pasitive limit, 34. tn his ltter to Walsh, Pope objected so triplets. They acetrate to his cork, and what is said in a. 12, abase, n Alexandries, applies bee as writ. 35. Modern linguists woald approach this whale question somewhat differ- ently, being lkeltacnsidr anyeffens notdclealy ad sritlyoomatopotic (i.e., imitatise at sond) to hr at least partially suhjective, or morphemc, or semething in between. Leonard Bloomtield, toe esample, calls sash pbonemic sqecsas the ft at flip, flop, fluttrr, the to at snter, siff, trees, cc the auce' at hoote, joance, fence, morphemic (Laguage (Nec York, Henry Halt and Co., 19331, pp. t4t-oo). Charles F. Hackett trefers to ractiost sash stands as "seaandary associations" food thas apparently subjectise rear- Otiostacidenasimlaries);- shot is,"the pkonemiceshape ot lot weed sta ap reserbermtonshby its aoticsimilaityto somerother words,"'specially if the othercwrdshaverasimilarnmenig. Thus ifcesetoup a arc card su~gg toacnhbeautpi woutdsemniappopriaterhease "its scoaryntasoiations withcwordshlkeplug,omugjug,ougly, tugtag, tucboaretoogreat" (ACoucrein Modrn Linguistic, pp. 297-298). Per an exasmple at 'something in between" see Zellig G. Harris, Methoda it Structural Liaguisties (Chicago, flattenty at Chicago Press, 1951, p. 15ff. While sane at chat I describe agrreseratherctasely with Hackett (see a. 39,below), b ase preferred to take at indlependenaly en- piaral approach, withot refeence to twentieth-century vi'ews, to, two reasons: (1) t am dealing with she ideas and desices known, or probably known, to Pope, wcouldanothavekown twentieth-acentury theories and concepts; (2f Pope speaks of repretestative crter, by chick, to leans at his statements oc the sob)jerr, the examples he gises, and she techniques he employs, t mcst take bin to retr to chaseve scounds tand novreen and patterns help repesens she meaning. A laer concept than noaopoeia, this mant he taken to in- cludersuhjcativearepresetaion"(soelog as the subhectivityis widly expri- eared, perhaps through the conditioning effect of tradition) tand norphemic '"rpreseneation." Moreose, hanguists seem inclined to grant that, wastever 27 The wonder is that, given sash saperb skill, he should have allowed himself to be so careless"a Alliteration, assonance, and other repetition of coands are among Pope's mostsfrequentsandhrateristicdevies. The variety of uses and the amount of use vary widely from poem so poem to sush on extent that discussion of them in best postponed to the examination of those poems-especially Eloisa to Abelard, Epirtle to Aebathnot, The Duciad-wherr sash devises ae very important. We come finally so shot chameleon of eighteenth-centary prosody, represenrasive meter. Depending upon the critic, or the pars, or she reader, is may involve any element of versification-meter, caesura, word usage, alliteration, and so an-and it moy "represent" anything from the most obyioat noises to the mast complex emo- sions, and sash anrelated phencomena as balk and tremperasare. The hasic, hare minimuam cansiss of onomatopoetic wards, like hooz, pucre, gargle; hsut hy "representative meter" Pope clearly means far more than thist' And even this minimum has no positive limit, t4. tn his ltrer to Walsh, Pope objected an triplets. They ace rare ,in his cork, and what is raid in a. 12, those, n Alexadrinos, applinsbee as well. 35. Modemn linguists woald approach this chalr qoestionsomeckat differ- crtly, beinghlkely toaconsider any effects not clearly and strictly onoatopoetis fire., imitatise of sond) to hr as leant partialy subjective, or norphemic, or something in between. Leonard BooatiGlrd, foe example, calls sash phonenic sqecsas the ft at fhip, plop, flutser, the tn at scare, sniff, snort, or the a,,scealoaoncefoune, ponc,norphemic fLanguag[New York, Hery Halt and Co., 19331, pp. 242-2d6). Charles F'. Hackett trefers to reactions to sash stands as "sacodary assoriations" (ond thas apparently sohjctive rear- tioastoracridentaslsimilariies that is,thphonmishape o aworad ts up reserberationshby is aoustniimilarity to sometherwods,"epciallyOi theaother words haeasimilarnmeaning. Thuseiwe stupa newwodsgg so mean hrautypi could seem inappropriate because 'its secoadary assoaione with wards like plug, nag, jag, ugly, fag, sag, each are son grat' fA Coaste is Matters Cinguistic, pp. ff199). Foe aa example at 'something in between" see Zellig G. Harris, Methods it Structural Linguitics f(Chicago, Unoivenity at Chicago Press, 1951, p. 193). While some at what I dresetibe agrres rather closely swithHackent fseean.39,hrlow)f Ibave preferred tostakeanindependetyrem. piral approach, without reerence so twentieth-centy stews, tar two reasons: (1) t am dealing cribh she ideas and derices kown, at proabhy known, so Pope, whoaoudaotdavesknwntwenith-cnryrhriesndcnepts;f(2f Pope speaks at epreetatie mrter, by which, in terms at his statements an the subjcts, she eaamples hr gives, and the techniques he employs, I mast take him en trefen tobwateveresounds and movreaen and panterns help represent the meaning. A largesrocept than onomaoporia, this mass he takee to in- cludr subjective "eepreetation' (so tang as the subjectivity is widely exper- rated, perhaps through the conditioningreffect of tradition) and morphemic "epereetation. Moere linguists seem inclined to grant that, whatever 27  THE REACH OF ART while certainty recedes farther and farther into the distance as one leaves the simple question of mere words for the more complex devices of alliteration, or ron-on lines, or pause; or simple sound correspondence for the more esoteric regions of correspondence in emotion. Certain real correspondences are of course possible to a line of verse which are not possible to a single word. A line, for ex- ample, may describe a sudden stop-and come to a sudden stop; a device which is particularly effective if the stop is at an unexpected place in the line. Moreover, if hiss is onomatopoetic, then a line which describes the voice of a serpent and is crowded with s's should be at least equally so. But there is this difference: hiss always "represents"; but a sudden stop in an unexpected place may be merely for variety, and a line with numerous s's may have nothing whatever to do with the voice of a serpent. A line describ- ing the halting gait of a cripple may have purposely outlandish meter; but lines that are outlandish metrically may appear quite without intention in the work of a poetaster. The regular prac- tice of a particular poet also makes a difference; if one finds en- jambment between couplets in Pope, one seeks a "representative" reason; in Keats' Endymion, one most likely does not. Most people would agree that, considering his theories, Pope probably intended the following line to be slow-moving: And oft look'd back, slow-moving o'er the strand. (Iliad, I, 453) But they may or may not agree that it is slow-moving. On the other hand, the following line seems to me to "represent" not swiftness but the rocking, "bounding" motion which is the type of motion being described: Above the bounding billows swift they flew. (Iliad, I, 628) This time, I imagine, many people would doubt that such an effect was intended, much less achieved, especially since Pope's recorded statements offer no direct evidence that he believed such an effect possible, as they do regarding speed or its lack. All I can do, there- they call such peheome te linguistically untrained reader (such as Popel) will assume them to be representational or even onomatopoetic. See, for ex- ample, Bloomfield, p. 156 ("to the speaker it seems as if the sounds were especially suited to the meaning"); and Charlton Laird, The Miracle of Lan- guage (Cleveland, World Publishing Co., 1953, p. 73). 28 THE REACH OF ART while certainty recedes farther and farther into the distance as one leaves the simple question of mere words for the more complex devices of alliteration, or ronon lines, or pause; or simple sound correspondence for the more esoteric regions of correspondence in emotion. Certain real correspondences are of course possible to a line of verse which are not possible to a single word. A line, for ex- ample, may describe a sudden stop-and come to a sudden stop; a device which is particularly effective if the stop is at an unexpected place in the line. Moreover, if hiss is onomatopoetic, then a line which describes the voice of a serpent and is crowded with s's should be at least equally so. But there is this difference: hiss always "represents"; but a sudden stop in an unexpected place may be merely for variety, and a line with numerous s's may have nothing whatever to do with the voice of a serpent. A line describ- ing the halting gait of a cripple may have purposely outlandish meter; but lines that are outlandish metrically may appear quite without intention in the work of a poetaster. The regular prac- tice of a particular poet also makes a difference; if one finds en- jambment between couplets in Pope, one seeks a "representative" reason; in Keats' Endymion, one most likely does not. Most people would agree that, considering his theories, Pope probably intended the following line to be slow-moving: And oft look'd back, slow-moving o'er the strand. (Iliad, I, 453) But they may or may not agree that it is slow-moving. On the other hand, the following line seems to me to "represent" not swiftness but the rocking, "bounding" motion which is the type of motion being described: Above the bounding billows swift they flew. (Iliad, I, 628) This time, I imagine, many people would doubt that such an effect was intended, much less achieved, especially since Pope's recorded statements offer no direct evidence that he believed such an effect possible, as they do regarding speed or its lack. All I can do, there- they call such phenomena, the linguistically untrained reader (such as Popel) will assume them to be representational or even onomatopoetic. See, for ex- ample, Bloomfield, p. 156 ("to the speaker it seems as if the sounds were especially suited to the meaning"); and Charlton Laird, The Miracle of Lan- guage (Cleveland, World Publishing Co., 1953, p. 73). 28 THE REACH OF ART while certainty recedes farther and farther into the distance as one leaves the simple question of mere words for the more complex devices of alliteration, or run-on lines, or pause; or simple sound correspondence for the more esoteric regions of correspondence in emotion. Certain real correspondences are of course possible to a line of verse which are not possible to a single word. A line, for ex- ample, may describe a sudden stop-and come to a sudden stop; a device which is particularly effective if the stop is at an unexpected place in the line. Moreover, if hiss is onomatopoetic, then a line which describes the voice of a serpent and is crowded with s's should be at least equally so. But there is this difference: hiss always "represents"; but a sudden stop in an unexpected place may be merely for variety, and a line with numerous s's may have nothing whatever to do with the voice of a serpent. A line describ- ing the halting gait of a cripple may have purposely outlandish meter; but lines that are outlandish metrically may appear quite without intention in the work of a poetaster. The regular prac- tice of a particular poet also makes a difference; if one finds en- jambment between couplets in Pope, one seeks a "representative" reason; in Keats' Endymion, one most likely does not. Most people would agree that, considering his theories, Pope probably intended the following line to be slow-moving: And oft look'd back, slow-moving o'er the strand. (Iliad, I, 453) But they may or may not agree that it is slow-moving. On the other hand, the following line seems to me to "represent" not swiftness but the rocking, "bounding" motion which is the type of motion being described: Above the bounding billows swift they flew. (Iliad, I, 628) This time, I imagine, many people would doubt that such an effect was intended, much less achieved, especially since Pope's recorded statements offer no direct evidence that he believed such an effect possible, as they do regarding speed or its lack. All I can do, there- they call such phenomena, the linguistically untrained reader (such as Popel) will assume them to be representational or even onomatopoetic. See, for ex- ample, Bloomfield, p. 156 ("to the speaker it seems as if the sounds were especially suited to the meaning'); and Charlton Laird, The Miracle of Lan- guage (Cleveland, World Publishing Co., 1953, p. 73). 28  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL fore, is to point out the three successive b's and the trochaic effect of bounding billows and say (rather helplessly) that to me the rocking motion is there; that the elements I have indicated seem to me to put it there; and that such techniques as alliteration in so careful a poet as Pope are not, generally speaking, random."s But to one who (quite legitimately) finds, even after it is suggested to him, no correspondence between the significance of the word bounding and the movement of the line, I should have proved exactly nothing. After all, a good deal of the correspondence be- tween sound and sses in poetry is conventional. We have come to accept back vowels as an element in solemnity or gloom, r's for roughness, difficult pronunciation for difficult movement, voiced continuants for smoothness, and so on. These are conventions. Nothing is inherently gloomy about the o of solemn or the oo of doom, nor would we find them so in mollycoddle or food. But we have come to accept the view that if the sense is mournful, back vowels help emphasize it. We prefer the effect to be subtle; but we should feel uncomfortable at a line expressive of gloom in which the dominant sounds were short front vowels and unvoiced stopped consonants. There is, of course, another sort of representation which is more rhetorical in nature. Pope's two commonest uses of alliteration fall into this category: parallel alliteration reinforcing parallel sense; alliteration of adjective and substantive reinforcing the union of the two. Existence of this sort of representative meter is not especially disputed or disputable; and it is probably this sort which eighteenth-century critics sometimes had in mind when they reiterated their pleas for a correspondence of sound and sense. Pope himself stated strongly in his letter on prosody that verse should imitate sound and motion, and can do it well: It is not enough that nothing offends the ear . . . in describing a gliding stream, the numbers should run easy and flowing; in describing a rough torrent or deluge, sonorous and swelling; and so of the rest.... This, I think, is what very few observe in practice, and is undoubtedly of wonderful force in printing the image on the reader. 36. I. A Richards gives very similar examples of lines relating alliteration and movement to a description of movement (Principles of Literary Criticism, pp. 144-145). 29 THE PATrERN IN GENERAL fore, is to point out the three successive b's and the trochaic effect of bounding billows and say (rather helplessly) that to me the rocking motion is there; that the elements I have indicated seem to me to put it there; and that such techniques as alliteration in so careful a poet as Pope are not, generally speaking, random?" But to one who (quite legitimately) finds, even after it is suggested to him, no correspondence between the significance of the word bounding and the movement of the line, I should have proved exactly nothing. After all, a good deal of the correspondence be- tween sound and sses in poetry is conventional. We have come to accept back vowels as an element in solemnity or gloom, r's for roughness, difficult pronunciation for difficult movement, voiced continuants for smoothness, and so on. These are conventions. Nothing is inherently gloomy about the o of solemn or the oo of doom, nor would we find them so in mollycoddle or food. But we have come to accept the view that if the sense is mournful, back vowels help emphasize it. We prefer the effect to be subtle; but we should feel uncomfortable at a line expressive of gloom in which the dominant sounds were short front vowels and unvoiced stopped consonants. There is, of course, another sort of representation which is more rhetorical in nature. Pope's two commonest uses of alliteration fall into this category: parallel alliteration reinforcing parallel sense; alliteration of adjective and substantive reinforcing the union of the two. Existence of this sort of representative meter is not especially disputed or disputable; and it is probably this sort which eighteenth-century critics sometimes had in mind when they reiterated their pleas for a correspondence of sound and sense. Pope himself stated strongly in his letter on prosody that verse should imitate sound and motion, and can do it well: It is not enough that nothing offends the ear . . . in describing a gliding stream, the numbers should run easy and flowing; in describing a rough torrent or deluge, sonorous and swelling; and so of the rest.... This, I think, is what very few observe in practice, and is undoubtedly of wonderful force in printing the image on the reader. 36. I. A Richards gives very similar examples of lines relating alliteration and movement to a description of movement (Principles of Literary Criticism, pp,. 144-145). 29 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL fore, is to point out the three successive b's and the trochaic effect of bounding billows and say (rather helplessly) that to me the rocking motion is there; that the elements I have indicated seem to me to put it there; and that such techniques as alliteration in so careful a poet as Pope are not, generally speaking, random." But to one who (quite legitimately) finds, even after it is suggested to him, no correspondence between the significance of the word bounding and the movement of the line, I should have proved exactly nothing. After all, a good deal of the correspondence be- tween sound and sense in poetry is conventional. We have come to accept back vowels as an element in solemnity or gloom, r's for roughness, difficult pronunciation for difficult movement, voiced continuants for smoothness, and so on. These are conventions. Nothing is inherently gloomy about the o of solemn or the oo of doom, nor would we find them so in mollycoddle or food. But we have come to accept the view that if the sense is mournful, back vowels help emphasize it. We prefer the effect to be subtle; but we should feel uncomfortable at a line expressive of gloom in which the dominant sounds were short front vowels and unvoiced stopped consonants. There is, of course, another sort of representation which is more rhetorical in nature. Pope's two commonest uses of alliteration fall into this category: parallel alliteration reinforcing parallel sense; alliteration of adjective and substantive reinforcing the union of the two. Existence of this sort of representative meter is not especially disputed or disputable; and it is probably this sort which eighteenth-century critics sometimes had in mind when they reiterated their pleas for a correspondence of sound and sense. Pope himself stated strongly in his letter on prosody that verse should imitate sound and motion, and can do it well: It is not enough that nothing offends the ear ... in describing a gliding stream, the numbers should run easy and flowing; in describing a rough torrent or deluge, sonorous and swelling; and so of the rest. ... This, I think, is what very few observe in practice, and is undoubtedly of wonderful force in printing the image on the reader. 36. I. A Richards gives very similar examples of lines relating alliteration and movement to a description of movement (Principles of Literary Criticism, pp. 144-145). 29  THE REACH OF ART The famous passage in An Essay on Criticism (11. 364-373) is a versification of this almost exactly, except that it goes on (11. 374- 383) to praise emotional correspondence as well. In his letter Pope had mentioned Homer and Virgil as pre-eminently successful prac- titioners of representation; and in his later essays on Homer in connection with his translations, he went even farther, praising both poets for their skill in matching sound to sense, in terms in- dicating that he meant more than mere general correspondence, for example: Thus his [Homer's] measures, instead of being fetters to his sense, were always in readiness to run along with the warmth of his rapture, and even to give a farther representation of his notions, in the correspondence of the sounds to what they signified." In view of such statements, it is not surprising that Pope's prac- tice could easily be used as a manual of methods of successful representation. Many of his wonderfully skillful displays of repre- sentative meter are famous: the close of The Dunciad, the portrait of Sporus in Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, various passages in The Rape of the Lock. Pope's representation in its simplest form de- pends heavily on onomatopoetic words: Th'impatient weapon whizzes on the wing; Sounds the tough horn, and twangs the quiv'ring string. (Iliad, IV, 156-157) But he imitates movement, or movement and sound, more often than sound alone; and this requires more complex means: As torrents roll, increas'd by numerous rills, With rage impetuous down their echoing hills; Rush to the vales, and, pour'd along the plain, Roar thro' a thousand channels to the main. (Iliad, IV, 516-519) Here the impression of swift, loud movement is created by the many r's, the back vowels, the avoidance of consonant clusters and consequent ease of pronunciation, the lack of spondees, the several light feet, the several trisyllables, the initial trochees, the late cae- sura in the last line. Slow, smooth motion can be equally well represented: In a soft, silver Stream dissolv'd away. (Windsor-Forest, 204) 37. Preface to the Iliad, Complete Poetical Works, p. 254. 30 THE REACH OF ART The famous passage in An Essay on Criticism (11. 364-373) is a versification of this almost exactly, except that it goes on (11. 374- 383) to praise emotional correspondence as well. In his letter Pope had mentioned Homer and Virgil as pre-eminently successful prac- titioners of representation; and in his later essays on Homer in connection with his translations, he went even farther, praising both poets for their skill in matching sound to sense, in terms in- dicating that he meant more than mere general correspondence, for example: Thus his [Homer's] measures, instead of being fetters to his sense, were always in readiness to run along with the warmth of his rapture, and even to give a farther representation of his notions, in the correspondence of the sounds to what they signified." In view of such statements, it is not surprising that Pope's prac- tice could easily be used as a manual of methods of successful representation. Many of his wonderfully skillful displays of repre- sentative meter are famous: the close of The Dunciad, the portrait of Sporus in Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, various passages in The Rape of the Lock. Pope's representation in its simplest form de- pends heavily on onomatopoetic words: Th'impatient weapon whizzes on the wing; Sounds the tough horn, and twangs the quiv'ring string. (Iliad, IV, 156-157) But he imitates movement, or movement and sound, more often than sound alone; and this requires more complex means: As torrents roll, increas'd by numerous rills, With rage impetuous down their echoing hills; Rush to the vales, and, pour'd along the plain, Roar thro' a thousand channels to the main. (Iliad, IV, 516-519) Here the impression of swift, loud movement is created by the many r's, the back vowels, the avoidance of consonant clusters and consequent ease of pronunciation, the lack of spondees, the several light feet, the several trisyllables, the initial trochees, the late cae- sura in the last line. Slow, smooth motion can be equally well represented: In a soft, silver Stream dissolv'd away. (Windsor-Forest, 204) 37. Preface to the Iliad, Complete Poetical Works, p. 254. 30 THE REACH OF ART The famous passage in An Essay on Criticism (11. 364-373) is a versification of this almost exactly, except that it goes on (11. 374- 383) to praise emotional correspondence as well. In his letter Pope had mentioned Homer and Virgil as pre-eminently successful prac- titioners of representation; and in his later essays on Homer in connection with his translations, he went even farther, praising both poets for their skill in matching sound to sense, in terms in- dicating that he meant more than mere general correspondence, for example: Thus his [Homer's] measures, instead of being fetters to his sense, were always in readiness to run along with the warmth of his rapture, and even to give a farther representation of his notions, in the correspondence of the sounds to what they signified." In view of such statements, it is not surprising that Pope's prac- tice could easily be used as a manual of methods of successful representation. Many of his wonderfully skillful displays of repre- sentative meter are famous: the close of The Dunciad, the portrait of Sporus in Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, various passages in The Rape of the Lock. Pope's representation in its simplest form de- pends heavily on onomatopoetic words: Th'impatient weapon whizzes on the wing; Sounds the tough horn, and twangs the quiv'ring string. (Iliad, IV, 156-157) But he imitates movement, or movement and sound, more often than sound alone; and this requires more complex means: As torrents roll, increas'd by numerous rills, With rage impetuous down their echoing hills; Rush to the vales, and, pour'd along the plain, Roar thro' a thousand channels to the main. (Iliad, IV, 516-519) Here the impression of swift, loud movement is created by the many r's, the back vowels, the avoidance of consonant clusters and consequent ease of pronunciation, the lack of spondees, the several light feet, the several trisyllables, the initial trochees, the late cae- sura in the last line. Slow, smooth motion can be equally well represented: In a soft, silver Stream dissolv'd away. (Windsor-Forest, 204) 37. Preface to the Iliad, Complete Poetical Works, p. 254. 30  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL And so can more specialized motions, such as shrinking or con- traction: Or Alom-Stypticks with contracting Power Shrink his thin Essence like a rivell'd Flower. (Rape of the Lock, II, 131-132) Here, among the elements contributing to the effect are the "dry" sound of the many unvoiced stops (two p's, three k-sounds, four t's) in the first line, especially in juxtaposition-pt and ct, both heavily accented; the contrasting "thin" continuants, mostly dental (sh, s, n) in the second line; and in both lines the short front vowels, representative of littleness. Short front vowels can equally well represent a mental or emo- tional rather than a physical littleness: Thron'd in the Centre of his thin designs; Proud of a vast Extent of flimzy lines. (Arbuthnot, 93-94) In this passage, Pope applies to versification his favorite humorous device of anticlimax, allowing the resonant back vowels in the first half of each line (throned, proud, vast) to lapse into a "flimsy" mass of short e's and i's. But as a confused littleness can be represented, so can a confused bigness: The gath'ring number, as it moves along, Involves a vast involuntary throng. (Dunciad, IV, 81-82) Heere the repeated v's and l's, the open back vowels, and the poly- syllable are as effective as they are reminiscent of Milton. Types of feet may be used for representation. The sense of the word equal is matched by the regular iambics in And urg'd the rest by equal Steps to rise. (E. on C., 97) The opportunity to linger over the second foot in the following line, effected by the spondee and the long vowels and the nasal con- tinuants, reinforces the idea of length and of funereal slowness: While tde long fun'rals blacken all the way. (Unfortunate Lady, 40) And very occasionally, as I have already noticed, real violence is done to the iambic pattern for the sake of representation: Jumping, high o'er the shrubs of the rough ground, 31 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL And so can more specialized motions, such as shrinking or con- traction: Or Alom-Stypticks with contracting Power Shrink his thin Essence like a rivell'd Flower. (Rape of the Lock, 33, 131-132) Here, among the elements contributing to the effect are the "dry" sound of the many unvoiced stops (two p's, three k-sounds, four t's) in the first line, especially in juxtaposition-pt and ct, both heavily accented; the contrasting "thin" continuants, mostly dental (sh, s, n) in the second line; and in both lines the short front vowels, representative of littleness. Short front vowels can equally well represent a mental or emo- tional rather than a physical littleness: Thron'd in the Centre of his thin designs; Proud of a vast Extent of flimzy lines. (Arbuthnot, 93-94) In this passage, Pope applies to versification his favorite humorous device of anticlimax, allowing the resonant back vowels in the first half of each line (throned, proud, vast) to lapse into a "flimsy" mass of short e's and i's. But as a confused littleness can be represented, so can a confused bigness: The gath'ring number, as it moves along, Involves a vast involuntary throng. (Dunciad, IV, 81-82) Here the repeated v's and l's, the open back vowels, and the poly- syllable are as effective as they are reminiscent of Milton. Types of feet may be used for representation. The sense of the word equal is matched by the regular iambics in And urg'd the rest by equal Steps to rise. (E. on C., 97) The opportunity to linger over the second foot in the following line, effected by the spondee and the long vowels and the nasal con- tinuants, reinforces the idea of length and of funereal slowness: While the long fun'rals blacken all the way. (Unfortunate Lady, 40) And very occasionally, as I have already noticed, real violence is done to the iambic pattern for the sake of representatiorn: - Jumping, high o'er the shrubs of the rough ground, 31 THE PATTERN IN GENERAL And so can more specialized motions, such as shrinking or con- traction: Or Alom-Stypticks with contracting Power Shrink his thin Essence like a rivell'd Flower. (Rape of the Lock, II, 131-132) Here, among the elements contributing to the effect are the "dry" sound of the many unvoiced stops (two p's, three k-sounds, four t's) in the first line, especially in juxtaposition-pt and ct, both heavily accented; the contrasting "thin" continuants, mostly dental (sh, s, n) in the second line; and in both lines the short front vowels, representative of littleness. Short front vowels can equally well represent a mental or emo- tional rather than a physical littleness: Thron'd in the Centre of his thin designs; Proud of a vast Extent of flimzy lines. (Arbuthnot, 93-94) In this passage, Pope applies to versification his favorite humorous device of anticlimax, allowing the resonant back vowels in the first half of each line (throned, proud, vast) to lapse into a "flimsy" mass of short e's and i's. But as a confused littleness can be represented, so can a confused bigness: The gath'ring number, as it moves along, Involves a vast involuntary throng. (Dunciad, IV, 81-82) Here the repeated v's and l's, the open back vowels, and the poly- syllable are as effective as they are reminiscent of Milton. Types of feet may be used for representation. The sense of the word equal is matched by the regular iambics in And urg'd the rest by equal Steps to rise. (E. on C., 97) The opportunity to linger over the second foot in the following line, effected by the spondee and the long vowels and the nasal con- tinuants, reinforces the idea of length and of funereal slowness: While the long fun'rals blacken all the way. (Unfortunate Lady, 40) And very occasionally, as I have already noticed, real violence is done to the iambic pattern for the sake of representation: Jumping, high o'er the shrubs of the rough ground, 31  THE REACH OF ART Rattle the clatt'ring cars, and the shock'd axles botnd. (Iliad, XXIII, 142-143) Here, where jumping and rattling and jerky movement are de- scribed, the first line has only one iambic foot, and in the second line (an Alexandrine), even if clatt'ring is accepted as a dissyllable, there are only three iambic feet out of six. The use of difficult pronunciation to represent difficult physical exertion appears again and again, for example: Then fierce Tydides stoops; and, from the fields Heav'd with vast force, a rocky fragment wields. (Iliad, V, 369-370) Enjambment may have a representative purpose, often, as in the following couplet, in combination with unusual caesura: Which,/without passing thro' the Judgment,/gains The Heart/and all its End at once attains. (E. on C., 156-157) Unusual caesura may be used for climax: To help me thro' this long Disease,/my Life, (Arbuthnot, 132) or for anticlimax: The Mighty Mother, and her Son who brings The Smithfield Muses to the ear of Kings, I sing.? (Dunciad, , 1-3) And after all it is in humor that Pope's skill is greatest and most characteristic.'" One knows of no one else who can achieve quite such effects as the brilliantly risible As when a dab-chick waddles thro' the copse. (Dunciad, II, 63) There are more difficult cases. One feels a representative quality in such a couplet as Weak, foolish man! will Heav'n reward us there With the same trash mad mortals wish for here? (E. on M., IV, 173-174) In this and many other instances, Pope gains his effect in part by analyzing his principal, usually unpleasant, word or words-in this case, trash-and repeating its principal elements elsewhere in the lines. Here the sh is repeated in foolish and wish, and the short a THE REACH OF ART Rattle she clatt'ring cars, and the shock'd axles bound. (Iliad, XXIII, 142-143) Here, where jumping and rattling and jerky movement are de- scribed, the first line has only one iambic foot, and in the second line (an Alexandrine), even if clatt'ring is accepted as a dissyllable, there are only three iambic feet out of six. The use of difficult pronunciation to represent difficult physical exertion appears again and again, for example: Then fierce Tydides stoops; and, from the fields Heav'd with vast force, a rocky fragment wields. (Iliad, V, 369-370) Enjambment may have a representative purpose, often, as in the following couplet, in combination with unusual caesura: Which,/without passing thro' the Judgment,/gains The Heart,/and all its End at once attains. (E. on C., 156-157) Unusual caesura may be used for climax: To help me thro' this long Disease,/my Life, (Arbuthnot, 132) or for anticlimax: The Mighty Mother, and her Son who brings The Smithfield Muses to the ear of Kings, I sing.? (Dunciad, , 1-3) And after all it is in humor that Pope's skill is greatest and most characteristic." One knows of no one else who can achieve quite such effects as the brilliantly risible As when a dab-chick waddles thro' the copse. (Dunciad, II, 63) There are more difficult cases. One feels a representative quality in such a couplet as Weak, foolish man! will Heav'n reward us there With the same trash mad mortals wish for here? (E. on M., IV, 173-174) In this and many other instances, Pope gains his effect in part by analyzing his principal, usually unpleasant, word or words-in this case, trash-and repeating its principal elements elsewhere in the lines. Here the sh is repeated in foolish and wish, and the short a THE REACH OF ART Rattle the clatt'ring cers, and tEe shock'd axles bo nd. (Iliad, XXIII, 142-143) Here, where jumping and rattling and jerky movement are de- scribed, the first line has only one iambic foot, and in the second line (an Alexandrine), even if clatt'ring is accepted as a dissyllable, there are only three iambic feet out of six. The use of difficult pronunciation to represent difficult physical exertion appears again and again, for example: Then fierce Tydides stoops; and, from the fields Heav'd with vast force, a rocky fragment wields. (Iliad, V, 369-370) Enjambment may have a representative purpose, often, as in the following couplet, in combination with unusual caesura: Which,/without passing thro' the Judgment,/gains The Heart,/and all its End at once attains. (E. on C., 156-157) Unusual caesura may be used for climax: To help me thro' this long Disease,/my Life, (Arbuthnot, 132) or for anticlimax: The Mighty Mother, and her Son who brings The Smithfield Muses to the ear of Kings, I sing.? (Dunciad, , 1-3) And after all it is in humor that Pope's skill is greatest and most characteristic." One knows of no one else who can achieve quite such effects as the brilliantly risible As when a dab-chick waddles thro' the copse. (Dunciad, II, 63) There are more difficult cases. One feels a representative quality in such a couplet as Weak, foolish man will Heav'n reward us there With the same trash mad mortals wish for here? (E. on M., IV, 173-174) In this and many other instances, Pope gains his effect in part by analyzing his principal, usually unpleasant, word or words-in this case, trash-and repeating its principal elements elsewhere in the lines. Here the sh is repeated in foolish and wish, and the short a 38. Cf. Tillotson, p. 121. 32 38. Cf. Tillotson, p. 121. 32 38. Cf. Tillotson, p. 121. 32  THE PATTERN IN GENERAL in man and mad, thus accounting for most of the key words. To this he adds an (almost surely purposely) obvious and hence ill- sounding alliteration (weak, will, with, wish; man, mad, mortal). And he thus succeeds in transmitting the distinct impression that the lines themselves have an unpleasant texture to match their meaning. Another instance of this is: In the fat Age of Pleasure, Wealth, and Ease, Sprung the rank Weed, and thriv'd with large Increase. (E. on C., 534-535)40 Several unpleasant ideas appear in the first line: "fat age," and (in context) "pleasure" and "ease." And the short a of fat is repeated in rank; the soft g of age is repeated in large (and there is the closely related s of pleasure); the short e of pleasure appears again in wealth; and the long e of ease in weed and increase. In addition, there are the alliteration of wealth and weed; and the ugly contrast of the many smooth sounds (voiced continuants, like the s in pleas- ure and the e in thriv'd; drawn-out vowels, like the i in thrived and the a in large) with the evil luxuriance of the meaning. Smoothness plus corruption equal decadence; and decadence is precisely the effect obtained in these lines. Such a combination of techniques accounts for the ugliness of many unpleasant passages in the Epistle to Arbuthnot, The Dunciad, and numerous other poems. Pope's range in representative meter was wide. One of the major purposes in any poem-by-poem analysis of his prosody must be to show the astonishing variety and astonishingly consistent effective- ness of his "representative" effects. 39. This technique seems to be close to what Hckett refers to as "second- ary association." See n. 35, above. 40. The apparent borrowing from Shakespeare shows only that Shakespeare came close to the same technique: And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That rots itself in ease on L~ethe wharf. (Hamlet, I, y, 32-33) THE PATTERN IN GENERAL in man and mad, thus accounting for most of the key words. To this he adds an (almost surely purposely) obvious and hence ill- sounding alliteration (weak, will, with, wish; man, mad, mortal). And he thus succeeds in transmitting the distinct impression that the lines themselves have an unpleasant texture to match their meaning."9 Another instance of this is: In the fat Age of Pleasure, Wealth, and Ease, Sprung the rank Weed, and thriv'd with large Increase. (E. on C., 534-535)40 Several unpleasant ideas appear in the first line: "fat age," and (in context) "pleasure" and "ease." And the short a of fat is repeated in rank; the soft g of age is repeated in large (and there is the closely related s of pleasure); the short e of pleasure appears again in wealth; and the long e of ease in weed and increase. In addition, there are the alliteration of wealth and weed; and the ugly contrast of the many smooth sounds (voiced continuants, like the s in pleas- ure and the v in thriv'd; drawn-out vowels, like the i in thriv'd and the a in large) with the evil luxuriance of the meaning. Smoothness plus corruption equal decadence; and decadence is precisely the effect obtained in these lines. Such a combination of techniques accounts for the ugliness of many unpleasant passages in the Epistle to Arbuthnot, The Dunciad, and numerous other poems. Pope's range in representative meter was wide. One of the major purposes in any poem-by-poem analysis of his prosody must be to show the astonishing variety and astonishingly consistent effective- ness of his "representative" effects. 39. This technique seems to be close to what Hockett refers to as "second- ary association." See n. 35, above. 40. The apparent borrowing from Shakespeare shows only that Shakespeare came cose to the same technique: And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf. (Hamlet, I, v, 32-33) THE PATTERN IN GENERAL in man and mad, thus accounting for most of the key words. To this he adds an (almost surely purposely) obvious and hence ill- sounding alliteration (weak, will, with, wish; man, mad, mortal). And he thus succeeds in transmitting the distinct impression that the lines themselves have an unpleasant texture to match their meaning." Another instance of this is: In the fat Age of Pleasure, Wealth, and Ease, Sprung the rank Weed, and thriv'd with large Increase. (E. on C., 534-535)40 Several unpleasant ideas appear in the first line: "fat age," and (in context) "pleasure" and "ease." And the short a of fat is repeated in rank; the soft g of age is repeated in large (and there is the closely related s of pleasure); the short e of pleasure appears again in wealth; and the long e of ease in weed and increase. In addition, there are the alliteration of wealth and weed; and the ugly contrast of the many smooth sounds (voiced continuants, like the s in pleas- ure and the v in thriV'd; drawn-out vowels, like the i in thrived and the a in large) with the evil luxuriance of the meaning. Smoothness plus corruption equal decadence; and decadence is precisely the effect obtained in these lines. Such a combination of techniques accounts for the ugliness of many unpleasant passages in the Epistle to Arbuthnot, The Dunciad, and numerous other poems. Pope's range in representative meter was wide. One of the major purposes in any poem-by-poem analysis of his prosody must be to show the astonishing variety and astonishingly consistent effective- ness of his "representative" effects. 39. This technique seems to be close to what Hockett refers to as "second- ary association." See n. 35, above. 40. The apparent borrowing from Shakespeare shows only that Shakespeare came close to the same technique: And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf. (Hamlet, I, y, 32-33) 33 33 33  2. EARLY AND ROMANTIC The heroic couplet as Pope uses it in the Pastorals and Windsor- Forest and the other early poems is already a fine instrument, capable of fairly subtle modulation. Yet quite naturally, the Pas- torals come nearer in spirit to the strict prosodic rules of Pope's letter, and have fewer exceptions, than almost any other of his poems. They depart comparatively seldom, for example-though they do depart-from the caesura established as orthodox in his letter,' that following the fourth, fifth, or sixth syllable. Such a passage as the following from Autumn is typical: Resound ye Hills, resound my mournful Lay! 4 Beneath yon Poplar oft we past the Day: 5 Oft on the Rind I carv'd her Am'rous Vows, 4 While She with Garlands hung the bending Boughs: 5 The Garlands fade, the Vows are worn away; 4 So dies her Love, and so my Hopes decay. (65-70) 4 Pope displays this preference also in Windsor-Forest and the Mes- siah; and while orthodox caesuras diminish fairly steadily there- after, the more formal poems are always likely to have more of them. But in no poem later than Spring is the preference for the fourth-place caesura so strong, occurring in more than half the lines; and it is very high in the other Pastorals as well. This em- phasis upon the fourth-place caesura has probably a good deal to do with the Pastorals' artificial tone, though the Pastorals are also unusual in having more second-place caesuras than sixth-and in- deed for having more caesuras in the first half of the line than any later poems examined in this study. But while Pope obviously stayed closer to the rules in the Pastorals than he did later, he was already able to depart from them with notable skill, not merely for variety, but for calculated effect, as for instance: Thro' Rocks and Caves/ the Name of Delia sounds, Delia,/each Cave and ecchoing Rock rebounds, (Autumn, 49-50) 1. The rule for not more than three successive caesuras is also, mone sur- prisingly, broken; see pp. 6-7 and n. 6, Chapter I, above. 34 2. EARLY AND ROMANTIC The heroic couplet as Pope uses it in the Pastorals and Windsor- Forest and the other early poems is already a fine instrument, capable of fairly subtle modulation. Yet quite naturally, the Pas- torals come nearer in spirit to the strict prosodic rules of Pope's letter, and have fewer exceptions, than almost any other of his poems. They depart comparatively seldom, for example-though they do depart-from the caesura established as orthodox in his letter,' that following the fourth, fifth, or sixth syllable. Such a passage as the following from Autumn is typical: Resound ye Hills, resound my mournful Layl 4 Beneath yon Poplar oft we past the Day: 5 Oft on the Rind I carv'd her Am'rous Vows, 4 While She with Garlands hung the bending Boughs: 5 The Garlands fade, the Vows are worn away; 4 So dies her Love, and so my Hopes decay. (65-70) 4 Pope displays this preference also in Windsor-Forest and the Mes- siah; and while orthodox caesuras diminish fairly steadily there- after, the more formal poems are always likely to have more of them. But in no poem later than Spring is the preference for the fourth-place caesura so strong, occurring in more than half the lines; and it is very high in the other Pastorals as well. This em- phasis upon the fourth-place caesura has probably a good deal to do with the Pastorals' artificial tone, though the Pastorals are also unusual in having more second-place caesuras than sixth-and in- deed for having more caesuras in the first half of the line than any later poems examined in this study. But while Pope obviously stayed closer to the rules in the Pastorals than he did later, he was already able to depart from them with notable skill, not merely for variety, but for calculated effect, as for instance: Thro' Rocks and Caves/ the Name of Delia sounds, Delia,/each Cave and ecchoing Rock rebounds, (Autumn, 49-50) 1. The rule for not more than three successive caesuras is also, mon sur- prisingly, broken; see pp. 6-7 and n. 6, Chapter I, above. 34 2. EARLY AND ROMANTIC The heroic couplet as Pope uses it in the Pastorals and Windsor- Forest and the other early poems is already a fine instrument, capable of fairly subtle modulation. Yet quite naturally, the Pas- torals come nearer in spirit to the strict prosodic rules of Pope's letter, and have fewer exceptions, than almost any other of his poems. They depart comparatively seldom, for example-though they do depart-from the caesura established as orthodox in his letter,' that following the fourth, fifth, or sixth syllable. Such a passage as the following from Autumn is typical: Resound ye Hills, resound my mournful Lay 4 Beneath yon Poplar oft we past the Day: 5 Oft on the Rind I carv'd her Am'rous Vows, 4 While She with Garlands hung the bending Boughs: 5 The Garlands fade, the Vows are worn away; 4 So dies her Love, and so my Hopes decay. (65-70) 4 Pope displays this preference also in Windsor-Forest and the Mes- siah; and while orthodox caesuras diminish fairly steadily there- after, the more formal poems are always likely to have more of them. But in no poem later than Spring is the preference for the fourth-place caesura so strong, occurring in more than half the lines; and it is very high in the other Pastorals as well. This em- phasis upon the fourth-place caesura has probably a good deal to do with the Pastorals' artificial tone, though the Pastorals are also unusual in having more second-place caesuras than sixth-and in- deed for having more caesuras in the first half of the line than any later poems examined in this study. But while Pope obviously stayed closer to the rules in the Pastorals than he did later, he was already able to depart from them with notable skill, not merely for variety, but for calculated effect, as for instance: Thro' Rocks and Caves/ the Name of Delia sounds, Delia,/each Cave and ecchoing Rock rebounds, (Autumn, 49-50) 1. The rule for not more than three successive caesuras is also, more sur- prisingly, broken; see pp. 6-7 and n. 6, Chapter I, above. 34  EARLY AND ROMANTIC The Moon,/serene in Glory,/mounts the Sky, (Winter, 6) and the truly excellent No more the mounting Larks,/ while Daphne sings, Shall/list'ning in mid Air/suspend their Wings. (Winter, 53-54) The most important difference in caesura between the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest is the significant increase in sixth-place caesuras, and Windsor-Forest is the significant increase in sixth-place caesuras Earth's distant Ends our Glory shall behold, 4 And the new World launch forth to seek the Old. 6 Then Ships of uncouth Form shall stem the Tyde, 6 And Feather'd People crowd my wealthy Side, 5 And naked Youths and painted Chiefs admire 4 Our Speech, our Colour, and our strange Attirel 2-5 Oh stretch thy Reign, fair Peace! from Shore to Shore, 6 Till Conquest cease, and Slav'ry be no more: 4 Till the freed Indians in their native Groves 5 Reap their own Fruits, and woo their Sable Loves, 4 Peru once more a Race of Kings behold, 4 And other Mexico's be roof'd with Gold. (401-412) 6 Throughout his career, Pope used this increase in the sixth-place caesura as one method of attaining dignity, solemnity, or mag- nificence: in the Messiah; in the powerful opening eighteen lines of An Essay on Man, Epistle II; in the story of Sir Balaam in the third Moral Essay; in the close of The Dunciad. Thus while a certain tendency may be discerned on the basis of time only-the sixth-place caesura is never again so rare as in the Pastorals-the principal cause of variation here, as elsewhere in Pope's prosody, is the matching of sound to sense. Sixth-place caesuras, as Johnson was to point out, are as a type majestic. A few of them are always essential for variety; but they should occur more frequently only when an actual majesty or solemnity of thought is to be clothed in verse suitable to it. Both the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest are close to rule regarding meter. Here even the initial trochee, always a common Pope vari- ant, is scarcer than in any later important poem except the Mes- siah?2 Medial trochees are, as always, rare, but Pope already knew 2. In the Pastorals, the occurrence is about one line in ten; in The Rape of the Lock, about one in ive; in the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, about one in four.5 35 EARLY AND ROMANTIC The Moon,/serene in Glory,/mounts the Sky, (Winter, 6) and the truly excellent No more the mounting Larks,/ while Daphne sings, Shall/list'ning in mid Air/suspend their Wings. (Winter, 53-54) The most important difference in caesura between the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest is the significant increase in sixth-place caesuras, and Windsor-Forest is the significant increase in sixth-place caesuras Earth's distant Ends our Glory shall behold, 4 And the new World launch forth to seek the Old. 6 Then Ships of uncouth Form shall stem the Tyde, 6 And Feather'd People crowd my wealthy Side, 5 And naked Youths and painted Chiefs admire 4 Our Speech, our Colour, and our strange Attire! 2-5 Oh stretch thy Reign, fair Peace! from Shore to Shore, 6 Till Conquest cease, and Slav'ry be no more: 4 Till the freed Indians in their native Groves 5 Reap their own Fruits, and woo their Sable Loves, 4 Peru once more a Race of Kings behold, 4 And other Mexico's be roof'd with Gold. (401-412) 6 Throughout his career, Pope used this increase in the sixth-place caesura as one method of attaining dignity, solemnity, or mag- nificence: in the Messiah; in the powerful opening eighteen lines of An Essay on Man, Epistle II; in the story of Sir Balaam in the third Moral Essay; in the close of The Dunciad. Thus while a certain tendency may be discerned on the basis of time only-the sixth-place caesura is never again so rare as in the Pastorals-the principal cause of variation here, as elsewhere in Pope's prosody, is the matching of sound to sense. Sixth-place caesuras, as Johnson was to point out, are as a type majestic. A few of them are always essential for variety; but they should occur more frequently only when an actual majesty or solemnity of thought is to be clothed in verse suitable to it. Both the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest are close to rule regarding meter. Here even the initial trochee, always a common Pope vari- ant, is scarcer than in any later important poem except the Mes- siah.? Medial trochees are, as always, rare, but Pope already knew 2. In the Pastorals, the occurrence is about one line in ten; in The Rape of the Lock, about one in five; in the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, about one in four. 35 EARLY AND ROMANTIC The Moon,/serene in Glory,/mounts the Sky, (Winter, 6) and the truly excellent No more the mounting Larks,/ while Daphne sings, Shall/list'ning in mid Air/suspend their Wings. (Winter, 53-54) The most important difference in caesura between the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest is the significant increase in sixth-place caesuras, and Windsor-Forest is the significant increase in sixth-place caesuras Earth's distant Ends our Glory shall behold, 4 And the new World launch forth to seek the Old. 6 Then Ships of uncouth Form shall stem the Tyde, 6 And Feather'd People crowd my wealthy Side, 5 And naked Youths and painted Chiefs admire 4 Our Speech, our Colour, and our strange Attire! 2-5 Oh stretch thy Reign, fair Peace! from Shore to Shore, 6 Till Conquest cease, and Slav'ry be no more: 4 Till the freed Indians in their native Groves 5 Reap their own Fruits, and woo their Sable Loves, 4 Peru once more a Race of Kings behold, 4 And other Mexico's be roof'd with Gold. (401-412) 6 Throughout his career, Pope used this increase in the sixth-place caesura as one method of attaining dignity, solemnity, or mag- nificence: in the Messiah; in the powerful opening eighteen lines of An Essay on Man, Epistle II; in the story of Sir Balaam in the third Moral Essay; in the close of The Dunciad. Thus while a certain tendency may be discerned on the basis of time only-the sixth-place caesura is never again so rare as in the Pastorals-the principal cause of variation here, as elsewhere in Pope's prosody, is the matching of sound to sense. Sixth-place caesuras, as Johnson was to point out, are as a type majestic. A few of them are always essential for variety; but they should occur more frequently only when an actual majesty or solemnity of thought is to be clothed in verse suitable to it. Both the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest are close to rule regarding meter. Here even the initial trochee, always a common Pope vari- ant, is scarcer than in any later important poem except the Mes- siah.? Medial trochees are, as always, rare, but Pope already knew 2. In the Pastorals, the occurrence is about one line in ten; in The Rape of the Lock, about one in ive; in the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, about one in four. 35  THE REACH OF ART how to employ this variant for special effect: And the fleet Shades glide o er the Eusy Green, (Autumn, 64) Seel the bold Youth strain up the threatning Steep. (Windsor-Forest, 155) The Pastorals are especially regular, the measures tripping lightly along with little interruption of any sort. This is perhaps as it should be in the pastoral, so long as regularity does not mean monotony; and in a form which is itself so artificial and filled with set speeches, a style either loose or abrupt, either colloquial or impassioned, would seem incongruous. If the pastoral is used as a vehicle for deep emotion as it is by Milton or Matthew Arnold, then one expects a fuller, more open style. But while Pope's pastorals are not shallow-it is surprising how much real feeling hides beneath the decorousness of the form-they are nevertheless intended principally for light connoisseur amusement, and a more complex metrical variety would be unsuitable. There is nothing very remarkable about the use of line and couplet in the Pastorals. Closed couplets occur more frequently, especially in the portions intended as songs, than was Pope's later custom; and long series of interrelated couplets are prevented by the alternation of singers in the contest in Spring and by the refrains in Autumn and Winter. The very fact of song makes a division into smaller and more regular word-groups desirable. An occasional variation occurs, however, of a type not much found elsewhere in Pope: In Spring the Fields, in Autumn Hills I love, At Morn the Plains, at Noon the shady Grove; But Delia always, (Spring, 77-79) Ye shady Beeches, and ye cooling Streams, Defence from Phoebus', not from Cupid's Beams; To you I mourn. (Summer, 13-15)3 The same pattern appears in Windsor-Forest.' And Windsor- 3. The semicolons preventing normal enjambment between the second and third lines in each of these quotations are abnormal both grammatically and in Pope's practice, see n. 16, Chapter I, above. The grammatically impossible punctuation of the 1st edition may in this case represent Pope's youthful hesi- tation to break the couplet pattern. As the two subsequent quotations (see note 4) from Windsor-Forest show, he soon lost his hesitancy. 4. E.g., 11. 1-3 and 349-351. See also Messiah, 11. 5-5. 36 THE REACH OF ART how to employ this variant for special effect: And the fleet Shades glde o'er the Euslky Green, (Autumn, 64) Seel the bold Youth strain up tne threatning Steep. (Windsor-Forest, 155) The Pastorals are especially regular, the measures tripping lightly along with little interruption of any sort. This is perhaps as it should be in the pastoral, so long as regularity does not mean monotony; and in a form which is itself so artificial and filled with set speeches, a style either loose or abrupt, either colloquial or impassioned, would seem incongruous. If the pastoral is used as a vehicle for deep emotion as it is by Milton or Matthew Arnold, then one expects a fuller, more open style. But while Pope's pastorals are not shallow-it is surprising how much real feeling hides beneath the decorousness of the form-they are nevertheless intended principally for light connoisseur amusement, and a more complex metrical variety would be unsuitable. There is nothing very remarkable about the use of line and couplet in the Pastorals. Closed couplets occur more frequently, especially in the portions intended as songs, than was Pope's later custom; and long series of interrelated couplets are prevented by the alternation of singers in the contest in Spring and by the refrains in Autumn and Winter. The very fact of song makes a division into smaller and more regular word-groups desirable. An occasional variation occurs, however, of a type not much found elsewhere in Pope: In Spring the Fields, in Autumn Hills I love, At Morn the Plains, at Noon the shady Grove; But Delia always, (Spring, 77-79) Ye shady Beeches, and ye cooling Streams, Defence from Phoebus', not from Cupid's Beams; To you I mourn. (Summer, 13-15)3 The same pattern appears in Windsor-Forest.' And Windsor- 3. The semicolons preventing normal enjambment between the second and third lines in each of these quotations are abnormal both grammatically and in Pope's practice, see n. 16, Chapter I, above. The grammatically impossible punctuation of the 1st edition may in this case represent Pope's youthful hesi- tation to break the couplet pattern. As the two subsequent quotations (see note 4) from Windsor-Forest show, he soon lost his hesitancy. 4. E.g., 11. 1-3 and 349-351. See also Messiah, 11. 3-5. 36 THE REACH OF ART how to employ this variant for special effect: And tee fleet Shades glide o er the lusky Green, (Autumn, 64) Seel the bold Youth strain up the threatning Steep. (Windsor-Forest, 155) The Pastorals are especially regular, the measures tripping lightly along with little interruption of any sort. This is perhaps as it should be in the pastoral, so long as regularity does not mean monotony; and in a form which is itself so artificial and filled with set speeches, a style either loose or abrupt, either colloquial or impassioned, would seem incongruous. If the pastoral is used as a vehicle for deep emotion as it is by Milton or Matthew Arnold, then one expects a fuller, more open style. But while Pope's pastorals are not shallow-it is surprising how much real feeling hides beneath the decorousness of the form-they are nevertheless intended principally for light connoisseur amusement, and a more complex metrical variety would be unsuitable. There is nothing very remarkable about the use of line and couplet in the Pastorals. Closed couplets occur more frequently, especially in the portions intended as songs, than was Pope's later custom; and long series of interrelated couplets are prevented by the alternation of singers in the contest in Spring and by the refrains in Autumn and Winter. The very fact of song makes a division into smaller and more regular word-groups desirable. An occasional variation occurs, however, of a type not much found elsewhere in Pope: In Spring the Fields, in Autumn Hills I love, At Morn the Plains, at Noon the shady Grove; But Delia always, (Spring, 77-79) Ye shady Beeches, and ye cooling Streams, Defence from Phoebus', not from Cupid's Beams; To you I mourn. (Summer, 13-15)3 The same pattern appears in Windsor-Forest.' And Windsor- 3. The semicolons preventing normal enjambment between the second and third lines in each of these quotations are abnormal both grammatically and in Pope's practice, see n. 16, Chapter I, above. The grammatically impossible punctuation of the 1st edition may in this case represent Pope's youthful hesi- tation to break the couplet pattern. As the two subsequent quotations (see note 4) from Windsor-Forest show, he soon lost his hesitancy. 4. E.g., 11. 1-3 and 349-351. See also Messiah, 11. 3-5. 36  EARLY AND ROMANTIC Forest, lacking refrains or songs and containing narrative, fuller description, and more complex thought sequences, is naturally freer than the Pastorals in the use of open couplets. Open series of at least three or four couplets are common, and there is one instance of eight (11. 241-256).5 Strong enjambment within the couplet is scarce, but it does occur in both the Pastorals (e.g., Winter, 11. 65-66) and Windsor-Forest (e.g., 11. 91-92). Song, alternation of speakers, and use of refrains, as well as the earliness of the work are some of the reasons for the general integrity of line and couplet in the Pastorals. The almost unin- terrupted flow of the various rhetorical devices of repetition and antithesis is yet another.s This rhetoric is a source of both strength and weakness in the Pastorals: strength, because, if lines and couplets are to be units, rhetorical patterning helps to hold them together, and because word play is a natural and acceptable ele- ment in love songs; weakness, because Pope had not yet learned so to control and limit his rhetoric as to point up the meaning rather than call attention to itself. In Spring, for example, one finds many instances of simple parallelism, often with rhetorical alliteration: You, that too Wise for Pride, too Good for Pow'r; (7) zeugma: Two Swains, whom Love kept wakeful, and the Muse; (18) chiasmus, again with alliteration: Fresh as the Morn, and as the Season fair; (20) anaphora: Why sit we mute, when early Linnets sing, When warbling Philomel salutes the Spring? Why sit we sad, when Phosphor shines so clear, And lavish Nature paints the Purple Year? (25-28) and antithesis: She runs, but hopes she does not run unseen. (58) 5. Syntactically. The punctuation of the 1st edition again obscures, and distorts, the grammar. 6. See also Tw., I, 54-55, and Tillotson, pp. 124-151. Other rhetorical devices, such as apostrophe, exclamation, interrogation, and rhetorical inversion, are also very frequent; but since they do not involve repetition and balance, they do not concern the present argument. 37 EARLY AND ROMANTIC Forest, lacking refrains or songs and containing narrative, fuller description, and more complex thought sequences, is naturally freer than the Pastorals in the use of open couplets. Open series of at least three or four couplets are common, and there is one instance of eight (11. 241-256).5 Strong enjambment within the couplet is scarce, but it does occur in both the Pastorals (e.g., Winter, 11. 65-66) and Windsor-Forest (e.g., 11. 91-92). Song, alternation of speakers, and use of refrains, as well as the earliness of the work are some of the reasons for the general integrity of line and couplet in the Pastorals. The almost unin- terrupted flow of the various rhetorical devices of repetition and antithesis is yet anothere This rhetoric is a source of both strength and weakness in the Pastorals: strength, because, if lines and couplets are to be units, rhetorical patterning helps to hold them together, and because word play is a natural and acceptable ele- ment in love songs; weakness, because Pope had not yet learned so to control and limit his rhetoric as to point up the meaning rather than call attention to itself. In Spring, for example, one finds many instances of simple parallelism, often with rhetorical alliteration: You, that too Wise for Pride, too Good for Pow'r; (7) zeugma: Two Swains, whom Love kept wakeful, and the Muse; (18) chiasmus, again with alliteration: Fresh as the Morn, and as the Season fair; (20) anaphora: Why sit we mute, when early Linnets sing, When warbling Philomel salutes the Spring? Why sit we sad, when Phosphor shines so clear, And lavish Nature paints the Purple Year? (25-28) and antithesis: She runs, but hopes she does not run unseen. (58) 5. Syntactically. The punctuation of the 1st edition again obscures, and distorts, the grammar. 6. See also Tw., I, 54-55, and Tillotson, pp. 124-1351. Other rhetorical devices, such as apostrophe, exclamation, interrogation, and rhetorical inversion, are also very frequent; but since they do not involve repetition and balance, they do not concern the present argument. 37 EARLY AND ROMANTIC Forest, lacking refrains or songs and containing narrative, fuller description, and more complex thought sequences, is naturally freer than the Pastorals in the use of open couplets. Open series of at least three or four couplets are common, and there is one instance of eight (11. 241-256).t Strong enjambment within the couplet is scarce, but it does occur in both the Pastorals (e.g., Winter, 11. 65-66) and Windsor-Forest (e.g., 11. 91-92). Song, alternation of speakers, and use of refrains, as well as the earliness of the work are some of the reasons for the general integrity of line and couplet in the Pastorals. The almost unin- terrupted flow of the various rhetorical devices of repetition and antithesis is yet another.s This rhetoric is a source of both strength and weakness in the Pastorals: strength, because, if lines and couplets are to be units, rhetorical patterning helps to hold them together, and because word play is a natural and acceptable ele- ment in love songs; weakness, because Pope had not yet learned so to control and limit his rhetoric as to point up the meaning rather than call attention to itself. In Spring, for example, one finds many instances of simple parallelism, often with rhetorical alliteration: You, that too Wise for Pride, too Good for Pow'r; (7) zeugma: Two Swains, whom Love kept wakeful, and the Muse; (18) chiasmus, again with alliteration: Fresh as the Morn, and as the Season fair; (20) anaphora: Why sit we mute, when early Linnets sing, When warbling Philomel salutes the Spring? Why sit we sad, when Phosphor shines so clear, And lavish Nature paints the Purple Year? (25-28) and antithesis: She runs, but hopes she does not run unseen. (58) 5. Syntactically. The punctuation of the 1st edition again obscures, and distorts, the grammar. 6. See also Tw., I, 54-55, and Tillotson, pp. 124-131. Other rhetorical devices, such as apostrophe, exclamation, interrogation, and rhetorical inversion, are also very frequent; but since they do not involve repetition and balance, they do not concern the present argument. 37  THE REACH OF ART But this list is not complete: there is, in one form or another, constant very neat rhetorical patterning of words, phrases, and clauses, constant rhetorical balance of line with line, stanza with stanza. Zeugma and anaphora are especially frequent; and the former can be very graceful: If Delia smile, the Flow'rs begin to spring, The Skies to brighten, and the Birds to sing. (71-72) But it can also be very awkward: In Spring the Fields, in Autumn Hills I love. (77) Almost every line in Spring is a part, too often obviously, of such balance. The other three Pastorals are not so noticeably rhetorical as Spring, partly because they do not consist of alternate singing, with each singer trying to cap the other. The rhetorical repetition is more varied, too, and somewhat more subtle, for example, the famous lines from Summer: Where-e'er you walk, cool Gales shall fan the Glade, Trees, where you sit, shall crowd into a Shade, Where-e'er you tread, the blushing Flow'rs shall rise, And all things flourish where you turn your Eyes. (73-76) Pope uses rhetorical repetition less obviously in Windsor-Forest than in the Pastorals. Even when the word play is noticeable, as in the rhetorical alliteration of The lonely Lords of empty Wilds and Woods, (48) it has as a rule a felicity which is its own excuse. As might be ex- pected, antithesis occurs far more frequently than in the Pastorals: And where, tho' all things differ, all agree, (16) But while the Subject starv'd, the Beast was fed. (60) On the whole, Pope here integrates his rhetoric far better than in the Pastorals, and while he certainly employs such characteristic devices as zeugma and chiasmus, they are less frequent and much less apparent. The rhetoric of the later and in some ways tech- nically finer Eloisa to Abelard is much more obvious than that of Windsor-Forest. Pope keeps his language in the Pastorals appropriately simple. They and Windsor-Forest alike have fewer polysyllabic words pro- THE REACH OF ART But this list is not complete: there is, in one form or another, constant very neat rhetorical patterning of words, phrases, and clauses, constant rhetorical balance of line with line, stanza with stanza. Zeugma and anaphora are especially frequent; and the former can be very graceful: If Delia smile, the Flow'rs begin to spring, The Skies to brighten, and the Birds to sing. (71-72) But it can also be very awkward: In Spring the Fields, in Autumn Hills I love. (77) Almost every line in Spring is a part, too often obviously, of such balance. The other three Pastorals are not so noticeably rhetorical as Spring, partly because they do not consist of alternate singing, with each singer trying to cap the other. The rhetorical repetition is more varied, too, and somewhat more subtle, for example, the famous lines from Summer: Where-e'er you walk, cool Gales shall fan the Glade, Trees, where you sit, shall crowd into a Shade, Where-e'er you tread, the blushing Flow'rs shall rise, And all things flourish where you turn your Eyes. (73-76) Pope uses rhetorical repetition less obviously in Windsor-Forest than in the Pastorals. Even when the word play is noticeable, as in the rhetorical alliteration of The lonely Lords of empty Wilds and Woods, (48) it has as a rule a felicity which is its own excuse. As might be ex- pected, antithesis occurs far more frequently than in the Pastorals: And where, tho' all things differ, all agree, (16) But while the Subject starv'd, the Beast was fed. (60) On the whole, Pope here integrates his rhetoric far better than in the Pastorals, and while he certainly employs such characteristic devices as zeugma and chiasmus, they are less frequent and much less apparent. The rhetoric of the later and in some ways tech- nically finer Eloisa to Abelard is much more obvious than that of Windsor-Forest. Pope keeps his language in the Pastorals appropriately simple. They and Windsor-Forest alike have fewer polysyllabic words pro- THE REACH OF ART But this list is not complete: there is, in one form or another, constant very neat rhetorical patterning of words, phrases, and clauses, constant rhetorical balance of line with line, stanza with stanza. Zeugma and anaphora are especially frequent; and the former can be very graceful: If Delia smile, the Flow'rs begin to spring, The Skies to brighten, and the Birds to sing. (71-72) But it can also be very awkward: In Spring the Fields, in Autumn Hills I love. (77) Almost every line in Spring is a part, too often obviously, of such balance. The other three Pastorals are not so noticeably rhetorical as Spring, partly because they do not consist of alternate singing, with each singer trying to cap the other. The rhetorical repetition is more varied, too, and somewhat more subtle, for example, the famous lines from Summer: Where-e'er you walk, cool Gales shall fan the Glade, Trees, where you sit, shall crowd into a Shade, Where-e'er you tread, the blushing Flow'rs shall rise, And all things flourish where you turn your Eyes. (73-76) Pope uses rhetorical repetition less obviously in Windsor-Forest than in the Pastorals. Even when the word play is noticeable, as in the rhetorical alliteration of The lonely Lords of empty Wilds and Woods, (48) it has as a rule a felicity which is its own excuse. As might be ex- pected, antithesis occurs far more frequently than in the Pastorals: And where, tho' all things differ, all agree, (16) But while the Subject starv'd, the Beast was fed. (60) On the whole, Pope here integrates his rhetoric far better than in the Pastorals, and while he certainly employs such characteristic devices as zeugma and chiasmus, they are less frequent and much less apparent. The rhetoric of the later and in some ways tech- nically finer Eloisa to Abelard is much more obvious than that of Windsor-Forest. Pope keeps his language in the Pastorals appropriately simple. They and Windsor-Forest alike have fewer polysyllabic words pro- 38 38 38  EARLY AND ROMANTIC portionately than any other of his major poems.? Since the Pas- torals combine formality and simplicity, it is not surprising that they are almost exactly average in monosyllables per line. Since Winter is an elegy, and hence of greatest dignity, it is not sur- prising that it has the fewest monosyllables of the four. And since Windsor-Forest is more formal and intellectual than the Pastorals, it is not surprising that its monosyllable rate is much lower than the average of theirs.? But considering how much space is devoted to description, the Pastorals are also remarkably abundant in verbso- an excellent sign that Pope learned much of his trade very early. On the other hand, both the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest are high in adjectives; and however effective the individual epithets may be, entirely too many two-syllable epithets are used at least partly to fill out the decasyllabic pattern, for example: She saw her Sons with (purple) Deaths expire, Her sacred Domes involv'd in (rolling) Fire, A (dreadful) Series of Intestine Wars, (Windsor-Forest, 323-325) For her, the Flocks refuse their (verdant) Food, The thirsty Heifers shun the (gliding) Flood. The silver Swans her (hapless) Fate bemoan, (Winter, 37-39) and the almost unforgivable The gulphy Lee his sedgy Tresses rears. (Windsor-Forest, 346) But again these are lapses which Pope would not have permitted himself later; and again one finds beside them truly excellent use of the same method: And makes his trembling Slaves the Royal Game. (Windsor-Forest, 64) Other than for simple parallelism"o and-especially in Windsor- 7. One each in Spring, Summer, and Winter, none in Autumn. They occur in 1 per cent of the lines in Windsor-Forest. See n. 21, Chapter I above. 8. Pastorals, 5.97 monosyllables per line; Winter, 5.50; Windsor-Forest, 5.63. On the other hand, the Pastorals contain only five monosyllabic lines, or about 1 per cent; Windsor-Forest, slightly more. 9. Spring has 1.34 verbs per line. Verbs in Pope range from 1.01 per line in The Dunciad to 1.44 in Epilogue to the Satires. Spring is high. (The verb count includes participles when their use is clearly more verbal than adjectival; infinitives; and auxiliaries other than the perfect, emphatic, continuous, future, passive, and conditional, which are included only if they appear in a separate line from the main verb.) 10. Sometimes not so simple: 39 EARLY AND ROMANTIC portionately than any other of his major poems.' Since the Pas- torals combine formality and simplicity, it is not surprising that they are almost exactly average in monosyllables per line. Since Winter is an elegy, and hence of greatest dignity, it is not sur- prising that it has the fewest monosyllables of the four. And since Windsor-Forest is more formal and intellectual than the Pastorals, it is not surprising that its monosyllable rate is much lower than the average of theirs.' But considering how much space is devoted to description, the Pastorals are also remarkably abundant in verbs- an excellent sign that Pope learned much of his trade very early. On the other hand, both the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest are high in adjectives; and however effective the individual epithets may be, entirely too many two-syllable epithets are used at least partly to fill out the decasyllabic pattern, for example: She saw her Sons with (purple) Deaths expire, Her sacred Domes involv'd in (rolling) Fire, A (dreadful) Series of Intestine Wars, (Windsor-Forest, 323-325) For her, the Flocks refuse their (verdant) Food, The thirsty Heifers shun the (gliding) Flood. The silver Swans her (hapless) Fate bemoan, (Winter, 37-39) and the almost unforgivable The gulphy Lee his sedgy Tresses rears. (Windsor-Forest, 346) But again these are lapses which Pope would not have permitted himself later; and again one finds beside them truly excellent use of the same method: And makes his trembling Slaves the Royal Game. (Windsor-Forest, 64) Other than for simple parallelism"o and-especially in Windsor- 7. One each in Spring, Summer, and Winter, none in Autumn. They occur in 1 per cent of the lines in Windsor-Forest. See n. 21, Chapter I, above. 8. Pastorals, 5.97 monosyllables per line; Winter, 5.50; Windsor-Forest, 5.63. On the other hand, the Pastorals contain only five monosyllabic lines, or about 1 per cent; Windsor-Forest, slightly more. 9. Spring has 1.34 verbs per line. Verbs in Pope range from 1.01 per line in The Dunciad to 1.44 in Epilogue to the Satires. Spring is high. (The verb count includes participles when their use is clearly more verbal than adjectival; infinitives; and auxiliaries other than the perfect, emphatic, continuous, future, passive, and conditional, which are included only if they appear in a separate line from the main verb.) 10. sometimes not so simple: 39 EARLY AND ROMANTIC portionately than any other of his major poems.' Since the Pas- torals combine formality and simplicity, it is not surprising that they are almost exactly average in monosyllables per line. Since Winter is an elegy, and hence of greatest dignity, it is not sur- prising that it has the fewest monosyllables of the four. And since Windsor-Forest is more formal and intellectual than the Pastorals, it is not surprising that its monosyllable rate is much lower than the average of theirs. But considering how much space is devoted to description, the Pastorals are also remarkably abundant in verbss- an excellent sign that Pope learned much of his trade very early. On the other hand, both the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest are high in adjectives; and however effective the individual epithets may be, entirely too many two-syllable epithets are used at least partly to fill out the decasyllabic pattern, for example: She saw her Sons with (purple) Deaths expire, Her sacred Domes involv'd in (rolling) Fire, A (dreadful) Series of Intestine Wars, (Windsor-Forest, 323-325) For her, the Flocks refuse their (verdant) Food, The thirsty Heifers shun the (gliding) Flood. The silver Swans her (hapless) Fate bemoan, (Winter, 37-39) and the almost unforgivable The gulphy Lee his sedgy Tresses rears. (Windsor-Forest, 346) But again these are lapses which Pope would not have permitted himself later; and again one finds beside them truly excellent use of the same method: And makes his trembling Slaves the Royal Game. (Windsor-Forest, 64) Other than for simple parallelism'" and-especially in Windsor- 7. One each in Spring, Summer, and Winter, none in Autumn. They occur in 1 per cent of the lines in Windsor-Forest. See n. 21, Chapter I, above. 8. Pastorals, 5.97 monosyllables per line; Winter, 5.50; Windsor-Forest, 5.63. On the other hand, the Pastorals contain only five monosyllabic lines, or about 1 per cent; Windsor-Forest, slightly more. 9. Spring has 1.34 verbs per line. Verbs in Pope range from 1.01 per line in The Dunciad to 1.44 in Epilogue to the Satires. Spring is high. (The verb count includes participles when their use is clearly more verbal than adjectival; infinitives; and auxiliaries other than the perfect, emphatic, continuous, future, passive, and conditional, which are included only if they appear in a separate line from the main verb.) 10. Sometimes not so simple: 39  THE REACH OF ART Forest-to emphasize the union of substantive and adjective, Pope uses alliteration (and other consonant patterning) in these poems mainly to heighten passages of rich description: Now bright Arcturus glads the teeming Grain, Now Golden Fruits on loaded Branches shine, And grateful Clusters swell with floods of Wine; Now blushing Berries paint the yellow Grove, (Autumn, 72-75) Or under Southern Skies exalt their Sails, Led by new Stars, and born by spicy Galesl For me the Balm shall bleed, and Amber flow, The Coral redden, and the Ruby glow. (Windsor-Forest, 391-394) Assonance is often used in the same way: O'er Golden Sands let rich Pactolus flow, (Spring, 61) His Purple Crest, and Scarlet-circled Eyes, (Windsor-Forest, 116) Where clearer Flames glow round the frozen Pole. (Windsor-Forest, 390) The finest example of assonance in Windsor-Forest, however, is effective far beyond mere adornment. The meaning itself is in- tensified by the beautiful interplay of closely related back vowels (not all of them actually assonantal) in With slaught'ring Guns th 'unweary'd Fowler roves, When Frosts have whiten'd all the naked Groves; Where Doves in Flocks the leafless Trees o'ershade, And lonely Woodcocks haunt the watry Glade. (125-128) The assonance of "leafless trees" is a beautiful contrast to the main theme; the long a rime of the second couplet is finely anticipated in "naked." Pope seldom employed his skill for a purpose quite like this, and when he did he rarely surpassed the workmanship here displayed. Even more complex vowel (and consonant) patterning occurs in the Pastorals, but without the delicate music and close support of meaning which makes the Windsor-Forest passage so effective: Me gentle Delia beckons from the Plain, If Delia smile, the Flow'rs begin to spring, The Skies to brighten, and the Birds to sing. (Spring, 71-72) 40 THE REACH OF ART Forest-to emphasize the union of substantive and adjective, Pope uses alliteration (and other consonant patterning) in these poems mainly to heighten passages of rich description: Now bright Arcturus glads the teeming Grain, Now Golden Fruits on loaded Branches shine, And grateful Clusters swell with floods of Wine; Now blushing Berries paint the yellow Grove, (Autumn, 72-75) Or under Southern Skies exalt their Sails, Led by new Stars, and born by spicy Galesl For me the Balm shall bleed, and Amber flow, The Coral redden, and the Ruby glow. (Windsor-Forest, 391-394) Assonance is often used in the same way: O'er Golden Sands let rich Pactolus flow, (Spring, 61) His Purple Crest, and Scarlet-circled Eyes, (Windsor-Forest, 116) Where clearer Flames glow round the frozen Pole. (Windsor-Forest, 390) The finest example of assonance in Windsor-Forest, however, is effective far beyond mere adornment. The meaning itself is in- tensified by the beautiful interplay of closely related back vowels (not all of them actually assonantal) in With slaught'ring Guns th 'unweary'd Fowler roves, When Frosts have whiten'd all the naked Groves; Where Doves in Flocks the leafless Trees o'ershade, And lonely Woodcocks haunt the watry Glade. (125-128) The assonance of "leafless trees" is a beautiful contrast to the main theme; the long a rime of the second couplet is finely anticipated in "naked." Pope seldom employed his skill for a purpose quite like this, and when he did he rarely surpassed the workmanship here displayed. Even more complex vowel (and consonant) patterning occurs in the Pastorals, but without the delicate music and close support of meaning which makes the Windsor-Forest passage so effective: Me gentle Delia beckons from the Plain, If Delia smile, the Flow'rs begin to spring, The Skies to brighten, and the Birds to sing. (Spring, 71-72) 40 THE REACH OF ART Forest-to emphasize the union of substantive and adjective, Pope uses alliteration (and other consonant patterning) in these poems mainly to heighten passages of rich description: Now bright Arcturus glads the teeming Grain, Now Golden Fruits on loaded Branches shine, And grateful Clusters swell with floods of Wine; Now blushing Berries paint the yellow Grove, (Autumn, 72-75) Or under Southern Skies exalt their Sails, Led by new Stars, and born by spicy Galesl For me the Balm shall bleed, and Amber flow, The Coral redden, and the Ruby glow. (Windsor-Forest, 391-394) Assonance is often used in the same way: O'er Golden Sands let rich Pactolus flow, (Spring, 61) His Purple Crest, and Scarlet-circled Eyes, (Windsor-Forest, 116) Where clearer Flames glow round the frozen Pole. (Windsor-Forest, 390) The finest example of assonance in Windsor-Forest, however, is effective far beyond mere adornment. The meaning itself is in- tensified by the beautiful interplay of closely related back vowels (not all of them actually assonantal) in With slaught'ring Guns th 'unweary'd Fowler roves, When Frosts have whiten'd all the naked Groves; Where Doves in Flocks the leafless Trees o'ershade, And lonely Woodcocks haunt the watry Glade. (125-128) The assonance of "leafless trees" is a beautiful contrast to the main theme; the long a rime of the second couplet is finely anticipated in "naked." Pope seldom employed his skill for a purpose quite like this, and when he did he rarely surpassed the workmanship here displayed. Even more complex vowel (and consonant) patterning occurs in the Pastorals, but without the delicate music and close support of meaning which makes the Windsor-Forest passage so effective: Me gentle Delia beckons from the Plain, leeeea If Delia smile, the Flown begin to spring, The Skies to brighten, and the Birds to sing. (Spring, 71-72) 40  EARLY AND ROMANTIC Then hid in Shades, eludes her eager Swain; e ae ei But feigns a Laugh, to see me search around, (Spring, 53-55) Now rise, and haste to yonder Woodbine Bow'rs, n rsttndrdbn br A soft Retreat from sudden vernal Show'rs. s t r t r t r s d n r n r (Spring, 97-98) This sort of purely ornamental complexity is rare in Pope except in the descriptive poetry up to 1717. It reaches its height in Eloisa to Abelard. On the other hand, simpler patterns of internal consonants (par- ticularly 1, m, n, and r) appear quite effectively in both the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest: Let Vernal Airs thro' trembling Osiers play, (Spring, 5) The vivid Green his shining Plumes unfold; His painted Wings, and Breast that flames with Gold. (Windsor-Forest, 117-118) Nevertheless in the Pastorals even the simplest sound repetition may unpleasantly call attention to itself: Nor blush to sport on Windsor's blissful Plains, (Spring, 2) Embrace my Love, and bind my Brows with Bays, (Summer, 38) and particularly the purposeless hissing of Blest Swains, whose Nymphs in ev'ry Grace excell; Blest Nymphs, whose Swains those Graces sing so well! (Spring, 95-96) Windsor-Forest is freer from such lapses, largely because even the more obvious sound repetition is likely to have a purpose in "representing" or unifying prominent ideas: But when the tainted Gales the Game betray, (101) To Plains with well-breath'd Beagles we repair, (121) They fall, and leave their little Lives in Air. (134) But the obvious and hence self-defeating use of sound repetition was a fault of which Pope was more than occasionally guilty, at least until after those poems collected in 1717. Many of the lines already quoted from the Pastorals and Wind- sor-Forest demonstrate that the young Pope already knew much 41 EARLY AND ROMANTIC Then hid in Shades, eludes her eager Swain; e ae e a But feigns a Laugh, to see me search around, (Spring, 53-55) Now rise, and haste to yonder Woodbine Bow'rs, n rsattn drdbn br A soft Retreat from sudden vernal Show'rs. s t r t r t r s d n r n r (Spring, 97-98) This sort of purely ornamental complexity is rare in Pope except in the descriptive poetry up to 1717. It reaches its height in Eloisa to Abelard. On the other hand, simpler patterns of internal consonants (par- ticularly 1, m, n, and r) appear quite effectively in both the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest: Let Vernal Airs thro' trembling Osiers play, (Spring, 5) The vivid Green his shining Plumes unfold; His painted Wings, and Breast that flames with Gold. (Windsor-Forest, 117-118) Nevertheless in the Pastorals even the simplest sound repetition may unpleasantly call attention to itself: Nor blush to sport on Windsor's blissful Plains, (Spring, 2) Embrace my Love, and bind my Brows with Bays, (Summer, 38) and particularly the purposeless hissing of Blest Swains, whose Nymphs in ev'ry Grace excell; Blest Nymphs, whose Swains those Graces sing so well! (Spring, 95-96) Windsor-Forest is freer from such lapses, largely because even the more obvious sound repetition is likely to have a purpose in "representing" or unifying prominent ideas: But when the tainted Gales the Game betray, (101) To Plains with well-breath'd Beagles we repair, (121) They fall, and leave their little Lives in Air. (134) But the obvious and hence self-defeating use of sound repetition was a fault of which Pope was more than occasionally guilty, at least until after those poems collected in 1717. Many of the lines already quoted from the Pastorals and Wind- sor-Forest demonstrate that the young Pope already knew much 41 EARLY AND ROMANTIC Then hid in Shades, eludes her eager Swain; But feigns a Laugh, to see me search around, (Spring, 53-55) Now rise, and haste to yonder Woodbine Bow'rs, n rsttndrdbn br A soft Retreat from sudden vernal Show'rs. s t r t r t r s d n r n r (Spring, 97-98) This sort of purely ornamental complexity is rare in Pope except in the descriptive poetry up to 1717. It reaches its height in Eloisa to Abelard. On the other hand, simpler patterns of internal consonants (par- ticularly 1, m, n, and r) appear quite effectively in both the Pastorals and Windsor-Forest: Let Vernal Airs thro' trembling Osiers play, (Spring, 5) The vivid Green his shining Plumes unfold; His painted Wings, and Breast that flames with Gold. (Windsor-Forest, 117-118) Nevertheless in the Pastorals even the simplest sound repetition may unpleasantly call attention to itself: Nor blush to sport on Windsor's blissful Plains, (Spring, 2) Embrace my Love, and bind my Brows with Bays, (Summer, 38) and particularly the purposeless hissing of Blest Swains, whose Nymphs in ev'ry Grace excell; Blest Nymphs, whose Swains those Graces sing so well! (Spring, 95-96) Windsor-Forest is freer from such lapses, largely because even the more obvious sound repetition is likely to have a purpose in "representing" or unifying prominent ideas: But when the tainted Gales the Game betray, (101) To Plains with well-breath'd Beagles we repair, (121) They fall, and leave their little Lives in Air. (134) But the obvious and hence self-defeating use of sound repetition was a fault of which Pope was more than occasionally guilty, at least until after those poems collected in 1717. Many of the lines already quoted from the Pastorals and Wind- sor-Forest demonstrate that the young Pope already knew much 41  THE REACH OF ART about representative meter. He knew, abundantly well, for ex- ample, what could be done with the caesura: Oft as the mounting Larks their Notes prepare, They fall/and leave their little Lives in Air. (Windsor-Forest, 133-134) He knew what could be done with the apparent trochee: Now fainting, sinking, pale, the Nymph appears; (Windsor-Forest, 191) and (though not yet extensively) with the real: Flutters in Blood, and panting beats the Ground. (Windsor-Forest, 114) He could run his verse swift and open through several lines when the sense seemed to need it: It chanc'd, as eager of the Chace the Maid Beyond the Forest's verdant Limits stray'd, Pan saw and lov'd, and burning with Desire Pursu'd her Flight. (Windsor-Forest, 181-184) Already in Winter, he was capable of a gradual rising and opening, from a quiet, almost hesitant movement to a full roaring sweep: Her Fate is whisper'd by the gentle Breeze, And told in Sighs to all the trembling Trees; The trembling Trees, in ev'ry Plain and Wood, Her Fate remurmur to the silver Flood; The silver Flood, so lately calm, appears Swell'd with new Passion, and o'erflows with Tears; The Wind and Trees and Floods her Death deplore, Daphne, our Grief! our Glory now no morel (61-68) In addition to the change in the quality of vowels and consonants from first to last in this passage, and the change in caesural value, and the increase in number of heavy beats per line; and in addition to the enjambment between lines 65 and 66, which hastens the flow, line 67, a type found rarely in Pope, increases both speed and emphasis because all the feet are true iambs and there is almost no pause.t An even more notable example of shift in tone, and perhaps It. That is, each iamb consists either of one single dissyllabic word or of two monosyllabic words. Contrast the third line, in which the meter is iambic, but words must be divided to form the iambs. 42 THE REACH OF ART about representative meter. He knew, abundantly well, for ex- ample, what could be done with the caesura: Oft as the mounting Larks their Notes prepare, They fall,/and leave their little Lives in Air. (Windsor-Forest, 133-134) He knew what could be done with the apparent trochee: Now fainting, sinking, pale, the Nymph appears; (Windsor-Forest, 191) and (though not yet extensively) with the real: Flutters in Blood, and panting beats the Ground. (Windsor-Forest, 114) He could run his verse swift and open through several lines when the sense seemed to need it: It chanc'd, as eager of the Chace the Maid Beyond the Forest's verdant Limits stray'd, Pan saw and lov'd, and burning with Desire Pursu'd her Flight. (Windsor-Forest, 181-184) Already in Winter, he was capable of a gradual rising and opening, from a quiet, almost hesitant movement to a full roaring sweep: Her Fate is whisper'd by the gentle Breeze, And told in Sighs to all the trembling Trees; The trembling Trees, in ev'ry Plain and Wood, Her Fate remurmur to the silver Flood; The silver Flood, so lately calm, appears Swell'd with new Passion, and o'erflows with Tears; The Wind and Trees and Floods her Death deplore, Daphne, our Griefl our Glory now no morel (61-68) In addition to the change in the quality of vowels and consonants from first to last in this passage, and the change in caesural value, and the increase in number of heavy beats per line; and in addition to the enjambment between lines 65 and 66, which hastens the flow, line 67, a type found rarely in Pope, increases both speed and emphasis because all the feet are true iambs and there is almost no pause." An even more notable example of shift in tone, and perhaps 1t. That is, each iamb consists either of one single dissyllabic word or of two monosyllabic words. Contrast the third line, in which the meter is iambic, but words must be divided to form the iambs. 42 THE REACH OF ART about representative meter. He knew, abundantly well, for ex- ample, what could be done with the caesura: Oft as the mounting Larks their Notes prepare, They fall,/and leave their little Lives in Air. (Windsor-Forest, 133-134) He knew what could be done with the apparent trochee: Now fainting, sinking, pale, the Nymph appears; (Windsor-Forest, 191) and (though not yet extensively) with the real: Flutters it Blood, and panting beats the Ground. (Windsor-Forest, 114) He could run his verse swift and open through several lines when the sense seemed to need it: It chanc'd, as eager of the Chace the Maid Beyond the Forest's verdant Limits stray'd, Pan saw and lov'd, and burning with Desire Pursu'd her Flight. (Windsor-Forest, 181-184) Already in Winter, he was capable of a gradual rising and opening, from a quiet, almost hesitant movement to a full roaring sweep: Her Fate is whisper'd by the gentle Breeze, And told in Sighs to all the trembling Trees; The trembling Trees, in ev'ry Plain and Wood, Her Fate remurmur to the silver Flood; The silver Flood, so lately calm, appears Swell'd with new Passion, and o'erflows with Tears; The Wind and Trees and Floods her Death deplore, Daphne, our Grief! our Glory now no morel (61-68) In addition to the change in the quality of vowels and consonants from first to last in this passage, and the change in caesural value, and the increase in number of heavy beats per line; and in addition to the enjambment between lines 65 and 66, which hastens the flow, line 67, a type found rarely in Pope, increases both speed and emphasis because all the feet are true iambs and there is almost no pause.t An even more notable example of shift in tone, and perhaps 11. That is, each iamb consists either of one single dissyllabic word or of two monosyllabic words. Contrast the third line, in which the meter is iambic, but words must be divided to form the iambs. 42  EARLY AND ROMANTIC the most notable single effect in the whole of these early poems, is the close of Windsor-Forest. Like Milton in Lycidas, Pope aban- dons emotional fire and heat for a quiet conclusion: Here cease thy flight.... (423) The change is sudden. The contrast is tremendous. And one realizes something new about the quality of quiet. Left behind is the thunder-perhaps, it must be admitted, a thunder perilously close to bathos-of such lines as Exil'd by Thee from Earth to deepest Hell, In Brazen Bonds shall barb'rous Discord dwell: Gigantick Pride, pale Terror, gloomy Care, And mad Ambition, shall attend her there. (413-416) The sound and the fury are replaced by the peaceful tenor of My humble Muse, in unambitious Strains, Paints the green Forests and the flow'ry Plains, Where Peace descending bids her Olives spring, And scatters Blessings from her Dove-like Wing. (427-430) And so on. No matter that Pope was following Milton-and these are not the only echoes of Milton in Windsor-Forest-he has achieved a significant effect of his own. If the effect seems to be too much like that in Mendelssohn's Spring Song, it is probably because the technique is superior to the material. The Pastorals and Windsor-Forest are, to be sure, limited in scope; but so far as they go, they show clearly the promise which Pope's later work was to fulfill. If one cannot know from them that Pope will use sound patterns consummately well to intensify the emotion of disgust as he does in The Dunciad, one may at least expect that when so young a poet has already so fine (if not con- sistent) a touch with alliteration and assonance, a brilliant, sus- tained, and superbly flexible use of those techniques will be forth- coming. If one cannot anticipate from them the beautiful con- versational tone of passages in the later satires, one may guess that a youth with the ideal of correctness ringing in his ears who can yet-if so far only occasionally-break rules with skill and purpose, will make of his chosen verse form a very cunning instrument. The Pastorals and Windsor-Forest have their depths as well as their eminences; and in them few rules are lightly broken. It could not be otherwise. But few poets anywhere ever came forth into the 43 EARLY AND ROMANTIC the most notable single effect in the whole of these early poems, is the close of Windsor-Forest. Like Milton in Lycidas, Pope aban- dons emotional fire and heat for a quiet conclusion: Here cease thy flight.. .. (423) The change is sudden. The contrast is tremendous. And one realizes something new about the quality of quiet. Left behind is the thunder-perhaps, it must be admitted, a thunder perilously close to bathos-of such lines as Exil'd by Thee from Earth to deepest Hell, In Brazen Bonds shall barb'rous Discord dwell: Gigantick Pride, pale Terror, gloomy Care, And mad Ambition, shall attend her there. (413-416) The sound and the fury are replaced by the peaceful tenor of My humble Muse, in unambitious Strains, Paints the green Forests and the flow'ry Plains, Where Peace descending bids her Olives spring, And scatters Blessings from her Dove-like Wing. (427-430) And so on. No matter that Pope was following Milton-and these are not the only echoes of Milton in Windsor-Forest-he has achieved a significant effect of his own. If the effect seems to be too much like that in Mendelssohn's Spring Song, it is probably because the technique is superior to the material. The Pastorals and Windsor-Forest are, to be sure, limited in scope; but so far as they go, they show clearly the promise which Pope's later work was to fulfill. If one cannot know from them that Pope will use sound patterns consummately well to intensify the emotion of disgust as he does in The Dunciad, one may at least expect that when so young a poet has already so fine (if not con- sistent) a touch with alliteration and assonance, a brilliant, sus- tained, and superbly flexible use of those techniques will be forth- coming. If one cannot anticipate from them the beautiful con- versational tone of passages in the later satires, one may guess that a youth with the ideal of correctness ringing in his ears who can yet-if so far only occasionally-break rules with skill and purpose, will make of his chosen verse form a very cunning instrument. The Pastorals and Windsor-Forest have their depths as well as their eminences; and in them few rules are lightly broken. It could not be otherwise. But few poets anywhere ever came forth into the 43 EARLY AND ROMANTIC the most notable single effect in the whole of these early poems, is the close of Windsor-Forest. Like Milton in Lycidas, Pope aban- dons emotional fire and heat for a quiet conclusion: Here cease thy flight. . .. (423) The change is sudden. The contrast is tremendous. And one realizes something new about the quality of quiet. Left behind is the thunder-perhaps, it must be admitted, a thunder perilously close to bathos-of such lines as Exil'd by Thee from Earth to deepest Hell, In Brazen Bonds shall barb'rous Discord dwell: Gigantick Pride, pale Terror, gloomy Care, And mad Ambition, shall attend her there. (413-416) The sound and the fury are replaced by the peaceful tenor of My humble Muse, in unambitious Strains, Paints the green Forests and the flow'ry Plains, Where Peace descending bids her Olives spring, And scatters Blessings from her Dove-like Wing. (427-430) And so on. No matter that Pope was following Milton-and these are not the only echoes of Milton in Windsor-Forest-he has achieved a significant effect of his own. If the effect seems to be too much like that in Mendelssohn's Spring Song, it is probably because the technique is superior to the material. The Pastorals and Windsor-Forest are, to be sure, limited in scope; but so far as they go, they show clearly the promise which Pope's later work was to fulfill. If one cannot know from them that Pope will use sound patterns consummately well to intensify the emotion of disgust as he does in The Dunciad, one may at least expect that when so young a poet has already so fine (if not con- sistent) a touch with alliteration and assonance, a brilliant, sus- tained, and superbly flexible use of those techniques will be forth- coming. If one cannot anticipate from them the beautiful con- versational tone of passages in the later satires, one may guess that a youth with the ideal of correctness ringing in his ears who can yet-if so far only occasionally-break rules with skill and purpose, will make of his chosen verse form a very cunning instrument. The Pastorals and Windsor-Forest have their depths as well as their eminences; and in them few rules are lightly broken. It could not be otherwise. But few poets anywhere ever came forth into the 43  THE REACH OF ART world with so many of their characteristic excellences already on display for all who read to see and for at least the unenvious to admire. II In general metrical technique, the Messiah rather closely re- sembles Windsor-Forest: in orthodox caesuras (at a high rate among Pope's poems), in use of the initial trochee (low), in pro- portion of monosyllables and of monosyllablic lines (low). Dis- tinctly an early poem, its principal variation from the metrical pat- tern of the other early poems lies in its increase in caesuras in the latter half of the line and particularly the sixth-place caesura; a variation to be expected of a poem attempting to achieve sublimity. Also it has far more elision by apocope than either Windsor-Forest or the Pastorals-more proportionately than any other major poem. (Pope clearly thought apocope more suitable to formal poems.) In its brief 108 lines the Messiah has several series of open couplets (e.g., 11. 49-56). While there is much balance of phrase against phrase, clause against clause, and line against line, the method is not so insistent as in the Pastorals (or Eloisa),' and the more com- plex devices of rhetorical repetition are, except for a rather simple zeugma, infrequent. On the other hand, Pope here depends heavily on apostrophe and exclamation as means-not entirely suc- cessful means-of heightening, which anticipates Eloisa: See spicy Clouds from lowly Saron rise, And Carmel's flow'ry Top perfumes the Skies! Hark! a glad Voice the lonely Desert chears: Prepare the Way! a God, a God appears. (27-30) Yet the descriptions which in Windsor-Forest and in Eloisa inspire him to employ elaborate alliteration, assonance, and other sound patterning, lapse in the Messiah to mere dry lists with compara- tively little attempt at prosodic adornment: And Starts, amidst the thirsty Wilds, to hear New Falls of Water murm'ring in his Ear: On rifted Rocks, the Dragon's late Abodes, The green Reed trembles, and the Bulrush nods. Waste sandy Vallies, once perplex'd with Thorn, The spiry Fin and shapely Box adorn; To leaf-less Shrubs the flow'ring Palms succeed, 12. See Tw., I, 104. 44 THE REACH OF ART world with so many of their characteristic excellences already on display for all who read to see and for at least the unenvious to admire. II In general metrical technique, the Messiah rather closely re- sembles Windsor-Forest: in orthodox caesuras (at a high rate among Pope's poems), in use of the initial trochee (low), in pro- portion of monosyllables and of monosyllablic lines (low). Dis- tinctly an early poem, its principal variation from the metrical pat- tern of the other early poems lies in its increase in caesuras in the latter half of the line and particularly the sixth-place caesura; a variation to be expected of a poem attempting to achieve sublimity. Also it has far more elision by apocope than either Windsor-Forest or the Pastorals-more proportionately than any other major poem. (Pope clearly thought apocope more suitable to formal poems.) In its brief 108 lines the Messiah has several series of open couplets (e.g., 11. 49-56). While there is much balance of phrase against phrase, clause against clause, and line against line, the method is not so insistent as in the Pastorals (or Eloisa)," and the more com- plex devices of rhetorical repetition are, except for a rather simple zeugma, infrequent. On the other hand, Pope here depends heavily on apostrophe and exclamation as means-not entirely suc- cessful means-of heightening, which anticipates Eloisa: See spicy Clouds from lowly Saron rise, And Carmel's flow'ry Top perfumes the Skies! Hark! a glad Voice the lonely Desert chears: Prepare the Wayl a God, a God appears. (27-30) Yet the descriptions which in Windsor-Forest and in Eloisa inspire him to employ elaborate alliteration, assonance, and other sound patterning, lapse in the Messiah to mere dry lists with compara- tively little attempt at prosodic adornment: And Starts, amidst the thirsty Wilds, to hear New Falls of Water murm'ring in his Ear: On rifted Rocks, the Dragon's late Abodes, The green Reed trembles, and the Bulrush nods. Waste sandy Vallies, once perplex'd with Thorn, The spiry Firr and shapely Box adorn; To leaf-less Shrubs the flow'ring Palms succeed, 12. See Tw., I, 104. 44 THE REACH OF ART world with so many of their characteristic excellences already on display for all who read to see and for at least the unenvious to admire. II In general metrical technique, the Messiah rather closely re- sembles Windsor-Forest: in orthodox caesuras (at a high rate among Pope's poems), in use of the initial trochee (low), in pro- portion of monosyllables and of monosyllablic lines (low). Dis- tinctly an early poem, its principal variation from the metrical pat- tern of the other early poems lies in its increase in caesuras in the latter half of the line and particularly the sixth-place caesura; a variation to be expected of a poem attempting to achieve sublimity. Also it has far more elision by apocope than either Windsor-Forest or the Pastorals-more proportionately than any other major poem. (Pope clearly thought apocope more suitable to formal poems.) In its brief 108 lines the Messiah has several series of open couplets (e.g., 11. 49-56). While there is much balance of phrase against phrase, clause against clause, and line against line, the method is not so insistent as in the Pastorals (or Eloisa),= and the more com- plex devices of rhetorical repetition are, except for a rather simple zeugma, infrequent. On the other hand, Pope here depends heavily on apostrophe and exclamation as means-not entirely suc- cessful means-of heightening, which anticipates Eloisa: See spicy Clouds from lowly Saron rise, And Carmel's flow'ry Top perfumes the Skies! Hark! a glad Voice the lonely Desert chears: Prepare the Way! a God, a God appears. (27-30) Yet the descriptions which in Windsor-Forest and in Eloisa inspire him to employ elaborate alliteration, assonance, and other sound patterning, lapse in the Messiah to mere dry lists with compara- tively little attempt at prosodic adornment: And Starts, amidst the thirsty Wilds, to hear New Falls of Water murm'ring in his Ear: On rifted Rocks, the Dragon's late Abodes, The green Reed trembles, and the Bulrush nods. Waste sandy Vallies, once perplex'd with Thorn, The spiry Firr and shapely Box adorn; To leaf-less Shrubs the flow'ring Palms succeed, 12. See Tw., I, 104. 44  EARLY AND ROMANTIC And od'rous Myrtle to the noisome Weed. The Lambs with Wolves shall graze the verdant Mead, And Boys in flow'ry Bands the Tyger lead; The Steer and Lion at one Crib shall meet; And harmless Serpents lick the Pilgrim's Feet. (69-80) The only alliteration is the minor example in line 71, the only noticeable assonance in lines 72, 73, and 75; and it is astonishing to find Pope describing a waterfall without any attempt at repre- sentative meter. One line only, The crested Basilisk and speckled Snake, (82) has the life that Pope usually gives to his descriptions in other poems; and even this line is a reminder that elsewhere in the Messiah the two-syllable epithet is likely to be as obvious as it is in Windsor-Forest and the Pastorals." Indeed in the whole of the Messiah Pope makes the least possible use of special representative technique, whether of meter or of caesura or of repetition of sound. But the Alexandrine, fittingly, appears several times and well.a The language of Scripture does sometimes gain exciting statement: The Dumb shall sing, the Lame his Crutch foregoe, And leap exulting like the bounding Roe. (43-44) There are, not unexpectedly, fine hints of Milton: And on the sightless Eye-ball pour the Day. (40) And the last twenty-four lines of the poem, beginning Rise, crown'd with Light, Imperial Salem rise! (85) do rise to a reality of fervor and splendor. That they do this without going beyond the spareness of prosodic technique charac- teristic of the entire poem may be evidence that Pope felt this spareness to be most appropriate to Scriptural materials. But 13. Pope's use of epithets, and his descriptions generally, in the Messiah are defended in Tw., I, 105-106, and by other critics; but the defense seems to be on grounds of literary theory rather than prosodic, or even poetic effect. To demonstrate that the poem suited Pope's taste and that of his period is worth- while, but does not prove that the same techniques remain effective today; rather, it is to demonstrate that the Augustan techniques of (for example) mock-epic have lasted better than those of pastoral or-and Tw. compares Pope's use of Isaiah to his use of Homer-epic. No one would feel impelled to a histori- cal defense of The Rape of the Lock. 14. See Tw., I, 107. 45 EARLY AND ROMANTIC And od'rous Myrtle to the noisome Weed. The Lambs with Wolves shall graze the verdant Mead, And Boys in flow'ry Bands the Tyger lead; The Steer and Lion at one Crib shall meet; And harmless Serpents lick the Pilgrim's Feet. (69-80) The only alliteration is the minor example in line 71, the only noticeable assonance in lines 72, 73, and 75; and it is astonishing to find Pope describing a waterfall without any attempt at repre- sentative meter. One line only, The crested Basilisk and speckled Snake, (82) has the life that Pope usually gives to his descriptions in other poems; and even this line is a reminder that elsewhere in the Messiah the two-syllable epithet is likely to be as obvious as it is in Windsor-Forest and the Pastorals-' Indeed in the whole of the Messiah Pope makes the least possible use of special representative technique, whether of meter or of caesura or of repetition of sound. But the Alexandrine, fittingly, appears several times and well." The language of Scripture does sometimes gain exciting statement: The Dumb shall sing, the Lame his Crutch foregoe, And leap exulting like the bounding Roe. (43-44) There are, not unexpectedly, fine hints of Milton: And on the sightless Eye-ball pour the Day. (40) And the last twenty-four lines of the poem, beginning Rise, crown'd with Light, Imperial Salem rise! (85) do rise to a reality of fervor and splendor. That they do this without going beyond the spareness of prosodic technique charac- teristic of the entire poem may be evidence that Pope felt this spareness to be most appropriate to Scriptural materials. But 13. Pope's use of epithets, and his descriptions generally, in the Messiah are defended in Tw., I, 105-106, and by other critics; but the defense seems to be on grounds of literary theory rather than prosodic, or even poetic effect. To demonstrate that the poem suited Pope's taste and that of his period is worth- while, but does not prove that the same techniques remain effective today; rather, it is to demonstrate that the Augustan techniques of (for example) mock-epic have lasted better than those of pastoral or-and Tw. compares Pope's use of Isaiah to his use of Homer-epic. No one would feel impelled to a histori- cal defense of The Rape of the Lock. 14. See Tw., I, 107. 45 EARLY AND ROMANTIC And od'rous Myrtle to the noisome Weed. The Lambs with Wolves shall graze the verdant Mead, And Boys in flow'ry Bands the Tyger lead; The Steer and Lion at one Crib shall meet; And harmless Serpents lick the Pilgrim's Feet. (69-80) The only alliteration is the minor example in line 71, the only noticeable assonance in lines 72, 73, and 75; and it is astonishing to find Pope describing a waterfall without any attempt at repre- sentative meter. One line only, The crested Basilisk and speckled Snake, (82) has the life that Pope usually gives to his descriptions in other poems; and even this line is a reminder that elsewhere in the Messiah the two-syllable epithet is likely to be as obvious as it is in Windsor-Forest and the Pastorals?.s Indeed in the whole of the Messiah Pope makes the least possible use of special representative technique, whether of meter or of caesura or of repetition of sound. But the Alexandrine, fittingly, appears several times and well."4 The language of Scripture does sometimes gain exciting statement: The Dumb shall sing, the Lame his Crutch foregoe, And leap exulting like the bounding Roe. (43-44) There are, not unexpectedly, fine hints of Milton: And on the sightless Eye-ball pour the Day. (40) And the last twenty-four lines of the poem, beginning Rise, crown'd with Light, Imperial Salem rise! (85) do rise to a reality of fervor and splendor. That they do this without going beyond the spareness of prosodic technique charac- teristic of the entire poem may be evidence that Pope felt this spareness to be most appropriate to Scriptural materials. But 13. Pope's use of epithets, and his descriptions generally, in the Messiah are defended in Tw., I, 105-06, and by other critics; but the defense seems to be on grounds of literary theory rather than prosodic, or even poetic effect. To demonstrate that the poem suited Pope's taste and that of his period is worth- while, but does not prove that the same techniques remain effective today; rather, it is to demonstrate that the Augustan techniques of (for example) mock-epic have lasted better than those of pastoral or-and Tw. compares Pope's use of Isaiah to his use of Homer-epic. No one would feel impelled to a histori- cal defense of The Rape of the Lock. 14. See Tw., I, 107. 45  THE REACH OF ART apostrophe and exclamation, elsewhere in the poem used to excess and superimposed, are here sufficient and organic; the images are grand, the language almost equally so; the regularity of meter is a virtue; the one instance of overflowing the couplet and of enjamb- ment is perfectly suitable, cuts across the pattern just enough, a disciplined excess." The final Alexandrine brings the passage to a triumphant and exalted close. These twenty-four lines are almost beyond analysis, because there is almost nothing to analyze. Emo- tion, which in the earlier passages had been beaten up hill with the stick of exclamation, now suddenly strides forth free and strong. The passage is like nothing else in Pope; it reveals an aspect of his genius seen nowhere else in his entire poetical career. III Eloisa to Abelard and the Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortu- nate Lady are usually associated as the two principal examples of the impulse toward romanticism in Pope's poetry. The fact that they are both monologues, that they treat women in a somewhat similar vein, and that both concern regret for a great loss, has served to emphasize the association. The similarity, however, should not be taken for granted. Others of Pope's poems have ele- ments of the romantic; and in detailed technique Eloisa and the Unfortunate Lady show significant differences as well as resem- blances. The Unfortunate Lady, for example, is not so packed with that elaborate rhetoric-the rhetorical repetition with the full range of types; the extensive exclamation and apostrophe; the rhetorical use of alliteration and even of caesura-which is the most remark- able characteristic of Eloisa. Yet the Unfortunate Lady uses in- terrogation quite as much and quite as well as Eloisa, and one of the best known examples of anaphora in all Pope is in the shorter poem: By foreign hands thy dying eyes were clos'd, By foreign hands thy decent limbs compos'd, By foreign hands thy humble grave adorn'd, By strangers honour'd, and by strangers mourn'dl (51-54) And the Unfortunate Lady's more restrained rhetoric, while never reaching the emotional felicity of certain passages in Eloisa, never 15. Li. 99-104. Partially quoted on p. 11, above. 46 THE REACH OF ART apostrophe and exclamation, elsewhere in the poem used to excess and superimposed, are here sufficient and organic; the images are grand, the language almost equally so; the regularity of meter is a virtue; the one instance of overflowing the couplet and of enjamb- ment is perfectly suitable, cuts across the pattern just enough, a disciplined excess.' The final Alexandrine brings the passage to a triumphant and exalted close. These twenty-four lines are almost beyond analysis, because there is almost nothing to analyze. Emo- tion, which in the earlier passages had been beaten up hill with the stick of exclamation, now suddenly strides forth free and strong. The passage is like nothing else in Pope; it reveals an aspect of his genius seen nowhere else in his entire poetical career. III Eloisa to Abelard and the Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortu- nate Lady are usually associated as the two principal examples of the impulse toward romanticism in Pope's poetry. The fact that they are both monologues, that they treat women in a somewhat similar vein, and that both concern regret for a great loss, has served to emphasize the association. The similarity, however, should not be taken for granted. Others of Pope's poems have ele- ments of the romantic; and in detailed technique Eloisa and the Unfortunate Lady show significant differences as well as resem- blances. The Unfortunate Lady, for example, is not so packed with that elaborate rhetoric-the rhetorical repetition with the full range of types; the extensive exclamation and apostrophe; the rhetorical use of alliteration and even of caesura-which is the most remark- able characteristic of Eloisa. Yet the Unfortunate Lady uses in- terrogation quite as much and quite as well as Eloisa, and one of the best known examples of anaphora in all Pope is in the shorter poem: By foreign hands thy dying eyes were clos'd, By foreign hands thy decent limbs compos'd, By foreign hands thy humble grave adorn'd, By strangers honour'd, and by strangers mourn'dl (51-54) And the Unfortunate Lady's more restrained rhetoric, while never reaching the emotional felicity of certain passages in Eloisa, never 15. Lt. 99-104. Partially quoted on p. 11, above. 46 THE REACH OF ART apostrophe and exclamation, elsewhere in the poem used to excess and superimposed, are here sufficient and organic; the images are grand, the language almost equally so; the regularity of meter is a virtue; the one instance of overflowing the couplet and of enjamb- ment is perfectly suitable, cuts across the pattern just enough, a disciplined excess.' The final Alexandrine brings the passage to a triumphant and exalted close. These twenty-four lines are almost beyond analysis, because there is almost nothing to analyze. Emo- tion, which in the earlier passages had been beaten up hill with the stick of exclamation, now suddenly strides forth free and strong. The passage is like nothing else in Pope; it reveals an aspect of his genius seen nowhere else in his entire poetical career. III Eloisa to Abelard and the Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortu- nate Lady are usually associated as the two principal examples of the impulse toward romanticism in Pope's poetry. The fact that they are both monologues, that they treat women in a somewhat similar vein, and that both concern regret for a great loss, has served to emphasize the association. The similarity, however, should not be taken for granted. Others of Pope's poems have ele- ments of the romantic; and in detailed technique Eloisa and the Unfortunate Lady show significant differences as well as resem- blances. The Unfortunate Lady, for example, is not so packed with that elaborate rhetoric-the rhetorical repetition with the full range of types; the extensive exclamation and apostrophe; the rhetorical use of alliteration and even of caesura-which is the most remark- able characteristic of Eloisa. Yet the Unfortunate Lady uses in- terrogation quite as much and quite as well as Eloisa, and one of the best known examples of anaphora in all Pope is in the shorter poem: By foreign hands thy dying eyes were clos'd, By foreign hands thy decent limbs compos'd, By foreign hands thy humble grave adorn'd, By strangers honour'd, and by strangers mourn'dl (51-54) And the Unfortunate Lady's more restrained rhetoric, while never reaching the emotional felicity of certain passages in Eloisa, never 15. Ll. 99-104. Partially quoted on p. 11, above. 46  EARLY AND ROMANTIC becomes, as Eloisa's rhetoric sometimes does, monotonous, un- believable, and self-defeating. The Unfortunate Lady lacks the scenic descriptions, the gloomy prospects anticipatory of the Grave- yard school, for which Eloisa is noted; and it therefore lacks that complex pattern of repetition of sound which Pope seems to have reserved almost altogether for such descriptions. Moreover, while the Unfortunate Lady displays more alliteration and assonance of every kind than the Messiah does, yet it is nearer to that poem than to Eloisa in frequency of such devices. But when Pope does use alliteration and assonance in the Un- fortunate Lady, they bring Eloisa vividly to mind: There shall the morn her earliest tears bestow, There the first roses of the year shall blow; While Angels with their silver wings o'ershade The ground, now sacred by thy reliques made, (Unfortunate Lady, 65-68) If ever chance two wandring lovers brings To Paraclete's white walls, and silver springs, O'er the pale marble shall they join their heads, And drink the falling tears each other sheds, (Eloisa, 347-350) Cold is that breast which warm'd the world before, (Unfortunate Lady, 33) When, warm in youth, I bade the world farewell? As with cold lips I kiss'd the sacred veil. (Eloisa, 110-111) The Unfortunate Lady is too short for the wide variety of caesural emphasis and use of the caesura for representation which are among the finest qualities in Eloisa; but caesural placement in the two poems is similar, varying mainly in the greater proportion of fifth- place caesuras in Eloisa and of sixth-place caesuras in the Unfortu- nate Lady. And the Unfortunate Lady does make excellent use of the caesura for representative and rhetorical purposes: Thence to their Images on earth/it flows, (15) What/tho' no friends in sable weeds/appear, Grieve for an hour,/perhaps,/then mourn a year, And bear about/the mockery of woe To midnight dances,/and the publick show? (55-58) The initial trochee had by this time reached, in Pope's poetry, and was to maintain almost without exception, a frequency of about one line in four or five; but Eloisa is below this average, as it is in general unusually conservative (i.e., regular) in meter. The two 47 EARLY AND ROMANTIC becomes, as Eloisa's rhetoric sometimes does, monotonous, un- believable, and self-defeating. The Unfortunate Lady lacks the scenic descriptions, the gloomy prospects anticipatory of the Grave- yard school, for which Eloisa is noted; and it therefore lacks that complex pattern of repetition of sound which Pope seems to have reserved almost altogether for such descriptions. Moreover, while the Unfortunate Lady displays more alliteration and assonance of every kind than the Messiah does, yet it is nearer to that poem than to Eloisa in frequency of such devices. But when Pope does use alliteration and assonance in the Un- fortunate Lady, they bring Eloisa vividly to mind: There shall the morn her earliest tears bestow, There the first roses of the year shall blow; While Angels with their silver wings o'ershade The ground, now sacred by thy reliques made, (Unfortunate Lady, 65-68) If ever chance two wandring lovers brings To Paraclete's white walls, and silver springs, O'er the pale marble shall they join their heads, And drink the falling tears each other sheds, (Eloisa, 347-350) Cold is that breast which warm'd the world before, (Unfortunate Lady, 33) When, warm in youth, I bade the world farewell? As with cold lips I kiss'd the sacred veil. (Eloisa, 110-111) The Unfortunate Lady is too short for the wide variety of caesural emphasis and use of the caesura for representation which are among the finest qualities in Eloisa; but caesural placement in the two poems is similar, varying mainly in the greater proportion of fifth- place caesuras in Eloisa and of sixth-place caesuras in the Unfortu- nate Lady. And the Unfortunate Lady does make excellent use of the caesura for representative and rhetorical purposes: Thence to their Images on earth/it flows, (15) What/tho' no friends in sable weeds/appear, Grieve for an hour,/perhaps,/then mourn a year, And bear about/the mockery of woe To midnight dances,/and the publick show? (55-58) The initial trochee had by this time reached, in Pope's poetry, and was to maintain almost without exception, a frequency of about one line in four or five; but Eloisa is below this average, as it is in general unusually conservative (i.e., regular) in meter. The two 47 EARLY AND ROMANTIC becomes, as Eloisa's rhetoric sometimes does, monotonous, un- believable, and self-defeating. The Unfortunate Lady lacks the scenic descriptions, the gloomy prospects anticipatory of the Grave- yard school, for which Eloisa is noted; and it therefore lacks that complex pattern of repetition of sound which Pope seems to have reserved almost altogether for such descriptions. Moreover, while the Unfortunate Lady displays more alliteration and assonance of every kind than the Messiah does, yet it is nearer to that poem than to Eloisa in frequency of such devices. But when Pope does use alliteration and assonance in the Un- fortunate Lady, they bring Eloisa vividly to mind: There shall the morn her earliest tears bestow, There the first roses of the year shall blow; While Angels with their silver wings o'ershade The ground, now sacred by thy reliques made, (Unfortunate Lady, 65-68) If ever chance two wandring lovers brings To Paraclete's white walls, and silver springs, O'er the pale marble shall they join their heads, And drink the falling tears each other sheds, (Eloisa, 347-350) Cold is that breast which warm'd the world before, (Unfortunate Lady, 33) When, warm in youth, I bade the world farewell? As with cold lips I kiss'd the sacred veil. (Eloisa, 110-111) The Unfortunate Lady is too short for the wide variety of caesural emphasis and use of the caesura for representation which are among the finest qualities in Eloisa; but caesural placement in the two poems is similar, varying mainly in the greater proportion of fifth- place caesuras in Eloisa and of sixth-place caesuras in the Unfortu- nate Lady. And the Unfortunate Lady does make excellent use of the caesura for representative and rhetorical purposes: Thence to their Images on earth/it flows, (15) What/tho' no friends in sable weeds/appear, Grieve for an hour,/perhaps,/then mourn a year, And bear about/the mockery of woe To midnight dances/and the publick show? (55-58) The initial trochee had by this time reached, in Pope's poetry, and was to maintain almost without exception, a frequency of about one line in four or five; but Eloisa is below this average, as it is in general unusually conservative (i.e., regular) in meter. The two 47  THE REACH OF ART poems are similar in their variation of line and couplet structure; but in the use of the polysyllable Eloisa much exceeds the Unfortu- nate Lady or indeed any of the poems up to 1717 except An Essay on Criticism. Both poems use monosyllables more frequently than any other of the earlier poems; and both (but especially Eloisa) use monosyllabic lines much more frequently. The prosodic critic feels impelled to find causes for these patterns. Since for example these are the only poems up to 1717 which are intended as speech-except for the very early Pastorals, where the speech is naturally more formal-it is not surprising that the rate of monosyllables is high; and of the poems included in this study, the three in the latter part of Pope's career which have the highest monosyllable rate-a rate almost exactly like that of Eloisa and the Unfortunate Lady-are the three which are most conversational: Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, and the Epilogue to the Satires. On the other hand, Eloisa is a learned lady, and it is not surprising that her speech should contain about as many polysyllables proportionately as An Essay on Criticism, the most intellectual of the early poems. What, then, of the technical differences between Eloisa and the Unfortunate Lady? The difference between the speakers in the two poems is at least partly the difference between a man and a woman." Eloisa's emotion is more profound-or less reserved- and Pope seems to have felt that greater emotion required greater regularity of form. If we nowadays are likely to stress breaks in the flow as characteristic of emotional outbursts, Pope's attitude is nonetheless psychologically valid: emotion highly wrought is more rhythmical than the casual conversation of every day. And the neoclassic aesthetic would take the view that high emotion 16. "This [the difference in attitude of Priam and Hecubal puts me in mind of a judicious stroke in Milton, with regard to the several characters of Adam and Eve. When the Angel is driving them both out of paradise, Adam grieves that he must leave a place where he had conversed with God and his angels; but Eve laments that we shall never more behold the flowers of Eden. Here Adam mourns like a man, and Eve like a woman."-Pope, note to Iliad, XXII, 114 (from The Iliad of Homer, VI, [London, 1760]). See also Tw., II, 283. 17. Lord Kames differentiates between immediate passions, such as surprise and terror, which require a broken style, and passive passions, such as melan- choly, which require slow and regular movement; and he quotes from Eloisa to Abelard, to exemplify the latter both in passion and verse movement (pp. 238 ff.). 48 THE REACH OF ART poems are similar in their variation of line and couplet structure; but in the use of the polysyllable Eloisa much exceeds the Unfortu- nate Lady or indeed any of the poems up to 1717 except An Essay on Criticism. Both poems use monosyllables more frequently than any other of the earlier poems; and both (but especially Eloisa) use monosyllabic lines much more frequently. The prosodic critic feels impelled to find causes for these patterns. Since for example these are the only poems up to 1717 which are intended as speech-except for the very early Pastorals, where the speech is naturally more formal-it is not surprising that the rate of monosyllables is high; and of the poems included in this study, the three in the latter part of Pope's career which have the highest monosyllable rate-a rate almost exactly like that of Eloisa and the Unfortunate Lady-are the three which are most conversational: Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, and the Epilogue to the Satires. On the other hand, Eloisa is a learned lady, and it is not surprising that her speech should contain about as many polysyllables proportionately as An Essay on Criticism, the most intellectual of the early poems. What, then, of the technical differences between Eloisa and the Unfortunate Lady? The difference between the speakers in the two poems is at least partly the difference between a man and a woman.la Eloisa's emotion is more profound-or less reserved- and Pope seems to have felt that greater emotion required greater regularity of form. If we nowadays are likely to stress breaks in the flow as characteristic of emotional outbursts,[, Pope's attitude is nonetheless psychologically valid: emotion highly wrought is more rhythmical than the casual conversation of every day. And the neoclassic aesthetic would take the view that high emotion 16. "This [the difference in attitude of Priam and Hecubal puts me in mind of a judicious stroke in Milton, with regard to the several characters of Adam and Eve. When the Angel is driving them both out of paradise, Adam grieves that he must leave a place where he had conversed with God and his angels; but Eve laments that we shall never more behold the flowers of Eden. Here Adam mourns like a man, and Eve like a woman."-Pope, note to Iliad, XXII, 114 (from The Iliad of Homer, VI, [London, 1760]). See also Tw., II, 283. 17. Lord Kames differentiates between immediate passions, such as surprise and terror, which require a broken style, and passive passions, such as melan- choly, which require slow and regular movement; and he quotes from Eloisa to Abelard, to exemplify the latter both in passion and verse movement (pp. 238 ff.). 48 THE REACH OF ART poems are similar in their variation of line and couplet structure; but in the use of the polysyllable Eloisa much exceeds the Unfortu- nate Lady or indeed any of the poems up to 1717 except An Essay on Criticism. Both poems use monosyllables more frequently than any other of the earlier poems; and both (but especially Eloisa) use monosyllabic lines much more frequently. The prosodic critic feels impelled to find causes for these patterns. Since for example these are the only poems up to 1717 which are intended as speech-except for the very early Pastorals, where the speech is naturally more formal-it is not surprising that the rate of monosyllables is high; and of the poems included in this study, the three in the latter part of Pope's career which have the highest monosyllable rate-a rate almost exactly like that of Eloisa and the Unfortunate Lady-are the three which are most conversational: Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, and the Epilogue to the Satires. On the other hand, Eloisa is a learned lady, and it is not surprising that her speech should contain about as many polysyllables proportionately as An Essay on Criticism, the most intellectual of the early poems. What, then, of the technical differences between Eloisa and the Unfortunate Lady? The difference between the speakers in the two poems is at least partly the difference between a man and a woman.-5 Eloisa's emotion is more profound-or less reserved- and Pope seems to have felt that greater emotion required greater regularity of form. If we nowadays are likely to stress breaks in the flow as characteristic of emotional outbursts," Pope's attitude is nonetheless psychologically valid: emotion highly wrought is more rhythmical than the casual conversation of every day. And the neoclassic aesthetic would take the view that high emotion 16. "This [the difference in attitude of Priam and Hecuba puts me in mind of a judicious stroke in Milton, with regard to the several characters of Adam and Eve. When the Angel is driving them both out of paradise, Adam grieves that he must leave a place where he had conversed with God and his angels; but Eve laments that we shall never more behold the flowers of Eden. Here Adam mourns like a man, and Eve like a woman."-Pope, note to Iliad, XXII, 114 (from The Iliad of Homer, VI, [London, 17601). See also Tw., II, 283. 17. Lord Kames differentiates between immediate passions, such as surprise and terror, which require a broken style, and passive passions, such as melan. choly, which require slow and regular movement; and he quotes from Eloisa to Abelard, to exemplify the latter both in passion and verse movement (pp. 28 ff.). 48  EARLY AND ROMANTIC (as in Pope's model for Eloisa, Ovid's Heroides) is a heroic subject, requiring the heroic, which usually meant regular, style.18 Eloisa was a learned lady, and one can tell from the poem that she was a learned lady, but her learning (naturally highly rhe- torical) is all subordinated to and employed for the things of the heart. All the parallels, all the antitheses, are to analyze her love and tear it to pieces. There is no logic; every time logic presents itself it is washed away in a deeper tide of feeling. The very Abe- lard to whom Eloisa addresses herself quite obviously feels and thinks (and not only because of his mutilation) in a way different from hers. If it is not entirely true, it is at least conventionally ac- cepted to the point of triteness, that love is the life of a woman but only part of the life of a man. And one can easily imagine that the speaker in the Unfortunate Lady will do other things than mourn. He finds it possible to philosophize about his loss and to generalize this death into death as the fate of all, which makes mourning es- sentially futile. His belief that the mills of the gods grind slow: Thus, if eternal justice rules the ball, Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall, (35-36) and his ability to philosophize even about this anticipated venge- ance: Thus unlamented pass the proud away, The gaze of fools, and pageant of a dayl (43-44) are utterly different from the terrible immediacy of Eloisa's Where, where was Eloise? her voice, her hand, Her ponyard, had oppos'd the dire command. (101-102) There is about Eloisa's emotion a hysteria, the hysteria of the hopelessly entrapped, an in-looking, a subordination even of the object of her love to her own feelings (she almost blames him for not suffering as she does, she wants him to pretend a physical emotion he cannot feel) which is entirely unlike the Lady's lover's essentially masculine sort of tenderness for the small and delicate and cherished (e.g., 11. 61-64), and his quite manifest ability to rise 18. On the other hand, the greater number of 5th-place caesuras in Eloisa to Abelard and of 6th-place in Unfortunate Lady may indicate greater control on the part of the man. Sixth-place caesuras have a quality of finality, 5th-place of tentativeness. 49 EARLY AND ROMANTIC (as in Pope's model for Eloisa, Ovid's Heroides) is a heroic subject, requiring the heroic, which usually meant regular, style.18 Eloisa was a learned lady, and one can tell from the poem that she was a learned lady, but her learning (naturally highly rhe- torical) is all subordinated to and employed for the things of the heart. All the parallels, all the antitheses, are to analyze her love and tear it to pieces. There is no logic; every time logic presents itself it is washed away in a deeper tide of feeling. The very Abe- lard to whom Eloisa addresses herself quite obviously feels and thinks (and not only because of his mutilation) in a way different from hers. If it is not entirely true, it is at least conventionally ac- cepted to the point of triteness, that love is the life of a woman but only part of the life of a man. And one can easily imagine that the speaker in the Unfortunate Lady will do other things than mourn. He finds it possible to philosophize about his loss and to generalize this death into death as the fate of all, which makes mourning es- sentially futile. His belief that the mills of the gods grind slow: Thus, if eternal justice rules the ball, Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall, (35-36) and his ability to philosophize even about this anticipated venge- ance: Thus unlamented pass the proud away, The gaze of fools, and pageant of a day! (43-44) are utterly different from the terrible immediacy of Eloisa's Where, where was Eloise? her voice, her hand, Her ponyard, had oppos'd the dire command. (101-102) There is about Eloisa's emotion a hysteria, the hysteria of the hopelessly entrapped, an in-looking, a subordination even of the object of her love to her own feelings (she almost blames him for not suffering as she does, she wants him to pretend a physical emotion he cannot feel) which is entirely unlike the Lady's lover's essentially masculine sort of tenderness for the small and delicate and cherished (e.g., 11. 61-64), and his quite manifest ability to rise 18. On the other hand, the greater number of 5th-place caesuras in Eloisa to Abelard and of 6th-place in Unfortunate Lady may indicate greater control on the part of the man. Sixth-place caesuras have a quality of finality, 5th-place of tentativeness.4 49 EARLY AND ROMANTIC (as in Pope's model for Eloisa, Ovid's Heroides) is a heroic subject, requiring the heroic, which usually meant regular, style. Eloisa was a learned lady, and one can tell from the poem that she was a learned lady, but her learning (naturally highly rhe- torical) is all subordinated to and employed for the things of the heart. All the parallels, all the antitheses, are to analyze her love and tear it to pieces. There is no logic; every time logic presents itself it is washed away in a deeper tide of feeling. The very Abe- lard to whom Eloisa addresses herself quite obviously feels and thinks (and not only because of his mutilation) in a way different from hers. If it is not entirely true, it is at least conventionally ac- cepted to the point of triteness, that love is the life of a woman but only part of the life of a man. And one can easily imagine that the speaker in the Unfortunate Lady will do other things than mourn. He finds it possible to philosophize about his loss and to generalize this death into death as the fate of all, which makes mourning es- sentially futile. His belief that the mills of the gods grind slow: Thus, if eternal justice rules the ball, Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall, (35-36) and his ability to philosophize even about this anticipated venge- ance: Thus unlamented pass the proud away, The gaze of fools, and pageant of a dayl (43-44) are utterly different from the terrible immediacy of Eloisa's Where, where was Eloise? her voice, her hand, Her ponyard, had oppos'd the dire command. (101-102) There is about Eloisa's emotion a hysteria, the hysteria of the hopelessly entrapped, an in-looking, a subordination even of the object of her love to her own feelings (she almost blames him for not suffering as she does, she wants him to pretend a physical emotion he cannot feel) which is entirely unlike the Lady's lover's essentially masculine sort of tenderness for the small and delicate and cherished (e.g., 11. 61-64), and his quite manifest ability to rise 18. On the other hand, the greater number of 5th-place caesuras in Eloisa to Abelard and of 6th-place in Unfortunate Lady may indicate greater control on the part of the man. Sixth-place caesuras have a quality of finality, 5th-place of tentativeness. 49  THE REACH OF ART above his grief and return to "Life's idle business" on the way to his own grave. The metrical regularity's of Eloisa to Abelard has, as I have said, both a psychological and an aesthetic basis; but the rules of the prosodic letter of half a dozen years before (for example, those against monosyllabic lines and non-central caesuras) were by this time being neglected far more often than in the Pastorals. Eloisa uses monosyllabic lines for as wide a variety of effects as does any poem in the canon;" and these lines, as well as the generally high monosyllable count, give a saving simplicity to a poem otherwise approaching the overelaborate and overwrought. This tendency toward overelaboration is most prominent in two principal features of Eloisa: its pervasive and intricate rhetoric, and its equally complex and almost equally continuous employment of the devices of sound. The question, the exclamation, the apostro- phe are everywhere; and while they contribute to tonal consistency, the apostrophe and exclamation particularly try to do more than they alone can. In a couplet like O death all-eloquentl you only prove What dust we doat on, when 'tis man we love, (335-336) they must certainly be approved. But little can be said for such lines-and they are numerous-as O grace serenel oh virtue heav'nly fair (297) Apostrophe and exclamation must seem inevitable. To use exclama- tion (or the exclamation point) where the emotion fails to justify it, is to risk the loss of suspension of disbelief and to approach the dubious emotionality of melodrama." It is difficult to imagine how any poem could be more crowded with rhetorical repetition and antithesis than is Eloisa; hardly a 19. As always, there are individual exceptions, and highly irregular lines (for Pope) do occur in Eloisa to Abelard, e.g., the examples on p. 10, above. 20. E.g., 11. 50, 74, 116, 118, 201, 233, 235, 289, 328, 336, 363, and two mono- syllabic couplets, 123-124 and 291-292. 21. "I am inclined to think he was not much mistaken, who said, that when, on looking into a book, he found the pages thick bespangled with the point which is called 'punctum admirationis,' he judged this to be a sufficient reason for his laying it aside ... it has now become a fashion [with "rapturous" writers] ... to subjoin points of admiration to sentences, which contain nothing but simple affirmations, or propositions; as if, by an affected method of pointing, they could transform them in the reader's mind into high Figures of eloquence." -Blair, 415. 50 THE REACH OF ART above his grief and return to "Life's idle business" on the way to his own grave. The metrical regularity's of Eloisa to Abelard has, as I have said, both a psychological and an aesthetic basis; but the rules of the prosodic letter of half a dozen years before (for example, those against monosyllabic lines and non-central caesuras) were by this time being neglected far more often than in the Pastorals. Eloisa uses monosyllabic lines for as wide a variety of effects as does any poem in the canon;- and these lines, as well as the generally high monosyllable count, give a saving simplicity to a poem otherwise approaching the overelaborate and overwrought. This tendency toward overelaboration is most prominent in two principal features of Eloisa: its pervasive and intricate rhetoric, and its equally complex and almost equally continuous employment of the devices of sound. The question, the exclamation, the apostro- phe are everywhere; and while they contribute to tonal consistency, the apostrophe and exclamation particularly try to do more than they alone can. In a couplet like O death all-eloquent! you only prove What dust we doat on, when 'tis man we love, (335-336) they must certainly be approved. But little can be said for such lines-and they are numerous-as O grace serenel oh virtue heav'nly fair! (297) Apostrophe and exclamation must seem inevitable. To use exclama- tion (or the exclamation point) where the emotion fails to justify it, is to risk the loss of suspension of disbelief and to approach the dubious emotionality of melodramast It is difficult to imagine how any poem could be more crowded with rhetorical repetition and antithesis than is Eloisa; hardly a 19. As always, there are individual exceptions, and highly irregular lines (for Pope) do occur in Eloisa to Abelard, e.g., the examples on p. 10, above. 20. E.g., 11. 50, 74, 116, 118, 201, 233, 235, 289, 328, 336, 363, and two mono- syllabic couplets, 123-124 and 291-292. 21. "I am inclined to think he was not much mistaken, who said, that when, on looking into a book, he found the pages thick bespangled with the point which is called 'punctum admirationis' he judged this to be a sufficient reason for his laying it aside ... it has now become a fashion [with "rapturous" writers] ... to subjoin points of admiration to sentences, which contain nothing but simple affirmations, or propositions; as if, by an affected method of pointing, they could transform them in the reader's mind into high Figures of eloquence." -Blair, I, 415. 50 THE REACH OF ART above his grief and return to "Life's idle business" on the way to his own grave. The metrical regularity" of Eloisa to Abelard has, as I have said, both a psychological and an aesthetic basis; but the rules of the prosodic letter of half a dozen years before (for example, those against monosyllabic lines and non-central caesuras) were by this time being neglected far more often than in the Pastorals. Eloisa uses monosyllabic lines for as wide a variety of effects as does any poem in the canon;"t and these lines, as well as the generally high monosyllable count, give a saving simplicity to a poem otherwise approaching the overelaborate and overwrought. This tendency toward overelaboration is most prominent in two principal features of Eloisa: its pervasive and intricate rhetoric, and its equally complex and almost equally continuous employment of the devices of sound. The question, the exclamation, the apostro- phe are everywhere; and while they contribute to tonal consistency, the apostrophe and exclamation particularly try to do more than they alone can. In a couplet like O death all-eloquentl you only prove What dust we doat on, when 'tis man we love, (335-336) they must certainly be approved. But little can be said for such lines-and they are numerous-as O grace serenel oh virtue heav'nly fairl (297) Apostrophe and exclamation must seem inevitable. To use exclama- tion (or the exclamation point) where the emotion fails to justify it, is to risk the loss of suspension of disbelief and to approach the dubious emotionality of melodrama." It is difficult to imagine how any poem could be more crowded with rhetorical repetition and antithesis than is Eloisa; hardly a 19. As always, there are individual exceptions, and highly irregular lines (for Pope) do occur in Eloisa to Abelard, e.g., the examples on p. 10, above. 20. E.g., 11. 50, 74, 116, I18, 201, 233, 235, 289, 328, 336, 363, and two mono. syllabic couplets, 123-124 and 291-292. 21. "I am inclined to think he was not much mistaken, who said, that when, on looking into a book, he found the pages thick bespangled with the point which is called 'punctum admirationis,' he judged this to be a sufficient reason for his laying it aside ... it has now become a fashion [with "rapturous" writers] ... to subjoin points of admiration to sentences, which contain nothing but simple affirmations, or propositions; as if, by an affected method of pointing, they could transform them in the reader's mind into high Figures of eloquence." -BlairI,I 415. 50  EARLY AND ROMANTIC line in the poem, hardly a word, exists apart from such arrange- ment. Every device at the poet's command is turned to its pur- poses. Caesura is used: I ought to grieve, but cannot what I ought; 4 I mourn the lover, not lament the fault; 5 I view my crime, but kindle at the view, 4 Repent old pleasures, and sollicit new. (183-186) 5 Alliteration (employed more often, probably, than in any other poem to unite substantive and adjective) reinforces all sorts of repetition in all sorts of ways: Pant on thy lip, and to thy heart be prest, (123) In these deep solitudes and awful cells, (1) Why rove my thoughts beyond this last retreat? Why feels my heart its long-forgotten heat? (5-6) Assonance is frequently used in the same ways: Come banish'd lover, or some captive maid, (52) No craving Void left aking in the breast, (94) and alliteration and assonance together: Her heart still dictates, and her hand obeys. (16) Zeugma, chiasmus, and anaphora are typical; but simple balance is more frequent, more typical. Eloisa's mind simply works-or is made to work-in pairs and in series. Almost everything is in con- junction with something else: No pulse that riots, and no blood that glows, (252) Excuse the blush, and pour out all the heart. (56) Or if not that, then one thing needs repeating in a new way,5' amplifying, developing to a climax, often and characteristically without the conjunction: Then share thy pain, allow that sad relief, (49) I can no more; by shame, by rage supprest, (105) I wake-no more I hear, no more I view. (235) And such habits of speech often continue in the most complex patterns through long series of open couplets. Antithesis, too, is exceptionally frequent; but that Eloisa's mind, manifestly rhetorical, should have a special antithetical bent is not surprising: it represents the essence of her despair: 22. "Passion has often the effect of redoubling words."-Kanes, p. 238. 51 EARLY AND ROMANTIC line in the poem, hardly a word, exists apart from such arrange- ment. Every device at the poet's command is turned to its pur- poses. Caesura is used: I ought to grieve, but cannot what I ought; 4 I mourn the lover, not lament the fault; 5 I view my crime, but kindle at the view, 4 Repent old pleasures, and sollicit new. (183-186) 5 Alliteration (employed more often, probably, than in any other poem to unite substantive and adjective) reinforces all sorts of repetition in all sorts of ways: Pant on thy lip, and to thy heart be prest, (123) In these deep solitudes and awful cells, (1) Why rove my thoughts beyond this last retreat? Why feels my heart its long-forgotten heat? (5-6) Assonance is frequently used in the same ways: Come banish'd lover, or some captive maid, (52) No craving Void left aking in the breast, (94) and alliteration and assonance together: Her heart still dictates, and her hand obeys. (16) Zeugma, chiasmus, and anaphora are typical; but simple balance is more frequent, more typical. Eloisa's mind simply works-or is made to work-in pairs and in series. Almost everything is in con- junction with something else: No pulse that riots, and no blood that glows, (252) Excuse the blush, and pour out all the heart. (56) Or if not that, then one thing needs repeating in a new way," amplifying, developing to a climax, often and characteristically without the conjunction: Then share thy pain, allow that sad relief, (49) I can no more; by shame, by rage supprest, (105) I wake-no more I hear, no more I view. (235) And such habits of speech often continue in the most complex patterns through long series of open couplets. Antithesis, too, is exceptionally frequent; but that Eloisa's mind, manifestly rhetorical, should have a special antithetical bent is not surprising: it represents the essence of her despair: 22. "Passion has often the effect of redoubling words."-Kames, p. 238. 51 EARLY AND ROMANTIC line in the poem, hardly a word, exists apart from such arrange- ment. Every device at the poet's command is turned to its pur- poses. Caesura is used: I ought to grieve, but cannot what I ought; 4 I mourn the lover, not lament the fault; 5 I view my crime, but kindle at the view, 4 Repent old pleasures, and sollicit new. (183-186) 5 Alliteration (employed more often, probably, than in any other poem to unite substantive and adjective) reinforces all sorts of repetition in all sorts of ways: Pant on thy lip, and to thy heart be prest, (123) In these deep solitudes and awful cells, (1) Why rove my thoughts beyond this last retreat? Why feels my heart its long-forgotten heat? (5-6) Assonance is frequently used in the same ways: Come banish'd lover, or some captive maid, (52) No craving Void left aking in the breast, (94) and alliteration and assonance together: Her heart still dictates, and her hand obeys. (16) Zeugma, chiasmus, and anaphora are typical; but simple balance is more frequent, more typical. Eloisa's mind simply works-or is made to work-in pairs and in series. Almost everything is in con- junction with something else: No pulse that riots, and no blood that glows, (252) Excuse the blush, and pour out all the heart. (56) Or if not that, then one thing needs repeating in a new way,"z amplifying, developing to a climax, often and characteristically without the conjunction: Then share thy pain, allow that sad relief, (49) I can no more; by shame, by rage supprest, (105) I wake-no more I hear, no more I view. (235) And such habits of speech often continue in the most complex patterns through long series of open couplets. Antithesis, too, is exceptionally frequent; but that Eloisa's mind, manifestly rhetorical, should have a special antithetical bent is not surprising: it represents the essence of her despair: 22. "Passion has often the effect of redoubling words."-Kames, p. 238. 51  THE REACH OF ART Nor wish'd an Angel whom I lov'd a Man, (70) I ought to grieve, but cannot what I ought, (183) Teach me at once, and learn of me to die. (328) Her mind seems also to work by means of true rhetorical inver- sion:" Yet, yet I love!-From Abelard it came, (7) No happier task these faded eyes pursue, (47) From lips like those what precept fail'd to move? (67) Still on that breast enamour'd let me lie. (121) At its best all this rhetoric is so caught up into the texture of the emotion as to achieve real fusion and genuine poignancy: No, fly me, fly me! far as Pole from Pole; Rise Alps between us! and whole oceans roll! (289-290) I call aloud; it hears not what I say; I stretch my empty arms; it glides away. (237-238) The devices of sound employed in much of this rhetoric are also used for representative purposes, especially in the elaborate pat- terning typical of the set descriptive passages of Eloisa. Indeed alliteration and assonance appear anywhere and everywhere, some- times with unpleasant obtrusiveness: Here grief forgets to groan, and love to weep, (314) Thro' dreary wastes, and weep each other's woe. (242) But even in single lines, sound repetition can have all sorts of representative purposes, as to reinforce solemnity: Lost in a convent's solitary gloom! (38) or to indicate apprehensive nervousness: That well-known name awakens all my woes; (30) or the pride of truth: Guiltless I gaz'd; heav'n listen'd while you sung; (65) or disdain: What dust we doat on, when 'tis man we love; (336) or explosive horror: A naked Lover bound and bleeding lies; (100) 23. As in all Pope, some inversion in Eloisa to Abelard seems merely for the exigencies of rime; but much of it, as here, seems especially characteristic of Eloisa and genuinely for emphasis. 52 THE REACH OF ART Nor wish'd an Angel whom I lov'd a Man, (70) I ought to grieve, but cannot what I ought, (183) Teach me at once, and learn of me to die. (328) Her mind seems also to work by means of true rhetorical inver- sion:2s Yet, yet I love!-From Abelard it came, (7) No happier task these faded eyes pursue, (47) From lips like those what precept fail'd to move? (67) Still on that breast enamour'd let me lie. (121) At its best all this rhetoric is so caught up into the texture of the emotion as to achieve real fusion and genuine poignancy: No, fly me, fly me! far as Pole from Pole; Rise Alps between us! and whole oceans roll! (289-290) I call aloud; it hears not what I say; I stretch my empty arms; it glides away. (237-238) The devices of sound employed in much of this rhetoric are also used for representative purposes, especially in the elaborate pat- terning typical of the set descriptive passages of Eloisa. Indeed alliteration and assonance appear anywhere and everywhere, some- times with unpleasant obtrusiveness: Here grief forgets to groan, and love to weep, (314) Thro' dreary wastes, and weep each other's woe. (242) But even in single lines, sound repetition can have all sorts of representative purposes, as to reinforce solemnity: Lost in a convent's solitary gloom! (38) or to indicate apprehensive nervousness: That well-known name awakens all my woes; (30) or the pride of truth: Guiltless I gaod; heav'n listen'd while you sung; (65) or disdain: What dust we doat on, when 'tis man we love; (336) or explosive horror: A naked Lover bound and bleeding lies; (100) 23. As in all Pope, some inversion in Eloisa to Abelard seems meerely for the exigencies of rime; but much of it, as here, seems especially characteristic of Eloisa and genuinely for emphasis. 52 THE REACH OF ART Nor wish'd an Angel whom I lov'd a Man, (70) I ought to grieve, but cannot what I ought, (183) Teach me at once, and learn of me to die. (328) Her mind seems also to work by means of true rhetorical inver- sion:"2 Yet, yet I love!-From Abelard it came, (7) No happier task these faded eyes pursue, (47) From lips like those what precept fail'd to move? (67) Still on that breast enamour'd let me lie. (121) At its best all this rhetoric is so caught up into the texture of the emotion as to achieve real fusion and genuine poignancy: No, fly me, fly me! far as Pole from Pole; Rise Alps between us! and whole oceans roll! (289-290) I call aloud; it hears not what I say; I stretch my empty arms; it glides away. (237-238) The devices of sound employed in much of this rhetoric are also used for representative purposes, especially in the elaborate pat- terning typical of the set descriptive passages of Eloisa. Indeed alliteration and assonance appear anywhere and everywhere, some- times with unpleasant obtrusiveness: Here grief forgets to groan, and love to weep, (314) Thro' dreary wastes, and weep each other's woe. (242) . But even in single lines, sound repetition can have all sorts of representative purposes, as to reinforce solemnity: Lost in a convent's solitary gloom! (38) or to indicate apprehensive nervousness: That well-known name awakens all my woes; (30) or the pride of truth: Guiltless I gaz'd; heav'n listen'd while you sung; (65) or disdain: What dust we doat on, when 'tis man we love; (336) or explosive horror: A naked Lover bound and bleeding lies; (100) 23. As in all Pope, some inversion in Eloisa to Abelard seems merely for the exigencies of rime; but much of it, as here, seems especially characteristic of Eloisa and genuinely for emphasis. 52  EARLY AND ROMANTIC or simple determination: Dear fatal namel rest ever unreveal'd, Nor pass these lips in holy silence seal'd. (9-10). And Pope of course uses representative meter for all the simpler types of sound and motion, of crescendo and diminuendo, which he had by this time learned thoroughly well. More complex patterning occurs, even in passages other than pure description: Tho' cold like you, unmov'd, and silent grown, o oioo ooio I have not yet forgot my self to stone. IoeoTiEoo (23-24) But the most elaborate sound repetition and representative meter in general do occur in the descriptive passages: The darksom pines that o'er yon' rocks reclin'd o ks in a Roks Rk in Wave high, and murmur to the hollow wind, W H I Ho W Ind The wandring streams that shine between the hills, W n ad e in e H The grots that eccho to the tinkling rills, G ttk ttikii The dying gales that pant upon the trees, Ga tp tp t The lakes that quiver to the curling breeze; a K er Ker No more these scenes my meditation aid, MMMaa Or lull to rest the visionary maid: M But o'er the twilight groves, and dusky caves, 1 I GRovzkkvz 53 EARLY AND ROMANTIC or simple determination: Dear fatal namel rest ever unreveal'd, Nor pass these lips in holy silence seal'd. (9-10). And Pope of course uses representative meter for all the simpler types of sound and motion, of crescendo and diminuendo, which he had by this time learned thoroughly well. More complex patterning occurs, even in passages other than pure description: Tho' cold like you, unmov'd, and silent grown, Do oio oo00i o I have not yet forgot my self to stone. I o e a i e 00 0 (23-24) But the most elaborate sound repetition and representative meter in general do occur in the descriptive passages: The darksom pines that o'er yon' rocks reclin'd Eks in a Ro ks Rk in Wave high, and murmur to the hollow wind, W H I H o W Ind The wandring streams that shine between the hills, W nd e in c H The grots that eccho to the tinkling rills, Go t tk t ti kiI The dying gales that pant upon the trees, Ga tp tp t The lakes that quiver to the curling breeze; a K er K er No more these scenes my meditation aid, M MMa a Or lull to rest the visionary maid: M But o'er the twilight groves, and dusky caves, 011 GR vz k kvz 53 EARLY AND ROMANTIC or simple determination: Dear fatal namel rest ever unreveal'd, Nor pass these lips in holy silence seal'd. (9-10). And Pope of course uses representative meter for all the simpler types of sound and motion, of crescendo and diminuendo, which he had by this time learned thoroughly well. More complex patterning occurs, even in passages other than pure description: Tho' cold like you, unmov'd, and silent grown, o oioo ooio I have not yet forgot my self to stone. I o e o i e 00 o (23-24) But the most elaborate sound repetition and representative meter in general do occur in the descriptive passages: The darksom pines that o'er yon' rocks reclin'd Sks in a Ro ks Rk in Wave high, and murmur to the hollow wind, W H I H o W Ind The wandring streams that shine between the hills, W e nd e in e H The grots that eccho to the tinkling rills, Goe t tk t ti kii The dying gales that pant upon the trees, Ga t p tp t The lakes that quiver to the curling breeze; aKerKer No more these scenes my meditation aid, M M M aa Or lull to rest the visionary maid: M But o'er the twilight groves, and dusky caves, ;I11GR vzkkvz 53  THE REACH OF ART Long-sounding isles, and intermingled graves, 1 ng n i ng i l I n m E ng g 1 GR vz Black Melancholy sits, and round her throws lk mln k Is s A death-like silence, and a dread repose: D i si s D ed p Her gloomy presence saddens all the scene, pesnssdnsn Shades ev'ry flow'r, and darkens ev'ry green, r Frrrr e Deepens the murmur of the falling floods, eer er F lFi And breathes a browner horror on the woods. THE REACH OF ART Long-sounding isles, and intermingled graves, 1 ng n i ng I l I n m I ng g l GR vz Black Melancholy sits, and round her throws lk1in k Is s A death-like silence, and a dread repose: D el is il s D ed p Her gloomy presence saddens all the scene, pesnssdnsn Shades ev'ry flow'r, and darkens ev'ry green, r Frrrr e Deepens the murmur of the falling floods, erer F IF And breathes a browner horror on the woods. THE REACH OF ART Long-sounding isles, and intermingled graves, 1 ng n i ng I l n m 1 ng g I GR vz Black Melancholy sits, and round her throws k mlnk Is s A death-like silence, and a dread repose: D el IsIl s D ed p Her gloomy presence saddens all the scene, pesnssdnsn Shades ev'ry flow'r, and darkens ev'ry green, r Frrrr e Deepens the murmur of the falling floods, Eer er F I FI And breathes a browner horror on the woods. BR eBR errer (155-170) BR e BR errer (155-170) BR e BR errer (155-170) I have attempted to list all the important repetitions-surely an amazing number-and to capitalize the alliteration. But this at- tempt does not begin to tell the story. Here all the stops are opened, all techniques used: constant back vowels and liquids; all sorts of caesural effects; long e's, nasals, and voiced continuants for smoothness; d's and s's in the "death-like silence" couplet; the sudden shift to short front vowels in "tinkling rills"; onomatopoetic words, as lull, murmur, tinkling; and such strictly metrical effects as the enjambment of the first line and the weak foot (the first in a good many lines) which precedes "falling floods"; besides the elaborate patterning which I have pointed out. Here Pope carries a kind of technique as far as he was ever to take it, perhaps very nearly as far as it can go. If we today find the technique too lux- uriant for our taste, and the material on which it is spent too dated, such reactions should not obscure the real brilliance of this and other similar passages in Eloisa to Abelard. But if such technique and such material are out of date, and if the complexity of and insistence upon rhetorical devices become obvious and finally (to some readers at least) monotonous and incredible in Eloisa, there are saving graces of technique which make the poem not a dead relic but still a memorable poetic ex- perience: 54 I have attempted to list all the important repetitions-surely an amazing number-and to capitalize the alliteration. But this at- tempt does not begin to tell the story. Here all the stops are opened, all techniques used: constant back vowels and liquids; all sorts of caesural effects; long e's, nasals, and voiced continuants for smoothness; d's and s's in the "death-like silence" couplet; the sudden shift to short front vowels in "tinkling rills"; onomatopoetic words, as lull, murmur, tinkling; and such strictly metrical effects as the enjambment of the first line and the weak foot (the first in a good many lines) which precedes "falling floods"; besides the elaborate patterning which I have pointed out. Here Pope carries a kind of technique as far as he was ever to take it, perhaps very nearly as far as it can go. If we today find the technique too lux- uriant for our taste, and the material on which it is spent too dated, such reactions should not obscure the real brilliance of this and other similar passages in Eloisa to A belard. But if such technique and such material are out of date, and if the complexity of and insistence upon rhetorical devices become obvious and finally (to some readers at least) monotonous and incredible in Eloisa, there are saving graces of technique which make the poem not a dead relic but still a memorable poetic ex- perience: 54 I have attempted to list all the important repetitions-surely an amazing number-and to capitalize the alliteration. But this at- tempt does not begin to tell the story. Here all the stops are opened, all techniques used: constant back vowels and liquids; all sorts of caesural effects; long e's, nasals, and voiced continuants for smoothness; d's and s's in the "death-like silence" couplet; the sudden shift to short front vowels in "tinkling rills"; onomatopoetic words, as lull, murmur, tinkling; and such strictly metrical effects as the enjambment of the first line and the weak foot (the first in a good many lines) which precedes "falling floods"; besides the elaborate patterning which I have pointed out. Here Pope carries a kind of technique as far as he was ever to take it, perhaps very nearly as far as it can go. If we today find the technique too lux- uriant for our taste, and the material on which it is spent too dated, such reactions should not obscure the real brilliance of this and other similar passages in Eloisa to Abelard. But if such technique and such material are out of date, and if the complexity of and insistence upon rhetorical devices become obvious and finally (to some readers at least) monotonous and incredible in Eloisa, there are saving graces of technique which make the poem not a dead relic but still a memorable poetic ex- perience: 54  EARLY AND ROMANTIC 1. As a dramatic monologue, it shows deep insight. The tone, if insistent, is also consistent. The rhetoric, if it does at times seem superimposed, is natural to the character, and has certain indi- vidualized turns; and the voice is always the voice of a woman. 2. The rhetoric and the sound repetition occasionally reach no- table heights of felicity; the emotion becomes truly pathetic and im- passioned. 3. The language has at times a directness and simplicity worthy of high praise: I have not yet forgot my self to stone, (24) And if I lose thy love, I lose my all. (118) 4. Certain other techniques are masterly: the flow of the verse, the variations in speed, the use of enjambment and of open couplet series, and especially the variation in emphasis of pause and the use of pause for representation: This sure is bliss/ (if bliss on earth there be), (97) Nature stands check'd;/Religion disapproves, (259) Spreads his light wings,/and in a moment flies, (76) The shrines all trembled,/and the lamps grew pale. (112) And whatever the reasons, the fact remains that Eloisa to Abelard can still be read with pleasure, and with no sense that the emotion is ridiculous or incongruous. One may be glad today (as inter- vening ages would not have been) that Pope did not continue to exploit this vein; one may find (being less accustomed to rhetorical devices than Pope's contemporaries) that the devices sometimes fail in their purposes, calling attention to themselves rather than clari- fying and heightening the sense. But the requirements of verse analysis may cause an overstressing of blemishes; and one cannot deny to Eloisa to A belard the four elements that make a poem of its kind successful: unity, insight, technical skill, genuine emotion. They may not all be at their highest or most consistent; but they are there. IV In The Rape of the Lock, the techniques which were turned a little later to high seriousness of purpose in Eloisa to A belard are employed to nearly as great an extent for the purposes of ridicule and satire. No other branch of poetry is quite so dependent upon brilliance of style as the mock-heroic. Should it become, even 55 EARLY AND ROMANTIC 1. As a dramatic monologue, it shows deep insight. The tone, if insistent, is also consistent. The rhetoric, if it does at times seem superimposed, is natural to the character, and has certain indi- vidualized turns; and the voice is always the voice of a woman. 2. The rhetoric and the sound repetition occasionally reach no- table heights of felicity; the emotion becomes truly pathetic and im- passioned. 3. The language has at times a directness and simplicity worthy of high praise: I have not yet forgot my self to stone, (24) And if I lose thy love, I lose my all. (118) 4. Certain other techniques are masterly: the flow of the verse, the variations in speed, the use of enjambment and of open couplet series, and especially the variation in emphasis of pause and the use of pause for representation: This sure is bliss/ (if bliss on earth there be), (97) Nature stands check'd;/Religion disapproves, (259) Spreads his light wings,/and in a moment flies, (76) The shrines all trembled,/and the lamps grew pale. (112) And whatever the reasons, the fact remains that Eloisa to Abelard can still be read with pleasure, and with no sense that the emotion is ridiculous or incongruous. One may be glad today (as inter- vening ages would not have been) that Pope did not continue to exploit this vein; one may find (being less accustomed to rhetorical devices than Pope's contemporaries) that the devices sometimes fail in their purposes, calling attention to themselves rather than clari- fying and heightening the sense. But the requirements of verse analysis may cause an overstressing of blemishes; and one cannot deny to Eloisa to Abelard the four elements that make a poem of its kind successful: unity, insight, technical skill, genuine emotion. They may not all be at their highest or most consistent; but they are there. IV In The Rape of the Lock, the techniques which were turned a little later to high seriousness of purpose in Eloisa to A belard are employed to nearly as great an extent for the purposes of ridicule and satire. No other branch of poetry is quite so dependent upon brilliance of style as the mock-heroic. Should it become, even 55 EARLY AND ROMANTIC 1. As a dramatic monologue, it shows deep insight. The tone, if insistent, is also consistent. The rhetoric, if it does at times seem superimposed, is natural to the character, and has certain indi- vidualized turns; and the voice is always the voice of a woman. 2. The rhetoric and the sound repetition occasionally reach no- table heights of felicity; the emotion becomes truly pathetic and im- passioned. 3. The language has at times a directness and simplicity worthy of high praise: I have not yet forgot my self to stone, (24) And if I lose thy love, I lose my all. (118) 4. Certain other techniques are masterly: the flow of the verse, the variations in speed, the use of enjambment and of open couplet series, and especially the variation in emphasis of pause and the use of pause for representation: This sure is bliss/ (if bliss on earth there be), (97) Nature stands check'd;/Religion disapproves, (259) Spreads his light wings,/and in a moment flies, (76) The shrines all trembled,/and the lamps grew pale. (112) And whatever the reasons, the fact remains that Eloisa to Abelard can still be read with pleasure, and with no sense that the emotion is ridiculous or incongruous. One may be glad today (as inter- vening ages would not have been) that Pope did not continue to exploit this vein; one may find (being less accustomed to rhetorical devices than Pope's contemporaries) that the devices sometimes fail in their purposes, calling attention to themselves rather than clari- fying and heightening the sense. But the requirements of verse analysis may cause an overstressing of blemishes; and one cannot deny to Eloisa to A belard the four elements that make a poem of its kind successful: unity, insight, technical skill, genuine emotion. They may not all be at their highest or most consistent; but they are there. IV In The Rape of the Lock, the techniques which were turned a little later to high seriousness of purpose in Eloisa to A belard are employed to nearly as great an extent for the purposes of ridicule and satire. No other branch of poetry is quite so dependent upon brilliance of style as the mock-heroic. Should it become, even 55  THE REACH OF ART for an instant, heavy-handed; should it even for a line or two lose the tone that is the mock-heroic's chief raison d'atre; or conversely, should the continuation of the special tone become monotonous, or approach that combination of the self-conscious and the over- done which is affectation-then all would truly be lost.2 If The Rape of the Lock had the technical blemishes of Eloisa-no more than that-it would rank far below Eloisa among Pope's poems. But The Rape of the Lock is practically flawless. The tone is varied, and varied amply, but never fails. It is never self-conscious, never overemphasized. Using the same rhetorical methods that crowd Eloisa, and to a lesser extent most of the other serious poems up to 1717; exhibiting a prosodic technique rather closely related to Eloisa's; using alliteration and assonance and representa- tive meter quite as much as Eloisa, if without Eloisa's elaborate patterning-The Rape of the Lock would make all these methods seem as though expressly invented for the purposes of the mock- heroic, were it not that they seem also so delightfully to parody Pope's serious style. As in Eloisa, the principal characteristics of The Rape of the Lock are its rhetoric, its use of repetition of sound, its representa- tive meter. Some of the rhetoric results, of course-as would not be true in Eloisa-from the requirements of epic imitation. Ex- amples are the apostrophes and questions at the beginning: Say what strange Motive, Goddess cou'd compel A well-bred Lord t'assault a gentle Belle? Oh say what stranger Cause, yet unexplor'd, Cou'd make a gentle Belle reject a Lord? (I, 7-10) the type of apostrophe typical of Milton: Ye Sylphs and Sylphids, to your Chief give Ear, Fays, Fairies, Genii, Elves, and Daemons hear! (II, 73-74) the typically Homeric statements following quoted speech: He spoke; the Spirits from the Sails descend, (II, 137) She said: the pitying Audience melt in Tears; (V, 1) and the epic similes which Pope, with a superb touch, keeps con- 24. The Dunciad is only in part a mock-heroic, stylistically, and is hence not comparable to The Rape of the Lock. But it sufers from the lack of unity. See Ian Jack, Augustan Satire: Intention and Idiom in English Poetry, 1660-1750 (Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1952, pp. 126-134). 56 THE REACH OF ART for an instant, heavy-handed; should it even for a line or two lose the tone that is the mock-heroic's chief raison d'atre; or conversely, should the continuation of the special tone become monotonous, or approach that combination of the self-conscious and the over- done which is affectation-then all would truly be lost." If The Rape of the Lock had the technical blemishes of Eloisa-no more than that-it would rank far below Eloisa among Pope's poems. But The Rape of the Lock is practically flawless. The tone is varied, and varied amply, but never fails. It is never self-conscious, never overemphasized. Using the same rhetorical methods that crowd Eloisa, and to a lesser extent most of the other serious poems up to 1717; exhibiting a prosodic technique rather closely related to Eloisa's; using alliteration and assonance and representa- tive meter quite as much as Eloisa, if without Eloisa's elaborate patterning-The Rape of the Lock would make all these methods seem as though expressly invented for the purposes of the mock- heroic, were it not that they seem also so delightfully to parody Pope's serious style. As in Eloisa, the principal characteristics of The Rape of the Lock are its rhetoric, its use of repetition of sound, its representa- tive meter. Some of the rhetoric results, of course-as would not be true in Eloisa-from the requirements of epic imitation. Ex- amples are the apostrophes and questions at the beginning: Say what strange Motive, Goddess cou'd compel A well-bred Lord tassault a gentle Belle? Oh say what stranger Cause, yet unexplor'd, Cou'd make a gentle Belle reject a Lord? (I, 7-10) the type of apostrophe typical of Milton: Ye Sylphs and Sylphids, to your Chief give Ear, Fays, Fairies, Genii, Elves, and Daemons hear! (II, 73-74) the typically Homeric statements following quoted speech: He spoke; the Spirits from the Sails descend, (II, 137) She said: the pitying Audience melt in Tears; (V, 1) and the epic similes which Pope, with a superb touch, keeps con- 24. The Dunciad is only in part a mock-heroic, stylistically, and is hence not comparable to The Rape of the Lock. But it sufers from the lack of unity. See Ian Jack, Augustan Satire: Intention and Idiom in English Poetry, 1660-1750 (Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1952, pp. 126-134). 56 THE REACH OF ART for an instant, heavy-handed; should it even for a line or two lose the tone that is the mock-heroic's chief raison d'atre; or conversely, should the continuation of the special tone become monotonous, or approach that combination of the self-conscious and the over- done which is affectation-then all would truly be lost." If The Rape of the Lock had the technical blemishes of Eloisa-no more than that-it would rank far below Eloisa among Pope's poems. But The Rape of the Lock is practically flawless. The tone is varied, and varied amply, but never fails. It is never self-conscious, never overemphasized. Using the same rhetorical methods that crowd Eloisa, and to a lesser extent most of the other serious poems up to 1717; exhibiting a prosodic technique rather closely related to Eloisa's; using alliteration and assonance and representa- tive meter quite as much as Eloisa, if without Eloisa's elaborate patterning-The Rape of the Lock would make all these methods seem as though expressly invented for the purposes of the mock- heroic, were it not that they seem also so delightfully to parody Pope's serious style. As in Eloisa, the principal characteristics of The Rape of the Lock are its rhetoric, its use of repetition of sound, its representa- tive meter. Some of the rhetoric results, of course-as would not be true in Eloisa-from the requirements of epic imitation. Ex- amples are the apostrophes and questions at the beginning: Say what strange Motive, Goddess cou'd compel A well-bred Lord t'assault a gentle Belle? Oh say what stranger Cause, yet unexplor'd, Cou'd make a gentle Belle reject a Lord? (I, 7-10) the type of apostrophe typical of Milton: Ye Sylphs and Sylphids, to your Chief give Ear, Fays, Fairies, Genii, Elves, and Daemons hearl (II, 73-74) the typically Homeric statements following quoted speech: He spoke; the Spirits from the Sails descend, (II, 137) She said: the pitying Audience melt in Tears; (V, 1) and the epic similes which Pope, with a superb touch, keeps con- 24. The Dunciad is only in part a mock-heroic, stylistically, and is hence not comparable to The Rape of the Lock. But it suffers from the lack of unity. See Ian Jack, Augustan Satire: Intention and Idiom in English Poetry, 1660-1750 (Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1952, pp. 126-134). 56  EARLY AND ROMANTIC sistently epic within themselves, allowing the mockery to appear only in the contrast with what precedes the simile and in a certain subtle overfluency of meter and phrase: Thus when dispers'd a routed Army runs, Of Asia's Troops, and Africk's Sable Sons, With like Confusion different Nations fly, Of various Habit and of various Dye, The pierc'd Battalions dis-united fall, In Heaps on Heaps; one Fate o'erwhelms them all. (III, 81-86) In the question and the exclamation, both quite frequent in The Rape of the Lock, the resemblance to Eloisa is likely to be rather close: Barbarian stay! that bloody stroke restrain, (Eloisa, 103 Ah cease rash Youth! desist ere 'tis too late, - (Rape of the Lock, III, 121) Oh happy state! when souls each other draw, When love is liberty, and nature, law, (Eloisa, 91-92) Oh thoughtless Mortals! ever blind to Fate, Too soon dejected, and too soon elate! (Rape of the Lock, III, 101-102) But why should I on others' pray'rs depend? Come thou, my father, brother, husband, friend! (Eloisa, 151-152) What tho' no Credit doubting Wits may give? The Fair and Innocent shall still believe. (Rape of the Lock, I, 3940) But The Rape of the Lock, like Eloisa, has turns giving it a positive individuality, distinct from the general mockery of general serious method. The exclamation is placed more variously than in Eloisa, and is more likely to interrupt the flow of a sentence (and hence affect the quality of the pauses): Not youthful Kings in Battel seiz'd alive, Not scornful Virgins who their Charms survive, Not ardent Lovers robb'd of all their Bliss, Not ancient Ladies when refus'd a Kiss, Not Tyrants fierce that unrepenting die, Not Cynthia when her Manteau's pinn'd awry, E'er felt such Rage, Resentment and Despair, As Thou, sad Virgin! for thy ravish'd Hair, (IV, 3-10) This erring Mortals Levity may call, Oh blind to Truth! the Sylphs contrive it all, (I, 103-104) 57 EARLY AND ROMANTIC sistently epic within themselves, allowing the mockery to appear only in the contrast with what precedes the simile and in a certain subtle overfluency of meter and phrase: Thus when dispers'd a routed Army runs, Of Asia's Troops, and Africk's Sable Sons, With like Confusion different Nations fly, Of various Habit and of various Dye, The pierc'd Battalions dis-united fall, In Heaps on Heaps; one Fate o'erwhelms them all. (III, 81-86) In the question and the exclamation, both quite frequent in The Rape of the Lock, the resemblance to Eloisa is likely to be rather close: { . Barbarian stay! that bloody stroke restrain, (Eloisa, 103Y Ah cease rash Youth! desist ere 'tis too late, - (Rape of the Lock, III, 121) Oh happy state! when souls each other draw, When love is liberty, and nature, law, (Eloisa, 91-92) Oh thoughtless Mortals! ever blind to Fate, Too soon dejected, and too soon elate! (Rape of the Lock, III, 101-102) But why should I on others' pray'rs depend? Come thou, my father, brother, husband, friend! (Eloisa, 151-152) What tho' no Credit doubting Wits may give? The Fair and Innocent shall still believe. (Rape of the Lock, I, 3940) But The Rape of the Lock, like Eloisa, has turns giving it a positive individuality, distinct from the general mockery of general serious method. The exclamation is placed more variously than in Eloisa, and is more likely to interrupt the flow of a sentence (and hence affect the quality of the pauses): Not youthful Kings in Battel seiz'd alive, Not scornful Virgins who their Charms survive, Not ardent Lovers robb'd of all their Bliss, Not ancient Ladies when refus'd a Kiss, Not Tyrants fierce that unrepenting die, Not Cynthia when her Manteau's pinn'd awry, E'er felt such Rage, Resentment and Despair, As Thou, sad Virgin! for thy ravish'd Hair, (IV, 3-10) This erring Mortals Levity may call, Oh blind to Truth! the Sylphs contrive it all, (I, 103-104) 57 EARLY AND ROMANTIC sistently epic within themselves, allowing the mockery to appear only in the contrast with what precedes the simile and in a certain subtle overfluency of meter and phrase: Thus when dispers'd a routed Army runs, Of Asia's Troops, and Africk's Sable Sons, With like Confusion different Nations fly, Of various Habit and of various Dye, The pierc'd Battalions dis-united fall, In Heaps on Heaps; one Fate o'erwhelms them all. (III, 81-86) In the question and the exclamation, both quite frequent in The Rape of the Lock, the resemblance to Eloisa is likely to be rather close: ({, Barbarian stay! that bloody stroke restrain, (Eloisa, 103Y Ah cease rash Youthl desist ere 'tis too late, (Rape of the Lock, III, 121) Oh happy state! when souls each other draw, When love is liberty, and nature, law, (Eloisa, 91-92) Oh thoughtless Mortals! ever blind to Fate, Too soon dejected, and too soon elatel (Rape of the Lock, III, 101-102) But why should I on others' pray'rs depend? Come thou, my father, brother, husband, friend! (Eloisa, 151-152) What tho' no Credit doubting Wits may give? The Fair and Innocent shall still believe. (Rape of the Lock, I, 39-40) But The Rape of the Lock, like Eloisa, has turns giving it a positive individuality, distinct from the general mockery of general serious method. The exclamation is placed more variously than in Eloisa, and is more likely to interrupt the flow of a sentence (and hence affect the quality of the pauses): Not youthful Kings in Battel seiz'd alive, Not scornful Virgins who their Charms survive, Not ardent Lovers robb'd of all their Bliss, Not ancient Ladies when refus'd a Kiss, Not Tyrants fierce that unrepenting die, Not Cynthia when her Manteau's pinn'd awry, E'er felt such Rage, Resentment and Despair, As Thou, sad Virgin! for thy ravish'd Hair, (IV, 3-10) This erring Mortals Levity may call, Oh blind to Truth! the Sylphs contrive it all, (I, 103-104) 57  THE REACH OF ART Spadillio first, unconquerable Lord! Led off two captive Trumps, and swept the Board. (III, 49-50) And the use of the exclamation point after statements, which may at times seem like straining the issue in Eloisa, has a natural place in lines of purposeful bathos: Let Wreaths of Triumph now my Temples twine, (The Victor cry'd) the glorious Prize is mine! (III, 161-162) And all your Honour in a Whisper lost! (IV, 110) The questions-often "rhetorical" in the special sense-are likely to be longer and more elaborate than Eloisa's: What guards the Purity of melting Maids, In Courtly Balls, and Midnight Masquerades, Safe from the treach'rous Friend, the daring Spark, The Glance by Day, the Whisper in the Dark; When kind Occasion prompts their warm Desires, When Musick softens, and when Dancing fires? (I, 71-76) What boots the Regal Circle on his Head, His Giant Limbs in State unwieldy spread? That long behind he trails his pompous Robe, And of all Monarchs only grasps the Globe? (III, 71-74) Two varieties of rhetoric are typical of The Rape of the Lock but not of Eloisa or indeed any other poem up to 1717: parenthesis and (naturally) anticlimax. Like the exclamation, they tend to affect the quality of the pauses; and they may also cause sudden alter- ations of tone which add to their significance as an element of prosody: The Knave of Diamonds tries his wily Arts, And wins (oh shameful Chance!) the Queen of Hearts, (III, 87-88) O wretched Maid! she spread her Hands, and cry'd, (While Hampton's Ecchos, wretched Maid! reply'd), (IV, 95-96) And sleepless Lovers,/just at Twelve,/awake, (I, 16) Sooner let Earth, Air, Sea, to Chaos fall, Men, Monkies, Lap-dogs, Parrots, perish all (IV, 119-120)5 Only the most unlimited space could make possible a thorough- going analysis of rhetorical repetition in The Rape of the Lock. It 25. The emphasis, or the pitch, or both, naturally increase in this anticlimax; compare the climax of "her voice, her hand,/Her ponyard" (Eloisa, 101-102), in which the same intensification occurs, but without the incongruity. 58 THE REACH OF ART Spadillio first, unconquerable Lord! Led off two captive Trumps, and swept the Board. (III, 49-50) And the use of the exclamation point after statements, which may at times seem like straining the issue in Eloisa, has a natural place in lines of purposeful bathos: Let Wreaths of Triumph now my Temples twine, (The Victor cry'd) the glorious Prize is mine! (III, 161-162) And all your Honour in a Whisper lost! (IV, 110) The questions-often "rhetorical" in the special sense-are likely to be longer and more elaborate than Eloisa's: What guards the Purity of melting Maids, In Courtly Balls, and Midnight Masquerades, Safe from the treach'rous Friend, the daring Spark, The Glance by Day, the Whisper in the Dark; When kind Occasion prompts their warm Desires, When Musick softens, and when Dancing fires? (I, 71-76) What boots the Regal Circle on his Head, His Giant Limbs in State unwieldy spread? That long behind he trails his pompous Robe, And of all Monarchs only grasps the Globe? (III, 71-74) Two varieties of rhetoric are typical of The Rape of the Lock but not of Eloisa or indeed any other poem up to 1717: parenthesis and (naturally) anticlimax. Like the exclamation, they tend to affect the quality of the pauses; and they may also cause sudden alter- ations of tone which add to their significance as an element of prosody: The Knave of Diamonds tries his wily Arts, And wins (oh shameful Chance!) the Queen of Hearts, (III, 87-88) O wretched Maid! she spread her Hands, and cry'd, (While Hampton's Ecchos, wretched Maid! reply'd), (IV, 95-96) And sleepless Lovers,/just at Twelve,/awake, (I, 16) Sooner let Earth, Air, Sea, to Chaos fall, Men, Monkies, Lap-dogs, Parrots, perish all! (IV, 119-120)s Only the most unlimited space could make possible a thorough- ing analysis of rhetorical repetition in The Rape of the Loc. It 25. The emphasis, or the pitch, or both, naturally increase in this anticlimax; compare the climax of "her voice, her hand,/Her ponyard" (Eloisa, 101-102), in which the same intensification occurs, but without the incongruity. 58 THE REACH OF ART Spadillio first, unconquerable Lord! Led off two captive Trumps, and swept the Board. (III, 49-50) And the use of the exclamation point after statements, which may at times seem like straining the issue in Eloisa, has a natural place in lines of purposeful bathos: Let Wreaths of Triumph now my Temples twine, (The Victor cry'd) the glorious Prize is mine! (III, 161-162) And all your Honour in a Whisper lost! (IV, 110) The questions-often "rhetorical" in the special sense-are likely to be longer and more elaborate than Eloisa's: What guards the Purity of melting Maids, In Courtly Balls, and Midnight Masquerades, Safe from the treach'rous Friend, the daring Spark, The Glance by Day, the Whisper in the Dark; When kind Occasion prompts their warm Desires, When Musick softens, and when Dancing fires? (I, 71-76) What boots the Regal Circle on his Head, His Giant Limbs in State unwieldy spread? That long behind he trails his pompous Robe, And of all Monarchs only grasps the Globe? (III, 71-74) Two varieties of rhetoric are typical of The Rape of the Lock but not of Eloisa or indeed any other poem up to 1717: parenthesis and (naturally) anticlimax. Like the exclamation, they tend to affect the quality of the pauses; and they may also cause sudden alter- ations of tone which add to their significance as an element of prosody: The Knave of Diamonds tries his wily Arts, And wins (oh shameful Chance!) the Queen of Hearts, (III, 87-88) O wretched Maid! she spread her Hands, and cry'd, (While Hampton's Ecchos, wretched Maid! reply'd), (IV, 95-96) And sleepless Lovers,/just at Twelve,/awake, (I, 16) Sooner let Earth, Air, Sea, to Chaos fall, Men, Monkies, Lap-dogs, Parrots, perish all (IV, 119-120)"5 Only the most unlimited space could make possible a thorough- going analysis of rhetorical repetition in The Rape of the Lock. It 25. The emphasis, or the pitch, or both, naturally increase in this anticlimax; compare the climax of "her voice, her hand,/Her ponyard" (Eloisa, 101-102), in which the same intensification occurs, but without the incongruity. 58  EARLY AND ROMANTIC is at least as frequent and of as many types as in Eloisa, occurs interlaced through as many series of open couplets, and displays perhaps a finer skill in variation: What Time wou'd spare, from Steel receives its date, And Monuments, like Men, submit to Fate! Steel cou'd the Labour of the Gods destroy, And strike to Dust th'Imperial Tow's of Troy; Steel cou'd the Works of mortal Pride confound, And hew Triumphal Arches to the Ground. What Wonder then, fair Nymph! thy Hairs shou'd feel The conqu'ring Force of unresisted Steel? (III, 171-178) Often too it has a purposeful obviousness which is probably its most characteristic use: Might hide her Faults, if Belles had Faults to hide, (II, 16) Let Spades be Trumps! she said, and Trumps they were. (III, 46) And Pope makes use-which has become famous-of the more special kind of zeugma, the kind which can appear only humorously or in error-and again, as so often in The Rape of the Lock, one result is unusual caesura: With earnest Eyes, and round unthinking Face, He first the Snuff-box open'd,/then the Case. (IV, 125-126) Antithesis, as in Eloisa, is frequent (e.g., I, 54; II, 12; III, 148; V, 28), and so is the rhetorical use of alliteration and assonance. But alliteration has a special use in The Rape of the Lock (as occa- sionally does assonance) which is also rhetorical: that of making lines purposely overfacile. The device is used very often: The hungry Judges soon the Sentence sign, (III, 21) Let Wreaths of Triumph now my Temples twine, (III, 161) Belinda burns with more than mortal Ire, And fierce Thalestris fans the rising Fire, (IV, 93-94) And in its Fellow's Fate foresees its own. (IV, 172). Perhaps the greatest single glory of The Rape of the Lock, aside from its near-perfection of tone, is its representative meter. No poem in the Pope canon, except perhaps The Dunciad, can equal the performance. The mastery is superb; the imitation is obvious where Pope wants it to be obvious, subtle where he prefers subtlety. It is malicious, it is devastating, it performs the most amazing tricks, it uses every technique, it never goes too far. Its principal use is to indicate littleness: 59 EARLY AND ROMANTIC is at least as frequent and of as many types as in Eloisa, occurs interlaced through as many series of open couplets, and displays perhaps a finer skill in variation: What Time wou'd spare, from Steel receives its date, And Monuments, like Men, submit to Fate! Steel cou'd the Labour of the Gods destroy, And strike to Dust th'Imperial Tow'rs of Troy; Steel cou'd the Works of mortal Pride confound, And hew Triumphal Arches to the Ground. What Wonder then, fair Nymph! thy Hairs shou'd feel The conqu'ring Force of unresisted Steel? (III, 171-178) Often too it has a purposeful obviousness which is probably its most characteristic use: Might hide her Faults, if Belles had Faults to hide, (II, 16) Let Spades be Trumps! she said, and Trumps they were. (III, 46) And Pope makes use-which has become famous-of the more special kind of zeugma, the kind which can appear only humorously or in error-and again, as so often in The Rape of the Lock, one result is unusual caesura: With earnest Eyes, and round unthinking Face, He first the Snuff-box open'd,/then the Case. (IV, 125-126) Antithesis, as in Eloisa, is frequent (e.g., I, 54; II, 12; III, 148; V, 28), and so is the rhetorical use of alliteration and assonance. But alliteration has a special use in The Rape of the Lock (as occa- sionally does assonance) which is also rhetorical: that of making lines purposely overfacile. The device is used very often: The hungry Judges soon the Sentence sign, (III, 21) Let Wreaths of Triumph now my Temples twine, (III, 161) Belinda burns with more than mortal Ire, And fierce Thalestris fans the rising Fire, (IV, 93-94) And in its Fellow's Fate foresees its own. (IV, 172). Perhaps the greatest single glory of The Rape of the Lock, aside from its near-perfection of tone, is its representative meter. No poem in the Pope canon, except perhaps The Dunciad, can equal the performance. The mastery is superb; the imitation is obvious where Pope wants it to be obvious, subtle where he prefers subtlety. It is malicious, it is devastating, it performs the most amazing tricks, it uses every technique, it never goes too far. Its principal use is to indicate littleness: 59 EARLY AND ROMANTIC is at least as frequent and of as many types as in Eloisa, occurs interlaced through as many series of open couplets, and displays perhaps a finer skill in variation: What Time wou'd spare, from Steel receives its date, And Monuments, like Men, submit to Fate! Steel cou'd the Labour of the Gods destroy, And strike to Dust th'Imperial Tow'rs of Troy; Steel cou'd the Works of mortal Pride confound, And hew Triumphal Arches to the Ground. What Wonder then, fair Nymph! thy Hairs shou'd feel The conqu'ring Force of unresisted Steel? (III, 171-178) Often too it has a purposeful obviousness which is probably its most characteristic use: Might hide her Faults, if Belles had Faults to hide, (II, 16) Let Spades be Trumps! she said, and Trumps they were. (III, 46) And Pope makes use-which has become famous-of the more special kind of zeugma, the kind which can appear only humorously or in error-and again, as so often in The Rape of the Lock, one result is unusual caesura: With earnest Eyes, and round unthinking Face, He first the Snuff-box open'd,/then the Case. (IV, 125-126) Antithesis, as in Eloisa, is frequent (e.g., I, 54; II, 12; III, 148; V, 28), and so is the rhetorical use of alliteration and assonance. But alliteration has a special use in The Rape of the Lock (as occa- sionally does assonance) which is also rhetorical: that of making lines purposely overfacile. The device is used very often: The hungry Judges soon the Sentence sign, (III, 21) Let Wreaths of Triumph now my Temples twine, (III, 161) Belinda burns with more than mortal Ire, And fierce Thalestris fans the rising Fire, (IV, 93-94) And in its Fellow's Fate foresees its own. (IV, 172). Perhaps the greatest single glory of The Rape of the Lock, aside from its near-perfection of tone, is its representative meter. No poem in the Pope canon, except perhaps The Dunciad, can equal the performance. The mastery is superb; the imitation is obvious where Pope wants it to be obvious, subtle where he prefers subtlety. It is malicious, it is devastating, it performs the most amazing tricks, it uses every technique, it never goes too far. Its principal use is to indicate littleness: -a 59  THE REACH OF ART The light Militia of the lower Sky, (I, 42) Thin glitt'ring Textures of the filmy Dew; Dipt in the richest Tincture of the Skies, Where Light disports in ever-mingling Dies. (II, 64-66) And there is a lightness and swiftness of both consonant and vowel characteristic of the poem as a whole which make doubly effective the contrast of the falsely big passages: He springs to Vengeance with an eager pace, And falls like Thunder on the prostrate Ace. The Nymph exulting fills with Shouts the Sky, The Walls, the Woods, and long Canals reply. (III, 97-100) In plain contrast too is the section on the Cave of Spleen, whose difference in quality of sound and movement is well represented by its opening lines: Umbriel, a dusky melancholy Spright, As ever sully'd the fair face of Light, Down to the Central Earth, his proper Scene, Repair'd to search the gloomy Cave of Spleen. (IV, 13-16) The light, the heavy, and still other types of sound and of move- ment such as rising and falling are brilliantly displayed in the passage describing the four types of supernatural creatures: The Sprights of fiery Termagants in Flame Mount up,/and take a Salamander's Name. Soft yielding Minds to Water glide away, And sip with Nymp/hs their Elenental Tea. The graver Prude sinks,dolwnward/to a Gnome, In search of Mischief still on Earth to roam. The light Coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair, And sport and flutter in the Fields of Air. (I, 59-66)28 And the heavy and light also appear in the single anticlimactic line, Of twelve vast French Romances, neatly gilt. (II, 38) Like everything else in The Rape of the Lock, the representative meter may be purposely overdone, as the s's like powder escaping in To save the Powder from too rude a Gale, Nor let th'imprison'd Essences exhale; (II, 93-94) 26. Note also the trochaic dissyllables (yielding, water, graver, downward, mischief) in the second and third couplets, and the iambic dissyllables (Co- quettes, aloft, repair) in the fourth. 60 THE REACH OF ART The light Militia of the lower Sky, (I, 42) Thin glitt'ring Textures of the filmy Dew; Dipt in the richest Tincture of the Skies, Where Light disports in ever-mingling Dies. (II, 64-66) And there is a lightness and swiftness of both consonant and vowel characteristic of the poem as a whole which make doubly effective the contrast of the falsely big passages: He springs to Vengeance with an eager pace, And falls like Thunder on the prostrate Ace. The Nymph exulting fills with Shouts the Sky, The Walls, the Woods, and long Canals reply. (III, 97-100) In plain contrast too is the section on the Cave of Spleen, whose difference in quality of sound and movement is well represented by its opening lines: Umbriel, a dusky melancholy Spright, As ever sully'd the fair face of Light, Down to the Central Earth, his proper Scene, Repair'd to search the gloomy Cave of Spleen. (IV, 13-16) The light, the heavy, and still other types of sound and of move- ment such as rising and falling are brilliantly displayed in the passage describing the four types of supernatural creatures: The Sprights of fiery Termagants in Flame Mount up,/and take a Salamander's Name. Soft yielding Minds, to Water gtide away, And sip with Nympls, their Elemental Tea. The graver Prude silks ddwnwardto a Gnome, In search of Mischief still on Earth to roam. The light Coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair, And sport and flutter in the Fields of Air. (I, 59-66)26 And the heavy and light also appear in the single anticlimactic line, Of twelve vast French Romanres, seatly gilt. (II, 38) Like everything else in The Rape of the Lock, the representative meter may be purposely overdone, as the s's like powder escaping in To save the Powder from too rude a Gale, Nor let th'imprison'd Essences exhale; (II, 93-94) 26. Note also the trochaic dissyllables (yielding, water, graver, downward, mischief) in the second and third couplets, and the iambic dissyllables (Co- quettes, aloft, repair) in the fourth. 60 THE REACH OF ART The light Militia of the lower Sky, (I, 42) Thin glitt'ring Textures of the filmy Dew; Dipt in the richest Tincture of the Skies, Where Light disports in ever-mingling Dies. (II, 64-66) And there is a lightness and swiftness of both consonant and vowel characteristic of the poem as a whole which make doubly effective the contrast of the falsely big passages: He springs to Vengeance with an eager pace, And falls like Thunder on the prostrate Ace. The Nymph exulting fills with Shouts the Sky, The Walls, the Woods, and long Canals reply. (III, 97-100) In plain contrast too is the section on the Cave of Spleen, whose difference in quality of sound and movement is well represented by its opening lines: Umbriel, a dusky melancholy Spright, As ever sully'd the fair face of Light, Down to the Central Earth, his proper Scene, Repair'd to search the gloomy Cave of Spleen. (IV, 13-16) The light, the heavy, and still other types of sound and of move- ment such as rising and falling are brilliantly displayed in the passage describing the four types of supernatural creatures: The Sprights of fiery Termagants in Flame Mount up,/and take a Salamander's Name. Soft yielding Minds, to Water glide away, And sip with Nymp/hs, their Elemental Tea. The graver Prude siriksddwnward to a Gnome, In search of Mischief still on Earth to roam. The light Coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair, And sport and flutter in the Fields of Air. (I, 59-66)26 And the heavy and light also appear in the single anticlimactic line, Of twelve vast French Romances, neatly gilt. (II, 38) Like everything else in The Rape of the Lock, the representative meter may be purposely overdone, as the s's like powder escaping in To save the Powder from too rude a Gale, Nor let th'imprison'd Essences exhale; (II, 93-94) 26. Note also the trochaic dissyllables (yielding, water, graver, downward, mischief) in the second and third couplets, and the iambic dissyllables (Co- quettes, aloft, repair) in the fourth. 60  EARLY AND ROMANTIC the representation of sighing in And breathes three am'rous Sighs to raise the Fire; (II, 42) the strictness of the first line, very like files of pins, and the re- peated p's, indicating insignificance, of the second line, in Here Files of Pins extend their slhining Rows, Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-dodx; (I, 137-138) and the expiring quality of sound and the oversweetness in Thus on Meander's flow'ry Margin lies Th'expiring Swan, and asfte sings ht dies. (V, 65-66) Rhetoric is turned to the uses of representation in the grotesque overstiffness of the balance in Here living Teapots stand, one Arm held out, Ode bent; the Handle this, and that the Spout. (IV, 49-50) Among the endless imitations of movement, there is a remarkable use of meter to represent the stalking of ghosts in And the PALE-GHOSTS-START at the FLASH-of-DAY! (V, 52) which is one of the few lines in Pope almost completely to lose the sense of the iambic. In the whole poem, however, the greatest tour de force of representation, employing caesura, meter, sound repetition, sound type, and enjambment, and illustrating almost every one of the passage's complex and fantastic ideas, is the threatened punishments of irresponsible slyphs (II, 123-136). Earlier in this study I described a type of representative meter which seems special to Pope: that of taking an important word (or words) in a couplet, analyzing the sounds, and repeating them elsewhere in the lines, often in company with obvious alliteration. Since the method is characteristically turned to the purpose of satire, it is not surprising to find Pope employing it frequently in The Rape of the Lock and in no other poem so far considered:2' (teach, flutter: t, e, ch (sh, f, 1, u, r; and alliteration of b) Teach Infant-Cheeks a bidden Blush to know, And little Hearts to flutter at a Beau; (I, 89-90) (Affectation: k, t, a, sh (ch), n) There Affectation with a sickly Mien Shows in her Cheek the Roses of Eighteen; (IV, 31-32) 27. It does occur notably in An Essay on Criticism. 61 EARLY AND ROMANTIC the representation of sighing in And breathes three am'rous Sighs to raise the Fire; (II, 42) the strictness of the first line, very like files of pins, and the re- peated p's, indicating insignificance, of the second line, in Here Files of Pins extend their sf ining Rows, Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-dotdx; (I, 137-138) and the expiring quality of sound and the oversweetness in Thus on Meander's flow'ry Margin lies, Th'expiring Swan, and asfe sings he dies. (V, 65-66) Rhetoric is turned to the uses of representation in the grotesque overstiffness of the balance in Here heving Teapots stand, one Arm held out, Oe bent; the Handle this, and that the Spout. (IV, 49-50) Among the endless imitations of movement, there is a remarkable use of meter to represent the stalking of ghosts in And the PALE-GHOSTS-START at the FLASH-of-DAY! (V, 52) which is one of the few lines in Pope almost completely to lose the sense of the iambic. In the whole poem, however, the greatest tour de force of representation, employing caesura, meter, sound repetition, sound type, and enjambment, and illustrating almost every one of the passage's complex and fantastic ideas, is the threatened punishments of irresponsible slyphs (II, 123-136). Earlier in this study I described a type of representative meter which seems special to Pope: that of taking an important word (or words) in a couplet, analyzing the sounds, and repeating them elsewhere in the lines, often in company with obvious alliteration. Since the method is characteristically turned to the purpose of satire, it is not surprising to find Pope employing it frequently in The Rape of the Lock and in no other poem so far considered:2' (teach, flutter: t, e, ch (sh, f, 1, 5, r; and alliteration of b) Teach Infant-Cheeks a bidden Blush to know, And little Hearts to flutter at a Beau; (I, 89-90) (Affectation: k, t, a, sh (ch), n) There Affectation with a sickly Mien Shows in her Cheek the Roses of Eighteen; (IV, 31-32) 27. It does occur notably in An Essay on Criticism. 61 EARLY AND ROMANTIC the representation of sighing in And breathes three am'rous Sighs to raise the Fire; (II, 42) the strictness of the first line, very like files of pins, and the re- peated p's, indicating insignificance, of the second line, in Here Files of Pins extend their slzining Rows, Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Bille-doux; (I, 137-138) and the expiring quality of sound and the oversweetness in Thus on Meander's flow'ry Margin lies Th'expiring Swan, and asftoe sings he dies. (V, 65-66) Rhetoric is turned to the uses of representation in the grotesque overstiffness of the balance in Here lving Teapots stand, one Arm held out, Oe bent; the Handle this, and that the Spout. (IV, 49-50) Among the endless imitations of movement, there is a remarkable use of meter to represent the stalking of ghosts in And the PALE-GHOSTS-START at the FLASH-of-DAY! (V, 52) which is one of the few lines in Pope almost completely to lose the sense of the iambic. In the whole poem, however, the greatest tour de force of representation, employing caesura, meter, sound repetition, sound type, and enjambment, and illustrating almost every one of the passage's complex and fantastic ideas, is the threatened punishments of irresponsible slyphs (II, 123-136). Earlier in this study I described a type of representative meter which seems special to Pope: that of taking an important word (or words) in a couplet, analyzing the sounds, and repeating them elsewhere in the lines, often in company with obvious alliteration. Since the method is characteristically turned to the purpose of satire, it is not surprising to find Pope employing it frequently in The Rape of the Lock and in no other poem so far considered:2' (teach, flutter: t, e, ch (sh, f, , s, r; and alliteration of b) Teach Infant-Cheeks a bidden Blush to know, And little Hearts to flutter at a Beau; (I, 89-90) (Affectation: k, t, a, sh (ch), n) There Affectation with a sickly Mien Shows in her Cheek the Roses of Eighteen; (IV, 31-32) 27. It does occur notably in An Essay on Criticism. 61  THE REACH OF ART (lisp: 1, , s (sh), p; and alliteration of h) Practis'd to Lisp, and hang the Head aside, Faints into Airs, and languishes with Pride. (IV, 33-34) And while the polysyllable is not so frequent in The Rape of the Lock as in Eloisa to Abelard,2s it shows its characteristic use as an element of satire: Spadillio first, unconquerable Lordl (III, 49) The pungent Grains of titillating Dust. (V, 84) With relation to the prosody, the most distinctive and noteworthy qualities of The Rape of the Lock seem, then, to be: 1. The great variety of effects within its sustained brilliance of tone; 2. Its general and specific resemblance in both metrics and rhetoric to Eloisa, the techniques of which it would seem often (if it were not the earlier poem) to parody; 3. Its purposeful use of the overfacile, in rhythm, rhetoric, repe- tition of sound, and representative meter; 4. The effects of epic conventions on prosody; 5. Use of all sorts of rhetoric, especially, as distinct from the other poems before 1717, zeugma in the narrow sense; exclamation as an interruption; parenthesis; and anticlimax; 6. Its unusually frequent use of enjambment; 7. The rhythm peculiar to certain of its couplets: The pierc'd Battalions dis-united fall, In Heaps on Heaps; one Fate o'erwhelms them all, (III, 85-86) With store ofPray'rs, for Mornings, Nights, and Noons, Her Hand is fill'd; her Bosom with Lampoons; (IV, 29-30) 8. The general lightness of its sounds and consequent light, swift movement; and the contrasting slowness, heaviness, and so- nority of certain passages; and 9. The great variety of representative meter, employing very many techniques of meter, rhetoric, and sound; and the use of a specialized type of representative meter characteristic of Pope's satire. V I have not yet examined An Essay on Criticism because it will 28. Eloisa, polysyllables in 5 per cent of the lines, Rape of the Lock, 2 per cent. But Rape of the Lock has notably fewer monosyllables than Eloisa: 5.92 per line, compared to 6.32; and fewer monosyllable lines: 3 per cent com- pared to 8 per cent. 62 THE REACH OF ART (lisp: 1, i s (sh), p; and alliteration of h) Practis'd to Lisp, and hang the Head aside, Faints into Airs, and languishes with Pride. (IV, 33-34) And while the polysyllable is not so frequent in The Rape of the Lock as in Eloisa to Abelard,"' it shows its characteristic use as an element of satire: Spadillio first, unconquerable Lord! (III, 49) The pungent Grains of titillating Dust. (V, 84) With relation to the prosody, the most distinctive and noteworthy qualities of The Rape of the Lock seem, then, to be: 1. The great variety of effects within its sustained brilliance of tone; 2. Its general and specific resemblance in both metrics and rhetoric to Eloisa, the techniques of which it would seem often (if it were not the earlier poem) to parody; 3. Its purposeful use of the overfacile, in rhythm, rhetoric, repe- tition of sound, and representative meter; 4. The effects of epic conventions on prosody; 5. Use of all sorts of rhetoric, especially, as distinct from the other poems before 1717, zeugma in the narrow sense; exclamation as an interruption; parenthesis; and anticlimax; 6. Its unusually frequent use of enjambment; 7. The rhythm peculiar to certain of its couplets: The pierc'd Battalions dis-united fall, In Heaps on Heaps; one Fate o'erwhelms them all, (III, 85-86) With store o ray'rs, for Mornings, Nights, and Noons, Her Hand is fill'd; her Bosom with Lampoons; (IV, 29-30) 8. The general lightness of its sounds and consequent light, swift movement; and the contrasting slowness, heaviness, and so- nority of certain passages; and 9. The great variety of representative meter, employing very many techniques of meter, rhetoric, and sound; and the use of a specialized type of representative meter characteristic of Pope's satire. V I have not yet examined An Essay on Criticism because it will 28. Eloisa, polysyllables in 5 per cent of the lines, Rape of the Lock, 2 per cent. But Rape of the Lock has notably fewer monosyllables than Eloisa: 5.92 per line, compared to 6.32; and fewer monosyllable lines: 3 per cent com- pared to 8 per cent. 62 THE REACH OF ART (lisp: 1, , s (sh), p; and alliteration of h) Practis'd to Lisp, and hang the Head aside, Faints into Airs, and languishes with Pride. (IV, 33-34) And while the polysyllable is not so frequent in The Rape of the Lock as in Eloisa to Abelard,"a it shows its characteristic use as an element of satire: Spadillio first, unconquerable Lord (III, 49) The pungent Grains of titillating Dust. (V, 84) With relation to the prosody, the most distinctive and noteworthy qualities of The Rape of the Lock seem, then, to be: 1. The great variety of effects within its sustained brilliance of tone; 2. Its general and specific resemblance in both metrics and rhetoric to Eloisa, the techniques of which it would seem often (if it were not the earlier poem) to parody; 3. Its purposeful use of the overfacile, in rhythm, rhetoric, repe- tition of sound, and representative meter; 4. The effects of epic conventions on prosody; 5. Use of all sorts of rhetoric, especially, as distinct from the other poems before 1717, zeugma in the narrow sense; exclamation as an interruption; parenthesis; and anticlimax; 6. Its unusually frequent use of enjambment; 7. The rhythm peculiar to certain of its couplets: The pierc'd Battalions dis-united fall, In Heaps on Heaps; one Fate o'erwhelms them all, (III, 85-86) With store o Prayrs, for Mornings, Nights, and Noons, Her Hand is fill'd; her Bosom with Lampoons; (IV, 29-30) 8. The general lightness of its sounds and consequent light, swift movement; and the contrasting slowness, heaviness, and so- nority of certain passages; and 9. The great variety of representative meter, employing very many techniques of meter, rhetoric, and sound; and the use of a specialized type of representative meter characteristic of Pope's satire. V I have not yet examined An Essay on Criticism because it will 28. Eloisa, polysyllables in 5 per cent of the lines, Rape of the Lock, 2 per cent. But Rape of the Lock has notably fewer monosyllables than Eloisa: 5.92 per line, compared to 6.32; and fewer monosyllable lines: 3 per cent com- pared to 8 per cent. 62  EARLY AND ROMANTIC be more profitable to discuss it with its obvious companion of later years, An Essay on Man, and then to compare both with the (mostly) still later Moral Essays. Otherwise the list of Pope's im- portant original poems up to and including the volume of 1717 is complete. Pope had gone far. Many would say that he had written his masterpiece, and certainly none of his poems have greater unity, or brilliance, or technical skill, or have worn better than The Rape of the Lock. Pope had, like most poets in the tradition, taken up the pastoral first, and then laid it aside forever. Except for isolated passages, he had done all that he was to do in the romantic vein. And he would never again seriously undertake anything so far from his normal bent as the Messiah. He had mastered his style. With the conversational satires it was to gain an additional freedom (one cannot say looseness), and with the satirical portraits and The Dunciad, fresh tours de force of representative meter; but one does not deny stylistic mastery to the Shakespeare of Twelfth Night because he had not yet written Othello, and the blank verse of Othello is not a new thing, but a new development of the same thing, suitable to the different thought and emotion. The same (to be sure, on a lower level of Parnassus) may be said for the Pope of The Rape of the Lock as compared to the Pope of the Epistle to Arbuthnot. The tools were all in his pocket, the skill in his hands, before 1717. All he was ever to need was suitable stone. EARLY AND ROMANTIC be more profitable to discuss it with its obvious companion of later years, An Essay on Man, and then to compare both with the (mostly) still later Moral Essays. Otherwise the list of Pope's im- portant original poems up to and including the volume of 1717 is complete. Pope had gone far. Many would say that he had written his masterpiece, and certainly none of his poems have greater unity, or brilliance, or technical skill, or have worn better than The Rape of the Lock. Pope had, like most poets in the tradition, taken up the pastoral first, and then laid it aside forever. Except for isolated passages, he had done all that he was to do in the romantic vein. And he would never again seriously undertake anything so far from his normal bent as the Messiah. He had mastered his style. With the conversational satires it was to gain an additional freedom (one cannot say looseness), and with the satirical portraits and The Dunciad, fresh tours de force of representative meter; but one does not deny stylistic mastery to the Shakespeare of Twelfth Night because he had not yet written Othello, and the blank verse of Othello is not a new thing, but a new development of the same thing, suitable to the different thought and emotion. The same (to be sure, on a lower level of Parnassus) may be said for the Pope of The Rape of the Lock as compared to the Pope of the Epistle to Arbuthnot. The tools were all in his pocket, the skill in his hands, before 1717. All he was ever to need was suitable stone. EARLY AND ROMANTIC be more profitable to discuss it with its obvious companion of later years, An Essay on Man, and then to compare both with the (mostly) still later Moral Essays. Otherwise the list of Pope's im- portant original poems up to and including the volume of 1717 is complete. Pope had gone far. Many would say that he had written his masterpiece, and certainly none of his poems have greater unity, or brilliance, or technical skill, or have worn better than The Rape of the Lock. Pope had, like most poets in the tradition, taken up the pastoral first, and then laid it aside forever. Except for isolated passages, he had done all that he was to do in the romantic vein. And he would never again seriously undertake anything so far from his normal bent as the Messiah. He had mastered his style. With the conversational satires it was to gain an additional freedom (one cannot say looseness), and with the satirical portraits and The Dunciad, fresh tours de force of representative meter; but one does not deny stylistic mastery to the Shakespeare of Twelfth Night because he had not yet written Othello, and the blank verse of Othello is not a new thing, but a new development of the same thing, suitable to the different thought and emotion. The same (to be sure, on a lower level of Parnassus) may be said for the Pope of The Rape of the Lock as compared to the Pope of the Epistle to Arbuthnot. The tools were all in his pocket, the skill in his hands, before 1717. All he was ever to need was suitable stone. 63 63 63  3. THE ESSAYS An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man resemble each other in such aspects of prosody and diction as moderation in the use of the initial trochee, of polysyllables and of monosyllabic lines, and infrequency of alliteration and other devices of sound. This last, plus certain rhetorical matters, are of particular im- portance, setting the two Essays off from the remainder of Pope's major works, since the Moral Essays tend as much toward the late satires as they do toward An Essay on Man. That the two Essays should stand somewhat apart from the remainder of Pope's poetry is, of course, not surprising; they are his two major poems of the middle style, and the prosodic characteristics they display are the characteristics to be expected. But the materials of the two poems are not exactly the same and the one poem is early in Pope's career, the other rather late; so there are likely to be differences within the similarities. One evi- dence of this-others will appear later-is a device which occurs infrequently but significantly in An Essay on Criticism, quite frequently and more complexly in An Essay on Man: the sense dic- tating unusual meter. One example from An Essay on Criticism is: For Works may have more Wit than does 'em good. (303) This monosyllabic line has only three heavy beats, there being three words of greatly superior significance, and the result is, for Pope, an unusual rhythmical pattern. Another example is: Nature affords at least a glimm'ring Light. (21) Here, to be sure, the metrical pattern remains normal, but the words at least force a particularly heavy beat on glimm'ring. But the effects in An Essay on Man are much more complex. Emphasis may be forced onto normally insignificant words: Man never IS, but always TO be blest, (I, 96) How much OF other each is sure to cost; How each FOR other oft is wholly lost. (IV, 271-272) Or the emphasis may be additional rather than substitutive: Has God, thou fool! work'd solely for THY good, 3. THE ESSAYS An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man resemble each other in such aspects of prosody and diction as moderation in the use of the initial trochee, of polysyllables and of monosyllabic lines, and infrequency of alliteration and other devices of sound. This last, plus certain rhetorical matters, are of particular im- portance, setting the two Essays off from the remainder of Pope's major works, since the Moral Essays tend as much toward the late satires as they do toward An Essay on Man. That the two Essays should stand somewhat apart from the remainder of Pope's poetry is, of course, not surprising; they are his two major poems of the middle style, and the prosodic characteristics they display are the characteristics to be expected. But the materials of the two poems are not exactly the same and the one poem is early in Pope's career, the other rather late; so there are likely to be differences within the similarities. One evi- dence of this-others will appear later-is a device which occurs infrequently but significantly in An Essay on Criticism, quite frequently and more complexly in An Essay on Man: the sense dic- tating unusual meter. One example from An Essay on Criticism is: For Works may have more Wit than does 'em good. (303) This monosyllabic line has only three heavy beats, there being three words of greatly superior significance, and the result is, for Pope, an unusual rhythmical pattern. Another example is: Nature affords at least a glimm'ring Light. (21) Here, to be sure, the metrical pattern remains normal, but the words at least force a particularly heavy beat on glimm'ring. But the effects in An Essay on Man are much more complex. Emphasis may be forced onto normally insignificant words: Man never IS, but always TO be blest, (I, 96) How much OF other each is sure to cost; How each FOR other oft is wholly lost. (IV, 271-272) Or the emphasis may be additional rather than substitutive: Has God, thou fool! work'd solely for THY good, 3. THE ESSAYS n Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man resemble each other in such aspects of prosody and diction as moderation in the use of the initial trochee, of polysyllables and of monosyllabic lines, and infrequency of alliteration and other devices of sound. This last, plus certain rhetorical matters, are of particular im- portance, setting the two Essays off from the remainder of Pope's major works, since the Moral Essays tend as much toward the late satires as they do toward An Essay on Man. That the two Essays should stand somewhat apart from the remainder of Pope's poetry is, of course, not surprising; they are his two major poems of the middle style, and the prosodic characteristics they display are the characteristics to be expected. But the materials of the two poems are not exactly the same and the one poem is early in Pope's career, the other rather late; so there are likely to be differences within the similarities. One evi- dence of this-others will appear later-is a device which occurs infrequently but significantly in An Essay on Criticism, quite frequently and more complexly in An Essay on Man: the sense dic- tating unusual meter. One example from An Essay on Criticism is: For Works may have more Wit than does 'em good. (303) This monosyllabic line has only three heavy beats, there being three words of greatly superior significance, and the result is, for Pope, an unusual rhythmical pattern. Another example is: Nature affords at least a glimm'ring Light. (21) Here, to be sure, the metrical pattern remains normal, but the words at least force a particularly heavy beat on glimm'ring. But the effects in An Essay on Man are much more complex. Emphasis may be forced onto normally insignificant words: Man never IS, but always TO be blest, (I, 96) How much OF other each is sure to cost; How each FOR other oft is wholly lost. (IV, 271-272) Or the emphasis may be additional rather than substitutive: Has God, thou fooll work'd solely for THY good, 64 64 64  THE ESSAYS THY joy, THY pastime, THY attire, THY food? Who for THY table feeds the wanton fawn, For him as kindly spread the flow'ry lawn. Is it for THEE the lark ascends and sings? JOY tunes his voice, JOY elevates his wings. (III, 27-32) Unusual variation and shades of accent resulting from unusual thought patterns and word contrasts occur more often in An Essay on Man than in any other major poem, and become a noticeable part of the Essay's individual texture. Such guiding of meter by thought leads to concentration; and an important characteristic of both An Essay on Criticism and An Es- say on Man is the tightness of thought texture. The verb rate is fairly high (higher in An Essay on Criticism)' and several other methods of achieving succinctness occur prominently. The first of these is unusually frequent use of special foreign constructions: Some few in THAT, but Numbers err in THIS, (E. on C., 5) OR with a Rival's OR an Eunuch's spite, (E. on C., 31) In THIS 'tis God directs, in THAT 'tis Man, (E. on M., III, 98) Taught NOR to slack, NOR strain its tender strings. (E. on M., III, 290) The use of the "this . . . that" pattern is often quite complex in An Essay on Man: Self-love and Reason to one end aspire, Pain their aversion, Pleasure their desire; But greedy THAT its object would devour, THIS taste the honey, and not wound the flow'r, (II, 87-90) In hearts of Kings, or arms of Queens who lay, How happy! THOSE to ruin, THESE betray. (IV, 289-290) This complexity would fit neither the comparatively informal tone of An Essay on Criticism, nor (since the complexity often results from using this and that through several lines) its generally more closed couplet pattern. And in the same way, another foreign prac- tice, the frequent and sometimes un-English use of participial constructions, occurs in both poems for condensation, but more often and more complexly in An Essay on Man: One Science only will one Genius fit; So vast is Art, so narrow Human Wit: Not only bounded to peculiar Arts, 1. E. on C., 1.35 verbs per line; E. on M., 123. 65 THY joy, THY pastime, THY attire, THY food? Who for THY table feeds the wanton fawn, For him as kindly spread the flow'ry lawn. Is it for THEE the lark ascends and sings? JOY tunes his voice, JOY elevates his wings. (III, 27-32) Unusual variation and shades of accent resulting from unusual thought patterns and word contrasts occur more often in An Essay on Man than in any other major poem, and become a noticeable part of the Essay's individual texture. Such guiding of meter by thought leads to concentration; and an important characteristic of both An Essay on Criticism and An Es- say on Man is the tightness of thought texture. The verb rate is fairly high (higher in An Essay on Criticism)' and several other methods of achieving succinctness occur prominently. The first of these is unusually frequent use of special foreign constructions: Some few in THAT, but Numbers err in THIS, (E. on C., 5) OR with a Rival's OR an Eunuch's spite, (E. on C., 31) In THIS 'tis God directs, in THAT 'tis Man, (E. on M., III, 98) Taught NOR to slack, NOR strain its tender strings. (E. on M., III, 290) The use of the "this ... that" pattern is often quite complex in An Essay on Man: Self-love and Reason to one end aspire, Pain their aversion, Pleasure their desire; But greedy THAT its object would devour, THIS taste the honey, and not wound the flow'r, (II, 87-90) In hearts of Kings, or arms of Queens who lay, How happy! THOSE to ruin, THESE betray. (IV, 289-290) This complexity would fit neither the comparatively informal tone of An Essay on Criticism, nor (since the complexity often results from using this and that through several lines) its generally more closed couplet pattern. And in the same way, another foreign prac- tice, the frequent and sometimes un-English use of participial constructions, occurs in both poems for condensation, but more often and more complexly in An Essay on Man: One Science only will one Genius fit; So vast is Art, so narrow Human Wit: Not only bounded to peculiar Arts, 1. E. on C., 1.35 verbs per line; E. on M., 123. 65 THY joy, THY pastime, THY attire, THY food? Who for THY table feeds the wanton fawn, For him as kindly spread the flow'ry lawn. Is it for THEE the lark ascends and sings? JOY tunes his voice, JOY elevates his wings. (III, 27-32) Unusual variation and shades of accent resulting from unusual thought patterns and word contrasts occur more often in An Essay on Man than in any other major poem, and become a noticeable part of the Essay's individual texture. Such guiding of meter by thought leads to concentration; and an important characteristic of both An Essay on Criticism and An Es- say on Man is the tightness of thought texture. The verb rate is fairly high (higher in An Essay on Criticism)r and several other methods of achieving succinctness occur prominently. The first of these is unusually frequent use of special foreign constructions: Some few in THAT, but Numbers err in THIS, (E. on C., 5) OR with a Rival's OR an Eunuch's spite, (E. on C., 31) In THIS 'tis God directs, in THAT 'tis Man, (E. on M., III, 98) Taught NOR to slack, NOR strain its tender strings. (E. on M., III, 290) The use of the "this .. that" pattern is often quite complex in An Essay on Man: Self-love and Reason to one end aspire, Pain their aversion, Pleasure their desire; But greedy THAT its object would devour, THIS taste the honey, and not wound the flower, (II 87-90) In hearts of Kings, or arms of Queens who lay, How happy! THOSE to ruin, THESE betray. (IV, 289-290) This complexity would fit neither the comparatively informal tone of An Essay on Criticism, nor (since the complexity often results from using this and that through several lines) its generally more closed couplet pattern. And in the same way, another foreign prac- tice, the frequent and sometimes un-English use of participial constructions, occurs in both poems for condensation, but more often and more complexly in An Essay on Man: One Science only will one Genius fit; So vast is Art, so narrow Human Wit: Not only bounded to peculiar Arts, 1. E. on C., 1.35 verbs per line; E. on M., 123. 65  THE REACH OF ART But oft in those, confin'd to single Parts, (E. on C., 60-63) Aspiring to be Gods, if Angels fell, Aspiring to be Angels, Men rebel, (E. on M., I, 127-128) Man, but for that, no action could attend, And, but for this, were active to no end; Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot; Or, meteor-like, flame lawless thro' the void, Destroying others, by himself destroy'd. (E. on M., II, 61-66)s As a means of condensation, zeugma also occurs notably in both poems, but again with exceptional complexity in An Essay on Man: And value Books, as Women Men, for Dress, (E. on C., 306) Some foreign Writers, some our own despise; The Ancients only, or the Moderns prize, (E. on C., 394-395) Heav'n from all creatures hides the book of Fate, All but the page prescrib'd, their present state; From brutes what men, from men what spirits know, (E. on M., I, 77-79) Nor this a good, nor that a bad we call, Each works its end, to move or govern all: And to their proper operation still, Ascribe all Good; to their improper, Ill. (E. on M., II, 55-58) The use of lines to illustrate their own meaning is itself a means of condensation, and is of course one of the special characteristics of An Essay on Criticism. To warn against expletives in a line (346) which makes ill and obvious use of an expletive is certainly con- centration. Some examples of this sort of thing, like the "wounded snake" Alexandrine or the passage on rime cliches, are famous; others are not, such as the strong, easy And praise the Easie Vigor of a Line, (360) and the slippery second line, with its early caesura, of the couplet These leave the Sense,/their Learning to display, And those/explain the Meaning quite away. (116-117) Other means of condensation, such as apposition and absolute con- 2. On the other hand, the "there are who" pattern of un-English usage is confined to An Essay on Criticism (e.g., 11. 35 and 169). Oddly this usage seems to have been reserved by Pope exclusively for less formal writing, occur- ring again in the Epistle to Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace. The use of who for he who or whoever occurs in both E. on C. (e.g., 1. 241) and E. on M. (e.g., IV, 59). 66 THE REACH OF ART But oft in those, confin'd to single Parts, (E. on C., 60-63) Aspiring to be Gods, if Angels fell, Aspiring to be Angels, Men rebel, (E. on M., I, 127-128) Man, but for that, no action could attend, And, but for this, were active to no end; Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot; Or, meteor-like, flame lawless thro' the void, Destroying others, by himself destroy'd. (E. on M., II, 61-66)2 As a means of condensation, zeugma also occurs notably in both poems, but again with exceptional complexity in An Essay on Man: And value Books, as Women Men, for Dress, (E. on C., 306) Some foreign Writers, some our own despise; The Ancients only, or the Moderns prize, (E. on C., 394-395) Heav'n from all creatures hides the book of Fate, All but the page prescrib'd, their present state; From brutes what men, from men what spirits know, (E. on M., I, 77-79) Nor this a good, nor that a bad we call, Each works its end, to move or govern all: And to their proper operation still, Ascribe all Good; to their improper, Ill. (E. on M., II, 55-58) The use of lines to illustrate their own meaning is itself a means of condensation, and is of course one of the special characteristics of An Essay on Criticism. To warn against expletives in a line (346) which makes ill and obvious use of an expletive is certainly con- centration. Some examples of this sort of thing, like the "wounded snake" Alexandrine or the passage on rime cliches, are famous; others are not, such as the strong, easy And praise the Easie Vigor of a Line, (360) and the slippery second line, with its early caesura, of the couplet These leave the Sense,/their Learning to display, And those/explain the Meaning quite away. (116-117) Other means of condensation, such as apposition and absolute con- 2. On the other hand, the "there are who" pattern of un-English usage is confined to An Essay on Criticism (e.g., 11. 35 and 169). Oddly this usage seems to have been reserved by Pope exclusively for less formal writing, occur- ring again in the Epistle to Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace. The use of who for he who or whoever occurs in both E. on C. (e.g., 1. 241) and E. on M. (e.g., IV, 59). 66 THE REACH OF ART But oft in those, confin'd to single Parts, (E. on C., 60-63) Aspiring to be Gods, if Angels fell, Aspiring to be Angels, Men rebel, (E. on M., I, 127-128) Man, but for that, no action could attend, And, but for this, were active to no end; Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot; Or, meteor-like, flame lawless thro' the void, Destroying others, by himself destroy'd. (E. on M., II, 61-66)T As a means of condensation, zeugma also occurs notably in both poems, but again with exceptional complexity in An Essay on Man: And value Books, as Women Men, for Dress, (E. on C., 306) Some foreign Writers, some our own despise; The Ancients only, or the Moderns prize, (E. on C., 394-395) Heav'n from all creatures hides the book of Fate, All but the page prescrib'd, their present state; From brutes what men, from men what spirits know, (E. on M., I, 77-79) Nor this a good, nor that a bad we call, Each works its end, to move or govern all: And to their proper operation still, Ascribe all Good; to their improper, Ill. (E. on M., II, 55-58) The use of lines to illustrate their own meaning is itself a means of condensation, and is of course one of the special characteristics of An Essay on Criticism. To warn against expletives in a line (346) which makes ill and obvious use of an expletive is certainly con- centration. Some examples of this sort of thing, like the "wounded snake" Alexandrine or the passage on rime cliches, are famous; others are not, such as the strong, easy And praise the Easie Vigor of a Line, (360) and the slippery second line, with its early caesura, of the couplet These leave the Sense,/their Learning to display, And those/explain the Meaning quite away. (116-117) Other means of condensation, such as apposition and absolute con- 2. On the other hand, the "there are who" pattern of un-English usage is confined to An Essay on Criticism (e.g., 11. 35 and 169). Oddly this usage seems to have been reserved by Pope exclusively for less formal writing, occur- ring again in the Epistle to Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace. The use of who for he who or whoever occurs in both E. on C. (e.g., 1. 241) and E. on M. (e.g., IV, 59). 66  THE ESSAYS structions, also occur frequently. Even narrative is unusually con- densed. In the Don Quixote episode in An Essay on Criticism Pope tells a by no means simple tale involving intricate literary theories, in the space of eighteen lines;' for the story of Virgil and his perusal of Homer he needs only nine. Condensation is clearly one of the fundamental qualities of the two Essays. Balance is the other. The balance in An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man has been a source of disapprobation;4 and in An Essay on Criticism it does at last become monotonous. But balance is intrinsic to the two Essays in a way and to an extent that it is not in any of Pope's other poems. In Eloisa to A belard, for ex- ample, balance is constant, it is the material of which the poem is made. Sometimes it is especially felicitous; more often it is merely present, as the bricks of a house are present, to be accepted because without the brick the house would not be there at all. But the balance that is mere brick in Eloisa is in the Essays, as I shall presently show, a skyscraper's structural steel. So far, the two Essays are alike; but the balance of which they are made is not quite the same balance, and it is integral for not quite the same reasons. The balance in An Essay on Criticism is for the most part exact, as it is in the other early poems; a balance of phrase by phrase, hemistich by hemistich, line by line. Such exactness is a reason for its eventual monotony. But it is intrinsic, as it is not in the other early poemss because the method of An Essay on Criticism, in big and in little, is comparison, and, more specifically, simile. And a tightly condensed development by simile leads almost inevitably to balance. Pope depends more upon comparison in An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man than in any other of his poems. In his day 3. An additional means of condensation in this passage, as several other times in the two Essays, is unintroduced direct quotation, allowing the quoted words to speak for themselves (e.g., E. on C., 383-384). 4. E.g., Tillotson, p. 137, where he says that in the two Essays, "Pope is using what amounts almost to a different kind of heroic couplet." Since this statement appears during a discussion of balance, one may assume that it concerns balance; and since elsewhere in his book (p. 160), Tillotson says that Pope "should not be judged by" the two Essays, "though even in these works the poetry has been underrated," one must assume that Tillotson does not like the methods of the Essays. 5. Except The Rape of the Lock, where the rhetorical "brick" of the other early poems is seen through the mirror of parody, and hence must be as it is because the other poems are as they are. 67 THE ESSAYS structions, also occur frequently. Even narrative is unusually con- densed. In the Don Quixote episode in An Essay on Criticism Pope tells a by no means simple tale involving intricate literary theories, in the space of eighteen lines;' for the story of Virgil and his perusal of Homer he needs only nine. Condensation is clearly one of the fundamental qualities of the two Essays. Balance is the other. The balance in An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man has been a source of disapprobation;, and in An Essay on Criticism it does at last become monotonous. But balance is intrinsic to the two Essays in a way and to an extent that it is not in any of Pope's other poems. In Eloisa to A belard, for ex- ample, balance is constant, it is the material of which the poem is made. Sometimes it is especially felicitous; more often it is merely present, as the bricks of a house are present, to be accepted because without the brick the house would not be there at all. But the balance that is mere brick in Eloisa is in the Essays, as I shall presently show, a skyscraper's structural steel. So far, the two Essays are alike; but the balance of which they are made is not quite the same balance, and it is integral for not quite the same reasons. The balance in An Essay on Criticism is for the most part exact, as it is in the other early poems; a balance of phrase by phrase, hemistich by hemistich, line by line. Such exactness is a reason for its eventual monotony. But it is intrinsic, as it is not in the other early poems- because the method of An Essay on Criticism, in big and in little, is comparison, and, more specifically, simile. And a tightly condensed development by simile leads almost inevitably to balance. Pope depends more upon comparison in An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man than in any other of his poems. In his day 3. An additional means of condensation in this passage, as several other times in the two Essays, is unintroduced direct quotation, allowing the quoted words to speak for themselves (e.g., E. on C., 383-384). 4. E.g., Tillotson, p. 137, where he says that in the two Essays, "Pope is using what amounts almost to a different kind of heroic couplet." Since this statement appears during a discussion of balance, one may assume that it concerns balance; and since elsewhere in his book (p. 160), Tillotson says that Pope "should not be judged by" the two Essays, "though even in these works the poetry has been underrated," cue must assume that Tillotson does not like the methods of the Essays. 5. Except The Rape of the Lock, where the rhetorical "brick" of the other early poems is seen through the mirror of parody, and hence must be as it is because the other poems are as they are. 67 THE ESSAYS structions, also occur frequently. Even narrative is unusually con- densed. In the Don Quixote episode in An Essay on Criticism Pope tells a by no means simple tale involving intricate literary theories, in the space of eighteen lines;' for the story of Virgil and his perusal of Homer he needs only nine. Condensation is clearly one of the fundamental qualities of the two Essays. Balance is the other. The balance in An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man has been a source of disapprobation;, and in An Essay on Criticism it does at last become monotonous. But balance is intrinsic to the two Essays in a way and to an extent that it is not in any of Pope's other poems. In Eloisa to Abelard, for ex- ample, balance is constant, it is the material of which the poem is made. Sometimes it is especially felicitous; more often it is merely present, as the bricks of a house are present, to be accepted because without the brick the house would not be there at all. But the balance that is mere brick in Eloisa is in the Essays, as I shall presently show, a skyscraper's structural steel. So far, the two Essays are alike; but the balance of which they are made is not quite the same balance, and it is integral for not quite the same reasons. The balance in An Essay on Criticism is for the most part exact, as it is in the other early poems; a balance of phrase by phrase, hemistich by hemistich, line by line. Such exactness is a reason for its eventual monotony. But it is intrinsic, as it is not in the other early poemss because the method of An Essay on Criticism, in big and in little, is comparison, and, more specifically, simile. And a tightly condensed development by simile leads almost inevitably to balance. Pope depends more upon comparison in An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man than in any other of his poems. In his day 3. An additional means of condensation in this passage, as several other times in the two Essays, is unintroduced direct quotation, allowing the quoted words to speak for themselves (e.g., E. on C., 383-384). 4. E.g., Tillotson, p. 137, where he says that in the two Essays, "Pope is using what amounts almost to a different kind of heroic couplet." Since this statement appears during a discussion of balance, one may assume that it concerns balance; and since elsewhere in his book (p. 160), Tillotson says that Pope "should not be judged by" the two Essays, "though even in these works the poetry has been underrated," one must assume that Tillotson does not like the methods of the Essays. 5. Except The Rape of the Lock, where the rhetorical "brick" of the other early poems is seen through the mirror of parody, and hence must be as it is because the other poems are as they are. 67  THE REACH OF ART there were two perfectly good reasons for this: first, didactic poems were to be in the "middle" style, avoiding both the heroic high and the satirical low, and were hence to be dignified but not elab- orately adorned; second, the comparisons considered-and surely properly considered-essential to illustrating and illuminating pre- cepts and theories might adorn or amuse as well as instruct, might appropriately provide the dulce as well as confirm the utile. As Dr. Johnson was later to remark, it is only in the imagery that a didac- tic poem can offer anything new. An Essay on Criticism starts out with a comparison of two differ- ent acts: 'Tis hard to say, if greater Want of Skill Appear in Writing or in Judging ill. (1-2) Then the effect of these acts in compared: But, of the two, less dang'rous is th'Offence, To tire our Patience, than mis-lead our Sense. (3-4) The frequency of the two acts in compared: Some few in that, but Numbers err in this, Ten Censure wrong for one who Writes amiss. (5-6) Then comes a simile to illustrate and explain the prevalence of in- dividualistic "judging" in a couplet with an unusual variant of balance pattern: 'Tis with our Judgments as our Watches, none Go just alike, yet each believes his own. (9-10)6 This simile is then further developed. An implied analogy is drawn from it, that since nearly everybody is prejudiced about watches, critics are likely to be prejudiced about what they criticize; and, further, that as pre-eminent poets are rare, so are pre-eminent critics: In Poets as true Genius is but rare, True Taste as seldom is the Critick's Share. (11-12) Here the balance is line by line, with the elements slightly rear- ranged: a-b-c/b-c-a. The simile of poet and critic is then clinched: each needs "light from Heav'n" in order to be a "true" member of his profession; 6. Here the inaccurate rime may have a purpose in illustrating the failure to "go alike." 68 THE REACH OF ART there were two perfectly good reasons for this: first, didactic poems were to be in the "middle" style, avoiding both the heroic high and the satirical low, and were hence to be dignified but not elab- orately adorned; second, the comparisons considered-and surely properly considered-essential to illustrating and illuminating pre- cepts and theories might adorn or amuse as well as instruct, might appropriately provide the dulce as well as confirm the utile. As Dr. Johnson was later to remark, it is only in the imagery that a didac- tic poem can offer anything new. An Essay on Criticism starts out with a comparison of two differ- ent acts: 'Tis hard to say, if greater Want of Skill Appear in Writing or in Judging ill. (1-2) Then the effect of these acts in compared: But, of the two, less dang'rous is th'Offence, To tire our Patience, than mis-lead our Sense. (3-4) The frequency of the two acts in compared: Some few in that, but Numbers err in this, Ten Censure wrong for one who Writes amiss. (5-6) Then comes a simile to illustrate and explain the prevalence of in- dividualistic "judging" in a couplet with an unusual variant of balance pattern: 'Tis with our Judgments as our Watches, none Go just alike, yet each believes his own. (9-10)6 This simile is then further developed. An implied analogy is drawn from it, that since nearly everybody is prejudiced about watches, critics are likely to be prejudiced about what they criticize; and, further, that as pre-eminent poets are rare, so are pre-eminent critics: In Poets as true Genius is but rare, True Taste as seldom is the Critick's Share. (11-12) Here the balance is line by line, with the elements slightly rear- ranged: a-b-c/b-c-a. The simile of poet and critic is then clinched: each needs "light from Heav'n" in order to be a "true" member of his profession; 6. Here the inaccurate rime may have a purpose in illustrating the failure to "go alike." 68 THE REACH OF ART there were two perfectly good reasons for this: first, didactic poems were to be in the "middle" style, avoiding both the heroic high and the satirical low, and were hence to be dignified but not elab- orately adorned; second, the comparisons considered-and surely properly considered-essential to illustrating and illuminating pre- cepts and theories might adorn or amuse as well as instruct, might appropriately provide the dulce as well as confirm the utile. As Dr. Johnson was later to remark, it is only in the imagery that a didac- tic poem can offer anything new. An Essay on Criticism starts out with a comparison of two differ- ent acts: 'Tis hard to say, if greater Want of Skill Appear in Writing or in Judging ill. (1-2) Then the effect of these acts in compared: But, of the two, less dang'rous is th'Offence, To tire our Patience, than mis-lead our Sense. (3-4) The frequency of the two acts in compared: Some few in that, but Numbers err in this, Ten Censure wrong for one who writes amiss. (5-6) Then comes a simile to illustrate and explain the prevalence of in- dividualistic "judging" in a couplet with an unusual variant of balance pattern: 'Tis with our Judgments as our Watches, none Go just alike, yet each believes his own. (9-10)6 This simile is then further developed. An implied analogy is drawn from it, that since nearly everybody is prejudiced about watches, critics are likely to be prejudiced about what they criticize; and, further, that as pre-eminent poets are rare, so are pre-eminent critics: In Poets as true Genius is but rare, True Taste as seldom is the Critick's Share. (11-12) Here the balance is line by line, with the elements slightly rear- ranged: a-b-c/b-c-a. The simile of poet and critic is then clinched: each needs "light from Heav'n" in order to be a "true" member of his profession; 6. Here the inaccurate rime may have a purpose in illustrating the failure to "go alike." 68  THE ESSAYS and the relationship of "judging" and "writing" with which the poem began is again made explicit: Both must alike from Heav'n derive their Light, These born to Judge, as well as those to Write. (13-14) The relationship of judging and writing is then extended still further: the writer should be the judgel Let such teach others who themselves excell, And censure freely who have written well. (15-16) And this is the point to which the whole series of comparisons and similes has been leading. It is the advice for which the argument has prepared; and, as usual in the poem, this advice is in arrange- ment neat, smooth, regular, balanced, and likely to be suitable for fame as an aphorism. And then, rounding out the verse paragraph, a reason is given for the advice, offering a still further comparison of writers and judges: Authors are partial to their Wit,'tis true, But are not Criticks to their Judgment too? (17-18) But how very neat this is, and how condensed The two ideas of writing and judging are juggled with the greatest dexterity, compared and recompared, compared to something extraneous, the comparisons extended and re-extended, through closed couplet after closed couplet. Words are compared, and phrases, and clauses, and lines. And yet not only is the balance an integral part of the method, not only do its neatness and aptness give it a share in the wit of the lines, but also it is made various and positively sprightly because of changes in the length and in the order of the balanced elements; because of frequent enjambment within the couplets, especially the strong run-on after the ninth line; because of the lightness of the vowels and consonants; and particularly because, in spite of the balance and the careful train of argument, the word order and the tone are often astonishingly colloquial. It is impractical, of course, to continue such a couplet-by-couplet analysis throughout the poem. But one finds next, for instance, the mind compared to a well-drawn sketch; and the mind ill-taught to a well-drawn sketch ill-colored. This is used as the basis for ex- plaining why those who cannot write often become critics. Those who cannot even be critics are then compared to mules, and-in a passage which is the first faint glimmering of such later satirical 69 THE ESSAYS and the relationship of "judging" and "writing" with which the poem began is again made explicit: Both must alike from Heav'n derive their Light, These born to Judge, as well as those to Write. (13-14) The relationship of judging and writing is then extended still further: the writer should be the judgel Let such teach others who themselves excell, And censure freely who have written well. (15-16) And this is the point to which the whole series of comparisons and similes has been leading. It is the advice for which the argument has prepared; and, as usual in the poem, this advice is in arrange- ment neat, smooth, regular, balanced, and likely to be suitable for fame as an aphorism. And then, rounding out the verse paragraph, a reason is given for the advice, offering a still further comparison of writers and judges: Authors are partial to their Wit, 'tis true, But are not Criticks to their Judgment too? (17-18) But how very neat this is, and how condensed! The two ideas of writing and judging are juggled with the greatest dexterity, compared and recompared, compared to something extraneous, the comparisons extended and re-extended, through closed couplet after closed couplet. Words are compared, and phrases, and clauses, and lines. And yet not only is the balance an integral part of the method, not only do its neatness and aptness give it a share in the wit of the lines, but also it is made various and positively sprightly because of changes in the length and in the order of the balanced elements; because of frequent enjambment within the couplets, especially the strong run-on after the ninth line; because of the lightness of the vowels and consonants; and particularly because, in spite of the balance and the careful train of argument, the word order and the tone are often astonishingly colloquial. It is impractical, of course, to continue such a couplet-by-couplet analysis throughout the poem. But one finds next, for instance, the mind compared to a well-drawn sketch; and the mind ill-taught to a well-drawn sketch ill-colored. This is used as the basis for ex- plaining why those who cannot write often become critics. Those who cannot even be critics are then compared to mules, and-in a passage which is the first faint glimmering of such later satirical 69 THE ESSAYS and the relationship of "judging" and "writing" with which the poem began is again made explicit: Both must alike from Heav'n derive their Light, These born to Judge, as well as those to Write. (13-14) The relationship of judging and writing is then extended still further: the writer should be the judgel Let such teach others who themselves excell, And censure freely who have written well. (15-16) And this is the point to which the whole series of comparisons and similes has been leading. It is the advice for which the argument has prepared; and, as usual in the poem, this advice is in arrange- ment neat, smooth, regular, balanced, and likely to be suitable for fame as an aphorism. And then, rounding out the verse paragraph, a reason is given for the advice, offering a still further comparison of writers and judges: Authors are partial to their Wit,'tis true, But are not Criticks to their Judgment too? (17-18) But how very neat this is, and how condensed The two ideas of writing and judging are juggled with the greatest dexterity, compared and recompared, compared to something extraneous, the comparisons extended and re-extended, through closed couplet after closed couplet. Words are compared, and phrases, and clauses, and lines. And yet not only is the balance an integral part of the method, not only do its neatness and aptness give it a share in the wit of the lines, but also it is made various and positively sprightly because of changes in the length and in the order of the balanced elements; because of frequent enjambment within the couplets, especially the strong run-on after the ninth line; because of the lightness of the vowels and consonants; and particularly because, in spite of the balance and the careful train of argument, the word order and the tone are often astonishingly colloquial. It is impractical, of course, to continue such a couplet-by-couplet analysis throughout the poem. But one finds next, for instance, the mind compared to a well-drawn sketch; and the mind ill-taught to a well-drawn sketch ill-colored. This is used as the basis for ex- plaining why those who cannot write often become critics. Those who cannot even be critics are then compared to mules, and-in a passage which is the first faint glimmering of such later satirical 69  THE REACH OF ART portraits as that of Sporus-to insects: Those half-learn'd Witlings, num'rous in our Isle, As half-form'd Insects on the Banks of Nile. (40-41) Soon after, comes an explanation of mental limitations based on the simile that all land cannot at once be dry; and then (in another shift of simile) if we attempt to overcome that inevitable limitation, Like Kings we lose the Conquests gain'd before, By vain Ambition still to make them more. (64-65) The pattern is becoming, as it must, slightly looser, and the couplets more open, but the method is still the same. In one couplet the simile will be almost casual: For Wit and Judgment often are at strife, Tho' meant each other's Aid, like Man and Wife. (82-83) In the next, the simile has become metaphor, and the comparison is inseparable from the meaning-yet the balance remains: 'Tis more to guide than spur the Muse's Steed; Restrain his Fury, than provoke his Speed. (84-85) Ancient Greece is then held up in some detail as an example of cooperation between critic and poet; and we are shown what has happened with that cooperation gone: critics nowadays are like apothecaries (108-111), moths (113), cooks (115). And again the advice: Be Homer's Works your Study, and Delight, Read them by Day, and meditate by Night. (124-125) Then, presently, the comparison of poetry to music; the famous Pegasus simile; and further illuminating similes, of precipices and kings and law, of armies and altars and streams, to the end of the first part of the poem-and with balance closely involved all the way.' The method continues through the remainder of the poem. There is the "Pierian spring"; the long simile of the Alps which Dr. Johnson thought probably the best in all English literature;s the exemplum of "La Mancha's Knight"; loquacity like leaves; 7. The balance is especially frequent with verbs: besides the "judge-write" pairs of 11. 1-18, there are prevails, fails; stoop, understand; feed, fills; guides, sustains; guide, spur; restrain, provoke; discover'd, devis'd; restrain'd, ordain'd; repress, indulge; winn, wood; hate, learn'd; cavil, criticise; read, meditate; offend, mend; nods, dream; glows, trembles; admire, doubt; and others. 8. Life of Pope, Lives of the English Poets, II, 218. 70 THE REACH OF ART portraits as that of Sporus-to insects: Those half-learn'd Witlings, num'rous in our Isle, As half-form'd Insects on the Banks of Nile. (40-41) Soon after, comes an explanation of mental limitations based on the simile that all land cannot at once be dry; and then (in another shift of simile) if we attempt to overcome that inevitable limitation, Like Kings we lose the Conquests gain'd before, By vain Ambition still to make them more. (64.65) The pattern is becoming, as it must, slightly looser, and the couplets more open, but the method is still the same. In one couplet the simile will be almost casual: For Wit and Judgment often are at strife, Tho' meant each other's Aid, like Man and Wife. (82-83) In the next, the simile has become metaphor, and the comparison is inseparable from the meaning-yet the balance remains: 'Tis more to guide than spur the Muse's Steed; Restrain his Fury, than provoke his Speed. (84-85) Ancient Greece is then held up in some detail as an example of cooperation between critic and poet; and we are shown what has happened with that cooperation gone: critics nowadays are like apothecaries (108-111), moths (113), cooks (115). And again the advice: Be Homer's Works your Study, and Delight, Read them by Day, and meditate by Night. (124-125) Then, presently, the comparison of poetry to music; the famous Pegasus simile; and further illuminating similes, of precipices and kings and law, of armies and altars and streams, to the end of the first part of the poem-and with balance closely involved all the way.' The method continues through the remainder of the poem. There is the "Pierian spring"; the long simile of the Alps which Dr. Johnson thought probably the best in all English literature; the exemplum of "La Mancha's Knight"; loquacity like leaves; 7. The balance is especially frequent with verbs: besides the "judge-write" pairs of Bt. 1-18, there are prevails, fails; stoop, understand; feed, fills; guides, sustains; guide, spur; restrain, provoke; discover'd, devis'd; restrain'd, ordain'd; repress, indulge; winn, woo'd; hate, learn'd; cavil, criticise; read, meditate; offend, mend; nods, dream; glows, trembles; admire, doubt; and others. 8. Life of Pope, Lives of the English Poets, II, 218. 70 THE REACH OF ART portraits as that of Sporus-to insects: Those half-learn'd Witlings, num'rous in our Isle, As half-form'd Insects on the Banks of Nile. (40-41) Soon after, comes an explanation of mental limitations based on the simile that all land cannot at once be dry; and then (in another shift of simile) if we attempt to overcome that inevitable limitation, Like Kings we lose the Conquests gain'd before, By vain Ambition still to make them more. (64-65) The pattern is becoming, as it must, slightly looser, and the couplets more open, but the method is still the same. In one couplet the simile will be almost casual: For Wit and Judgment often are at strife, Tho' meant each other's Aid, like Man and Wife. (82-83) In the next, the simile has become metaphor, and the comparison is inseparable from the meaning-yet the balance remains: 'Tis more to guide than spur the Muse's Steed; Restrain his Fury, than provoke his Speed. (84-85) Ancient Greece is then held up in some detail as an example of cooperation between critic and poet; and we are shown what has happened with that cooperation gone: critics nowadays are like apothecaries (108-111), moths (113), cooks (115). And again the advice: Be Homer's Works your Study, and Delight, Read them by Day, and meditate by Night. (124-125) Then, presently, the comparison of poetry to music; the famous Pegasus simile; and further illuminating similes, of precipices and kings and law, of armies and altars and streams, to the end of the first part of the poem-and with balance closely involved all the way.' The method continues through the remainder of the poem. There is the "Pierian spring"; the long simile of the Alps which Dr. Johnson thought probably the best in all English literature;8 the exemplum of "La Mancha's Knight"; loquacity like leaves; 7. The balance is especially frequent with verbs: besides the "judge-write" pairs of 11. 1-18, there are prevails, fails; stoop, understand; feed, fills; guides, sustains; guide, spur; restrain, provoke; discover'd, devis'd; restrin'd, ordain'd; repress, indulge; winn, wood; hate, learn'd; cavil, criticise; read, meditate; offend, mend; nods, dream; glows, trembles; admire, doubt; and others. 8. Life of Pope, Lives of the English Poets, II, 218. 70  truth like the sun; false eloquence like a prism; conceits like a clown; the "wounded snake" Alexandrine; narrowness of wit like narrowness of religion; envy like the moon; unwarranted suspicion like the yellow of jaundice; Appius like a tapestry tyrant; and a good many more. Only in the third part, with its lengthy tour through the history of criticism, does the balance undeniably grow tiresome; and it is in the third part that the similes and other comparisons are fewest, and the method therefore least organic. And the third part is also least colloquial in tone. Pope uses comparatively little ornament of sound in An Essay on Criticism-in strong contrast to such poems as Windsor-Forest and Eloisa to Ahelard-and, except for the illustrative representa- tion in Part II, not even much representative meter. He rarely supports the balance with alliteration; and when he does, it seems in consequence especially emphatic: Without all these at once before your Eyes, Cavil you may, but never Criticize. (122-123) Extremely unlike Eloisa, he uses only the fewest alliterative adjec- tive-substantive combinations. "Lucky Licence" (148) and "con- stant Critick" (416) are among the rare, almost casual instances; and one famous couplet is given particular point by the sudden, full-blown use of so very occasional a method: The Bookful Blockhead, ignorantly read, With Loads of Learned Lumber in his Head. (612-613) It is the same with other types of alliteration. Lines like Correctly cold, and regularly low, (240) are scarce enough to make one believe that Pope not only seldom sought alliteration in An Essay on Criticism but in general strove actively to avoid it. And of assonance there is even less. Such representative meter as exists beyond the special illustra- tive kind in Part II is largely representation of motion, or is sa- tirical; and it depends mainly upon meter, caesura, and enjamb- ment, rather than sound patterns: Which,/without passing thro' the Judgment,/gains The Heart/, (156-157) Where a new World leaps out at his command, (486) The Memory's soft Figures melt away. (59)- 9. Note how completely the special "melting" quality of this line would 71 THE ESSAYS truth like the sun; false eloquence like a prism; conceits like a clown; the "wounded snake" Alexandrine; narrowness of wit like narrowness of religion; envy like the moon; unwarranted suspicion like the yellow of jaundice; Appius like a tapestry tyrant; and a good many more. Only in the third part, with its lengthy tour through the history of criticism, does the balance undeniably grow tiresome; and it is in the third part that the similes and other comparisons are fewest, and the method therefore least organic. And the third part is also least colloquial in tone. Pope uses comparatively little ornament of sound in An Essay on Criticism-in strong contrast to such poems as Windsor-Forest and Eloisa to Ahelard-and, except for the illustrative representa- tion in Part II, not even much representative meter. He rarely supports the balance with alliteration; and when he does, it seems in consequence especially emphatic: Without all these at once before your Eyes, Cavil you may, but never Criticize. (122-123) Extremely unlike Eloisa, he uses only the fewest alliterative adjec- tive-substantive combinations. "Lucky Licence" (148) and "con- stant Critick" (416) are among the rare, almost casual instances; and one famous couplet is given particular point by the sudden, full-blown use of so very occasional a method: The Bookful Blockhead, ignorantly read, With Loads of Learned Lumber in his Head. (612-613) It is the same with other types of alliteration. Lines like Correctly cold, and regularly low, (240) are scarce enough to make one believe that Pope not only seldom sought alliteration in An Essay on Criticism but in general strove actively to avoid it. And of assonance there is even less. Such representative meter as exists beyond the special illustra- tive kind in Part II is largely representation of motion, or is sa- tirical; and it depends mainly upon meter, caesura, and enjamb- ment, rather than sound patterns: Which,/without passing thro' the Judgment,/gains The Heart/, (156-157) Where a new World leaps out at his command, (486) The Memory's soft Figures melt away. (59)- 9. Note how completely the special "melting" quality of this line would 71 truth like the sun; false eloquence like a prism; conceits like a clown; the "wounded snake" Alexandrine; narrowness of wit like narrowness of religion; envy like the moon; unwarranted suspicion like the yellow of jaundice; Appius like a tapestry tyrant; and a good many more. Only in the third part, with its lengthy tour through the history of criticism, does the balance undeniably grow tiresome; and it is in the third part that the similes and other comparisons are fewest, and the method therefore least organic. And the third part is also least colloquial in tone. Pope uses comparatively little ornament of sound in An Essay on Criticism-in strong contrast to such poems as Windsor-Forest and Eloisa to A belard-and, except for the illustrative representa- tion in Part II, not even much representative meter. He rarely supports the balance with alliteration; and when he does, it seems in consequence especially emphatic: Without all these at once before your Eyes, Cavil you may, but never Criticize. (122-123) Extremely unlike Eloisa, he uses only the fewest alliterative adjec- tive-substantive combinations. "Lucky Licence" (148) and "con- stant Critick" (416) are among the rare, almost casual instances; and one famous couplet is given particular point by the sudden, full-blown use of so very occasional a method: The Bookful Blockhead, ignorantly read, With Loads of Learned Lumber in his Head. (612-613) It is the same with other types of alliteration. Lines like Correctly cold, and regularly low, (240) are scarce enough to make one believe that Pope not only seldom sought alliteration in An Essay on Criticism but in general strove actively to avoid it. And of assonance there is even less. Such representative meter as exists beyond the special illustra- tive kind in Part II is largely representation of motion, or is sa- tirical; and it depends mainly upon meter, caesura, and enjamb- ment, rather than sound patterns: Which,/without passing thro' the Judgment,/gains The Heart/, (156-157) Where a new World leaps out at his command, (486) The Memory's soft Figures melt away. (59)a 9. Note how completely the special "melting" quality of this line would 71  There is, of course, fine use of she polysylloble for sotire: Per moss to tax on Honouroble Pool, (588) And chorisobly lee she Dull he voin. (597) Rime, son, is ussed, sod used well, for satire; sod rime is one of Pope's chaoracterissic excellences in An Essay on Criticism (e.g., 11. 354.555, 416-417).'° One instance does occur of eloborose passerning sod more comn- plex representative meter: Moderns, bewore) Or if you must offend modomstsrod Against she Precept, ne'er trsnsgress ifs End, gen stpsepsuesonsgestsend Lel is be seldom, sod compell'd by Nerd, less seld umum p ldn ed And have,satlestf,TheircPrecedenroffplead. tlestepesdttpled The Critick else proceeds wishout Remorse. There is, of course, fine use of she polysyllable for sotire: Per moss to fox on Honourable Fool, (5ff) And charisably lee she Dull be vain. (597) Rime, son, is used, ond used well, for sotire; ond rime is one of Pope's choracterissic excellences in An Essay on Criticism (e.g., 11. 354-355, 416-417)."° One instance does occur of elaorose posterning ond more com- plnt representosive meter: Moderns, beworel Or if you muss offend mo d ntm ste e d Against she Precept, ne'er transgress ifs End, gen sspsepsoes nsgesstsend Let it be seldom, sod conspel'd by Need, Srt tsseldurumum peld ned And hove, of leost, Their Precedent In plead. str ste pes dtft p1 d The Crifick else proceeds withous Remorse. There is, of course, fine use of she polysyllable for sosire: Fer moss so fox on Hoourable Fool, (588) And charisobly les she Dull be vain (597) Rime, son, is used, ond used well, for sosire; ond rime is one of Pope's characteristic excellences in An Essay on Criticism (e.g., 11. 354-355, 416-417)." One instonce does occur of eloborose posserning sod more com- plex representative meser: Moderns, bewarel Or if you must offend modomstsrod Against she Precept, ne'er transgress ifs End, genstpseptnetnsgestsnd Lel if be seldom, sod compell'd by Need, less tseld umumn p eldn ed And have,satleast, Theirecedentftoplead. streste pesdtssplerd The Critick else proceeds without Remorse. tel spseds (163-167) Here she ssiff preciseness of she d's, t's, sod p's. she shoes e's, she obvious, clear-cus alliserasion sod assonance, sod the regular, rapid meter workassasharpnsatirical thrustagainsttherlaw. Several examples occur of cepresenfative meter of she special "sound-analysis" type. Sometimes, since there is no prominent word or words on which to pin is, is is not yet quite in complete form: Dischaege that Rage on more Provoking Crimes, Nor feres Dearth in these Flagitious Times, (528-525)"t hr Iost if Memory were node so fil two haslf-feet instrad of shee, c.: The Menory's sofent figues nelt Rosy. Yretonfinig schaxord tfo ohallf-fetows overrhlmingythernermal prsctice of Poe and Ihis period, here abasonrd ton a speial purpose. tO. Seeralso p.2,hoe. Good satiricstrime lihewiseroccusnnitriplts (11. 328 -330), sod in fexinin ornine (ft. 442-443). Rot E. en C. has als5nmeou instances of poor nine corrspondexcr (cg., 11. 139-140, 301-302, 58589), sod not oil its fexininernines one succeesful (e.g., 11. 592-593). 11. Besides thsepromixrnj sounds indischarge, rage,xnd flagitious,xnoesh closlrltefdrch andesh sounds in she Enrst and furt of these words. 72 tel sps eds (163-167) tel spseds (163-16?) Here the stiff preciseoness of she d's, t's, sod p's. she short e's, she obvious, clear-cut alliseration sod assonance, sod she regular, rapid mceterworkuassasharp satiricalthrustagainst therlaw. Severs1 examples occur of representative melee of she special "sound-analysis" type. Somesimes, since there is no prominent word or words on which to pin it, it is not yet quite in complete form: Discharge that Rage on inne Provoking Crimes, Nor (eres Deaeth in these Flagitious Times. (528-529)r' be lost if Memosy nere masde to fil fwo halffeet inuread of shree, e.g.: The Meuorsyt sost fgures xelt away. Yes confining such a word to twohalf-feet was overwmhelmingly the noma practie o oeand hiseiod,fiherehbndoned for sspecialtpurpose. tO. Seslsop.2,sbove. Good sstiricltrimelikewismccus inniplets (ft. 328-330), and in feminine nine (11. 442-443). Bst E. en C. hsso umts u instances of psoor ine correspondence (cg., 11. t139-140, 30f-30t, 588-589), sod not all its feminine nines ore sucessful (e.g., 1f. 592-593). 11. Besides therprominentsjsounds in discharge,rage, and flagitious, note she closely related ech end sh sonds in thetrst and Inst of these swsrds. 72 Here the stiff pecisrens of the d's, t's, sod P's, she short e's, she obvious, cear-cut alliteration sod assonane, sod the regular, rapid meser work as asharp natirical thrust against the low. Several examples occur of representafive metr of she special "sound-analysis" type. Sometimes, since there is no prominent word or words on which to pin it, it is not yet quite in complete form: Discharge thas Rage on more Provoking Crimes, Nor (eres Dearth in these Flagitious Times. (528-529)rr hr lst if Memory nere made to f5l twco half-feet instead of three, e.g.: The Memory's soet figures nelt awty. Yt confining sucs a nerd to two half-fet wsovserwhelmingly the nonmal practicofPopeand his period, hreabanonedfortaseialtpups. to. Serasnp.2,ho. Goodsstiricalfrimetlikeise ocun instrplets (It. 328-330), and in feminine nine (11. 442-443). Bot E. en C. hss slso nmru intances nof psoor rinrcorrespondencr (e.g.. ft. 139-140, 301-302, 588-589), and ntalits feminine nines are sncessrul (e.g., t1. 592353). ft. Benidnstherprominentjssondsiio shrg, re,snd flsgiis,xnotethe cloelyrlatedchandsh sonds ithfrtandflatf thesnods. 72  THE ESSAYS Sometimes it is in full flower:" (tremendous, eye: t, r, e, m, e, n, s,7 ) And stares, Tremendous! with a threatning Eye, Like some fierce Tyrant in Old Tapestryl (586-587) But these examples of ornament and representation are tiny islands in oceans of speech not so elaborated; and Pope lets pass many obvious opportunities for representation, notably the description of climbing the Alps (11. 225-232) and at least one of the embryonic satirical portraits (11. 414-423)." If it seems strange that in a poem noted for extolling representative meter there should be so little of it, it should be remembered that continuous elaborate pattern- ing and representation would be out of place in a didactic, col- loquial, unimpassioned work. Balance, condensation, and compari- son remained, as they almost surely should have, the primary methods. Balance, condensation, and comparison are the methods in An Essay on Man too, but the balance is a different balance, and springs from a somewhat different cause. In striking contrast to the earlier Essay, Epistle I of An Essay on Man has no similes what- ever. In it, and less frequently throughout the remainder of An Essay on Man, the method of illustration (and of ornamentation) is by examples from other links in the chain of being;" and, since Pope's desire is usually to point up the correspondence in some de- tail, the comparison is likely to be extended to greater length than in the earlier Essay. So, there is the lamb which illustrates a com- plex proposition: Heav'n from all creatures hides the book of Fate, All but the page prescrib'd, their present state; From brutes what men, from men what spirits know: Or who could suffer Being here below? The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy Reason, would he skip and play? Pleas'd to the last, he crops the flow'ry food, And licks the hand just rais'd to shed his blood. (I, 77-84) 12. One of the fnest examples from E. on C. has already been given on p. 33, above. 13. Two more of the embryonic portraits (11. 36-43 and 328-332) show some evidence of satirical sound-patterning. 14. Cf. Parkin, p. 76. 73 THE ESSAYS Sometimes it is in full flower:12 (tremendous, eye: t, r, e, m, e, n, s, I ) And stares, Tremendous! with a threatning Eye, Like some fierce Tyrant in Old Tapestry! (586-587) But these examples of ornament and representation are tiny islands in oceans of speech not so elaborated; and Pope lets pass many obvious opportunities for representation, notably the description of climbing the Alps (11. 225-232) and at least one of the embryonic satirical portraits (11. 414-423)." If it seems strange that in a poem noted for extolling representative meter there should be so little of it, it should be remembered that continuous elaborate pattern- ing and representation would be out of place in a didactic, col- loquial, unimpassioned work. Balance, condensation, and compari- son remained, as they almost surely should have, the primary methods. Balance, condensation, and comparison are the methods in An Essay on Man too, but the balance is a different balance, and springs from a somewhat different cause. In striking contrast to the earlier Essay, Epistle I of An Essay on Man has no similes what- ever. In it, and less frequently throughout the remainder of An Essay on Man, the method of illustration (and of ornamentation) is by examples from other links in the chain of being;- and, since Pope's desire is usually to point up the correspondence in some de- tail, the comparison is likely to be extended to greater length than in the earlier Essay. So, there is the lamb which illustrates a com- plex proposition: Heav'n from all creatures hides the book of Fate, All but the page prescrib'd, their present state; From brutes what men, from men what spirits know: Or who could suffer Being here below? The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy Reason, would he skip and play? Pleas'd to the last, he crops the flow'ry food, And licks the hand just rais'd to shed his blood. (I, 77-84) 12. One of the finest examples from E. on C. has already been given on p. 33, above. 13. Two more of the embryonic portraits (11. 36-43 and 328-332) show some evidence of satirical sound-patterning. 14. Cf. Parkin, p. 76. 73 THE ESSAYS Sometimes it is in full flower:" (tremendous, eye: t, r, e, m, e, n, s, I ) And stares, Tremendousl with a threatning Eye, Like some fierce Tyrant in Old Tapestryl (586-587) But these examples of ornament and representation are tiny islands in oceans of speech not so elaborated; and Pope lets pass many obvious opportunities for representation, notably the description of climbing the Alps (11. 225-232) and at least one of the embryonic satirical portraits (11. 414-423).- If it seems strange that in a poem noted for extolling representative meter there should be so little of it, it should be remembered that continuous elaborate pattern- ing and representation would be out of place in a didactic, col- loquial, unimpassioned work. Balance, condensation, and compari- son remained, as they almost surely should have, the primary methods. Balance, condensation, and comparison are the methods in An Essay on Man too, but the balance is a different balance, and springs from a somewhat different cause. In striking contrast to the earlier Essay, Epistle I of An Essay on Man has no similes what- ever. In it, and less frequently throughout the remainder of An Essay on Man, the method of illustration (and of ornamentation) is by examples from other links in the chain of being;4 and, since Pope's desire is usually to point up the correspondence in some de- tail, the comparison is likely to be extended to greater length than in the earlier Essay. So, there is the lamb which illustrates a com- plex proposition: Heav'n from all creatures hides the book of Fate, All but the page prescrib'd, their present state; From brutes what men, from men what spirits know: Or who could suffer Being here below? The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy Reason, would he skip and play? Pleas'd to the last, he crops the flow'ry food, And licks the hand just rais'd to shed his blood. (I, 77-84) 12. One of the fnest examples from E. on C. has already been given on p. 33, above. 13. Two more of the embryonic portraits (11. 36-43 and 328-332) show some evidence of satirical sound-patterning. 14. Cf. Parkin, p. 76. 73  THE REACH OF ART Or the proposition may be clinched by a series of parallels from the chain: Ask of thy mother earth, why oaks are made Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade? Or ask of yonder argent fields above, Why Jove's Satellites are less than Jove? (I, 39-42) This method comes to a climax in Epistle I with the famous series of comparisons of senses, including the potential "aromatic pain" from the rose, and the fine touch of the spider; and, following this, with the series of comparisons extending "from Infinite to thee, from thee to Nothing," which occur toward the end of the Epistle. Individual images in these passages rarely extend beyond a single couplet; but the comparison usually runs through at least four, and often through many more lines. Epistle II also draws comparisons from the chain of being: Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot; Or, meteor-like, flame lawless thro' the void, Destroying others, by himself destroy'd. (63-66) But the emphasis here falls on the similes-and note that they are similes-rather than on the parallel, and is hence more reminiscent of An Essay on Criticism than of the first Epistle of An Essay on Man. In the extended simile of the Alps in An Essay on Criticism, the student is not parallel to the mountain-climber; the comparison illuminates and has no further intention. In the comparison of the lamb in Epistle I of An Essay on Man, on the other hand, the comparison involves a parallel: man is to God as lamb is to man. But in the passage just quoted from Epistle II, while the compari- son is drawn from the chain of being, no true parallel is involved: without Reason, man would not in actuality "flame lawless through the void," nor is it the lack of Reason which causes a meteor to do so. The comparison simply illuminates. And throughout Epistle II, the method is for the most part simile (and metaphor) as in An Essay on Criticism: there are more than a dozen actual similes in Epistle II and a good many more metaphors. Some of them, like most in An Essay on Criticism, are brief: In Folly's cup still laughs the bubble, joy; (288) THE REACH OF ART Or the proposition may be clinched by a series of parallels from the chain: Ask of thy mother earth, why oaks are made Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade? Or ask of yonder argent fields above, Why Jove's Satellites are less than Jove? (I, 39-42) This method comes to a climax in Epistle I with the famous series of comparisons of senses, including the potential "aromatic pain" from the rose, and the fine touch of the spider; and, following this, with the series of comparisons extending "from Infinite to thee, from thee to Nothing," which occur toward the end of the Epistle. Individual images in these passages rarely extend beyond a single couplet; but the comparison usually runs through at least four, and often through many more lines. Epistle II also draws comparisons from the chain of being: Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot; Or, meteor-like, flame lawless thro' the void, Destroying others, by himself destroy'd. (63-66) But the emphasis here falls on the similes-and note that they are similes-rather than on the parallel, and is hence more reminiscent of An Essay on Criticism than of the first Epistle of An Essay on Man. In the extended simile of the Alps in An Essay on Criticism, the student is not parallel to the mountain-climber; the comparison illuminates and has no further intention. In the comparison of the lamb in Epistle I of An Essay on Man, on the other hand, the comparison involves a parallel: man is to God as lamb is to man. But in the passage just quoted from Epistle II, while the compari- son is drawn from the chain of being, no true parallel is involved: without Reason, man would not in actuality "flame lawless through the void," nor is it the lack of Reason which causes a meteor to do so. The comparison simply illuminates. And throughout Epistle II, the method is for the most part simile (and metaphor) as in An Essay on Criticism: there are more than a dozen actual similes in Epistle II and a good many more metaphors. Some of them, like most in An Essay on Criticism, are brief: In Folly's cup still laughs the bubble, joy; (288) THE REACH OF ART Or the proposition may be clinched by a series of parallels from the chain: Ask of thy mother earth, why oaks are made Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade? Or ask of yonder argent fields above, Why Jove's Satellites are less than Jove? (I, 39-42) This method comes to a climax in Epistle I with the famous series of comparisons of senses, including the potential "aromatic pain" from the rose, and the fine touch of the spider; and, following this, with the series of comparisons extending "from Infinite to thee, from thee to Nothing," which occur toward the end of the Epistle. Individual images in these passages rarely extend beyond a single couplet; but the comparison usually runs through at least four, and often through many more lines. Epistle II also draws comparisons from the chain of being: Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot; Or, meteor-like, flame lawless thro' the void, Destroying others, by himself destroy'd. (63-66) But the emphasis here falls on the similes-and note that they are similes-rather than on the parallel, and is hence more reminiscent of An Essay on Criticism than of the first Epistle of An Essay on Man. In the extended simile of the Alps in An Essay on Criticism, the student is not parallel to the mountain-climber; the comparison illuminates and has no further intention. In the comparison of the lamb in Epistle I of An Essay on Man, on the other hand, the comparison involves a parallel: man is to God as lamb is to man. But in the passage just quoted from Epistle II, while the compari- son is drawn from the chain of being, no true parallel is involved: without Reason, man would not in actuality "flame lawless through the void," nor is it the lack of Reason which causes a meteor to do so. The comparison simply illuminates. And throughout Epistle II, the method is for the most part simile (and metaphor) as in An Essay on Criticism: there are more than a dozen actual similes in Epistle II and a good many more metaphors. Some of them, like most in An Essay on Criticism, are brief: In Folly's cup still laughs the bubble, joy; (288) 74 74 74  THE ESSAYS In lazy Apathy let Stoics boast Their Virtue fix'd; 'tis fix'd as in a frost. (101-102) The idea of light and darkness, on the other hand, continues through fourteen lines (203-216); and even the "Ask where's the North?" analogy, which in tone and idea resembles the two-line comparison of watches in An Essay on Criticism, extends through nine (222-230). In the last two Epistles, the methods are more equally balanced: a good many illustrations from the chain appear, but fewer than in Epistle I; some similes, but not nearly so many as in Epistle II. But the comparisons are still likely to be considerably longer than those in An Essay on Criticism. And as is justified by the more serious material and tone, the comparisons throughout An Essay on Man are more often than in the earlier Essay "ennobling" (as Dr. Johnson put it) in addition to being illustrative." But as the comparisons in An Essay on Man are different, so is the balance. As the comparisons are often more extended and less neat, so is the balance more complex, more varied, and less exactly balanced than that in An Essay on Criticism. (And hence, too, An Essay on Man has many more open couplet sequences than its predecessor.) The balancing elements may be in the last line of one couplet and the first of the next: Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part, As full, as perfect, in a hair as heart; As full, as perfect, in vile Man that mourns, (I, 275-277) He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest, In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast; In doubt his Mind or Body to prefer. (II, 7-9) Among the extremely various uses of word repetition, one kind especially characteristic of An Essay on Man is repetition of key words with shifts in form, context, grammar, or connotation:" Re-judge his justice, be the God of God! (I, 122) Grows with his growth, and strengthens with his strength, (II, 136) 15. E.g., III, 285-295; IV, 7-16. Some images do sound very like E. on C., however: But honest Instinct comes a volunteer, (IIL, 88) Who bid the stork, Columbus-like, explore. (II, 105) 16. Most of these examples fall under the technical rhetorical heading of polyptoton. 75 THE ESSAYS In lazy Apathy let Stoics boast Their Virtue fix'd; 'tis fix'd as in a frost. (101-102) The idea of light and darkness, on the other hand, continues through fourteen lines (203-216); and even the "Ask where's the North?" analogy, which in tone and idea resembles the two-line comparison of watches in An Essay on Criticism, extends through nine (222-230). In the last two Epistles, the methods are more equally balanced: a good many illustrations from the chain appear, but fewer than in Epistle I; some similes, but not nearly so many as in Epistle II. But the comparisons are still likely to be considerably longer than those in An Essay on Criticism. And as is justified by the more serious material and tone, the comparisons throughout An Essay on Man are more often than in the earlier Essay "ennobling" (as Dr. Johnson put it) in addition to being illustrative.s But as the comparisons in An Essay on Man are different, so is the balance. As the comparisons are often more extended and less neat, so is the balance more complex, more varied, and less exactly balanced than that in An Essay on Criticism. (And hence, too, An Essay on Man has many more open couplet sequences than its predecessor.) The balancing elements may be in the last line of one couplet and the first of the next: Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part, As full, as perfect, in a hair as heart; As full, as perfect, in vile Man that mourns, (I, 275-277) He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest, In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast; In doubt his Mind or Body to prefer. (II, 7-9) Among the extremely various uses of word repetition, one kind especially characteristic of An Essay on Man is repetition of key words with shifts in form, context, grammar, or connotation:le Re-judge his justice, be the God of God! (I, 122) Grows with his growth, and strengthens with his strength, (II, 136) 15. E.g., III, 285-295; IV, 7-16. Some images do sound very like E. on C., however: But honest Instinct comes a volunteer, (III, 88) Who bid the stork, Columbus-like, explore. (III, 105) 16. Most of these examples falt under the technical rhetorical heading of polyptoton. 75 THE ESSAYS In lazy Apathy let Stoics boast Their Virtue fix'd; 'tis fix'd as in a frost. (101-102) The idea of light and darkness, on the other hand, continues through fourteen lines (203-216); and even the "Ask where's the North?" analogy, which in tone and idea resembles the two-line comparison of watches in An Essay on Criticism, extends through nine (222-230). In the last two Epistles, the methods are more equally balanced: a good many illustrations from the chain appear, but fewer than in Epistle I; some similes, but not nearly so many as in Epistle I. But the comparisons are still likely to be considerably longer than those in An Essay on Criticism. And as is justified by the more serious material and tone, the comparisons throughout An Essay on Man are more often than in the earlier Essay "ennobling" (as Dr. Johnson put it) in addition to being illustrative.- But as the comparisons in An Essay on Man are different, so is the balance. As the comparisons are often more extended and less neat, so is the balance more complex, more varied, and less exactly balanced than that in An Essay on Criticism. (And hence, too, An Essay on Man has many more open couplet sequences than its predecessor.) The balancing elements may be in the last line of one couplet and the first of the next: Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part, As full, as perfect, in a hair as heart; As full, as perfect, in vile Man that mourns, (I, 275-277) He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest, In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast; In doubt his Mind or Body to prefer. (II, 7-9) Among the extremely various uses of word repetition, one kind especially characteristic of An Essay on Man is repetition of key words with shifts in form, context, grammar, or connotation: Re-judge his justice, be the God of God! (I, 122) Grows with his growth, and strengthens with his strength, (II, 136) 15. E.g., III, 285-295; IV, 7-16. Some images do sound very like E. on C., however: But honest Instinct comes a volunteer, (LII, 88) Who bid the stork, Columbus-like, explore. (III, 105) 16. Most of these examples fall under the technical rhetorical heading of polyptoton. 75  THE REACH OF ART See dying vegetables life sustain, See life dissolving vegetate again. (III, 15-16) And especially the arrangement of balancing elements may be very complicated:" (a) (b) (b) (c) Wfho noble ends by noble means obtains, (c) (d) (d) Or failing, smiles in exile or in chains, (e) (a) (f) (f) Like good Aurelius let him reign, or bleed (e) (a) Like Socrates, that Man is great indeed! (IV, 233-236) In longer passages, arrangements may become even more complex (a) (a) (a) See, thro' this air, this ocean, and this earth, (b) (b) All matter quick, and bursting into birth. (c) (d) (e) Above, how high progressive life may gol (c) (d) (d) (e) (c) Around, how wide! how deep extend below! (ABCDEF ...) (A) Vast chain of being, which from God began, (B) (C) (B) (C) Natures aetheereal, human, angel, man, (D) (E) (F) (G) (H) (f) (g) (h) (i) Beast, bird, fish, insect! what no eye can see, (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (A) (k) (C) No glass can reach; from Infinite to thee, (j) (C) (k) (H) (1) (AB) From thee to Nothing!-On superior pow'rs (C) (m) (DEFGH) (m) (1) (C) Were we to press, inferior might on ours; (BCDEF ...) (m) Or in the full creation leave a void, (Bor Cor...) (n) (ABCDEF...) (n) Where, one step broken, the great scale's destroy'd: (ABCDEF ...) (B or C or ...) (n) From Nature's chain whatever link you strike, 17. Far more so indeed than the examples ofered by Tillotson (p. 128). 76 THE REACH OF ART See dying vegetables life sustain, See life dissolving vegetate again. (III, 15-16) And especially the arrangement of balancing elements may be very complicated:" (a) (b) (b) (c) Who noble ends by noble means obtains, (c) (d) (d) Or failing, smiles in exile or in chains, (e) (a) (f) (f) Like good Aurelius let him reign, or bleed (e) (a) Like Socrates, that Man is great indeed! (IV, 233-236) In longer passages, arrangements may become even more complex (a) (a) (a) See, thro' this air, this ocean, and this earth, (b) (b) All matter quick, and bursting into birth. (c) (d) (e) Above, how high progressive life may go! (c) (d) (d) (e) (c) Around, how wide! how deep extend belowl (ABCDEF ...) (A) Vast chain of being, which from God began, (B) (C) (B) (C) Natures aethereal, human, angel, man, (D) (E) (F) (G) (H) (f) (g) (h) (i) Beast, bird, fish, insect! what no eye can see, (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (A) (k) (C) No glass can reach; from Infinite to thee, (j) (C) (k) (H) (1) (AB) From thee to Nothing!-On superior pow'rs (C) (m) (DEFGH) (m) (1) (C) Were we to press, inferior might on ours; (BCDEF ...) (m) Or in the full creation leave a void, (Bor Cor...) (n) (ABCDEF...) (n) Where, one step broken, the great scale's destroy'd: (ABCDEF ...) (B or C or ...) (n) From Nature's chain whatever link you strike, 17. Far more so indeed than the examples ofered by Tillotson (p. 128). 76 THE REACH OF ART See dying vegetables life sustain, See life dissolving vegetate again. (III, 15-16) And especially the arrangement of balancing elements may be very complicated:"7 (a) (b) (b) (c) Who noble ends by noble means obtains, (c) (d) (d) Or failing, smiles in exile or in chains, (e) (a) (f) (f) Like good Aurelius let him reign, or bleed (e) (a) Like Socrates, that Man is great indeed! (IV, 233-236) In longer passages, arrangements may become even more complex (a) (a) (a) See, thro' this air, this ocean, and this earth, (b) (b) All matter quick, and bursting into birth. (c) (d) (e) Above, how high progressive life may gol (c) (d) (d) (e) (c) Around, how widel how deep extend below! (ABCDEF ...) (A) Vast chain of being, which from God began, (B) (C) (B) (C) Natures aethereal, human, angel, man, (D) (E) (F) (G) (H) (f) (g) (h) (i) Beast, bird, fish, insect what no eye can see, (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (A) (k) (C) No glass can reach; from Infinite to thee, (j) (C) (k) (H) (1) (AB) From thee to Nothing!-On superior pow'rs (C) (m) (DEFGH) (m) (1) (C) Were we to press, inferior might on ours; (BCDEF ...) (m) Or in the full creation leave a void, (Bor Cor...) (n) (ABCDEF...) (n) Where, one step broken, the great scale's destroy'd: (ABCDEF ...) (B or C or ...) (n) From Nature's chain whatever link you strike, 17. Far more so indeed than the examples offered by Tillotson (p. 128). 76  THE ESSAYS (B* or C* or ...) (B** or C** or ...) (n) (ABCDEF ...) Tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike. (I, 233-246) Clearly this elaboration of arrangement of balanced elements goes far beyond anything in An Essay on Criticism. Besides the methods of balance and repetition, Pope uses two other rhetorical devices especially frequently in An Essay on Man: exclamation and interrogation. Exclamation needs no re-examining. It is as common as in the Messiah, in the heightened passages of Windsor-Forest, in Eloisa to Abelard, for similar reasons and with much the same result. Interrogation is another matter. If the tone of any poem of Pope's is affected by a rhetorical device not involving balance, An Essay on Man's tone is affected by its ques- tions. In Epistle I alone there are nearly thirty, in Epistle IV nearly fifty. Many of them are scornful: All this dread Order break-for whom? for thee? (I, 257) Oh sons of earth! attempt ye still to rise, By mountains pil'd on mountains, to the skies? (IV, 73-74) Sometimes they are placed in the mouth of "man" in order to be demolished: "Why bounded Pow'r? why private? why no king?" Nay, why external for internal giv'n? Why is not Man a God, and Earth a Heav'n? Who ask and reason thus, will scarce conceive God gives enough, while he has more to give. (IV, 160-164) More frequently they are rhetorical in the narrow sense, directing their own implicit answer: The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy Reason, would he skip and play? (I, 81-82) Occasionally, however, they are asked in order to be answered: Why has not Man a microscopic eye? For this plain reason, Man is not a Fly. (I, 193-194) The device seems overdone, though many of the individual ques- tions are effective, and interrogation is a proper rhetorical device in a philosophical poem. The issue is whether or not, by calling attention to method and away from meaning, the abundance of questions may not contribute to a sameness of tone, and a decrease in force. Interrogation in An Essay on Man stands with exclama- 77 THE ESSAYS (B* or C* or ...) (B"* or C** or .. .) (n) (ABCDEF ...) Tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike. (I, 233-246) Clearly this elaboration of arrangement of balanced elements goes far beyond anything in An Essay on Criticism. Besides the methods of balance and repetition, Pope uses two other rhetorical devices especially frequently in An Essay on Man: exclamation and interrogation. Exclamation needs no re-examining. It is as common as in the Messiah, in the heightened passages of Windsor-Forest, in Eloisa to Abelard, for similar reasons and with much the same result. Interrogation is another matter. If the tone of any poem of Pope's is affected by a rhetorical device not involving balance, An Essay on Man's tone is affected by its ques- tions. In Epistle I alone there are nearly thirty, in Epistle IV nearly fifty. Many of them are scornful: All this dread Order break-for whom? for thee? (I, 257) Oh sons of earth! attempt ye still to rise, By mountains pil'd on mountains, to the skies? (IV, 73-74) Sometimes they are placed in the mouth of "man" in order to be demolished: "Why bounded Pow'r? why private? why no king?" Nay, why external for internal giv'n? Why is not Man a God, and Earth a Heav'n? Who ask and reason thus, will scarce conceive God gives enough, while he has more to give. (IV, 160-164) More frequently they are rhetorical in the narrow sense, directing their own implicit answer: The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy Reason, would he skip and play? (I, 81-82) Occasionally, however, they are asked in order to be answered: Why has not Man a microscopic eye? For this plain reason, Man is not a Fly. (I, 193-194) The device seems overdone, though many of the individual ques- tions are effective, and interrogation is a proper rhetorical device in a philosophical poem. The issue is whether or not, by calling attention to method and away from meaning, the abundance of questions may not contribute to a sameness of tone, and a decrease in force. Interrogation in An Essay on Man stands with exclama- 77 THE ESSAYS (B* orC* or...) (B** orC**or...) (n) (ABCDEF...) Tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike. (I, 233-246) Clearly this elaboration of arrangement of balanced elements goes far beyond anything in An Essay on Criticism. Besides the methods of balance and repetition, Pope uses two other rhetorical devices especially frequently in An Essay on Man: exclamation and interrogation. Exclamation needs no re-examining. It is as common as in the Messiah, in the heightened passages of Windsor-Forest, in Eloisa to Abelard, for similar reasons and with much the same result. Interrogation is another matter. If the tone of any poem of Pope's is affected by a rhetorical device not involving balance, An Essay on Man's tone is affected by its ques- tions. In Epistle I alone there are nearly thirty, in Epistle IV nearly fifty. Many of them are scornful: All this dread Order break-for whom? for thee? (I, 257) Oh sons of earth! attempt ye still to rise, By mountains pil'd on mountains, to the skies? (IV, 73-74) Sometimes they are placed in the mouth of "man" in order to be demolished: "Why bounded Pow'r? why private? why no king?" Nay, why external for internal giv'n? Why is not Man a God, and Earth a Heav'n? Who ask and reason thus, will scarce conceive God gives enough, while he has more to give. (IV, 160-164) More frequently they are rhetorical in the narrow sense, directing their own implicit answer: The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, Had he thy Reason, would he skip and play? (I, 81-82) Occasionally, however, they are asked in order to be answered: Why has not Man a microscopic eye? For this plain reason, Man is not a Fly. (I, 193-194) The device seems overdone, though many of the individual ques- tions are effective, and interrogation is a proper rhetorical device in a philosophical poem. The issue is whether or not, by calling attention to method and away from meaning, the abundance of questions may not contribute to a sameness of tone, and a decrease in force. Interrogation in An Essay on Man stands with exclama- 77  THE REACH OF ART tion in Eloisa to Abelard among the very few instances in which Pope's judgment did not altogether preclude excess. Pope's use of alliteration, assonance, and representative meter in An Essay on Man resembles that in An Essay on Criticism but is not quite so restricted. The long section of Epistle I concerned with the comparative keenness of the senses is almost as famous for its representation as the section of illustrative representation in the earlier Essay. There is the grotesqueness of How Instinct varies in the grov'ling swine, Compared, half-reas'ning elephant, with thine. (I, 221-222) There is the delicate rhythm and music of Or touch, if tremblingly alive all o'er. (I, 197) And there is the sensitive accuracy and patterning of The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! Feels at each thread, and lives along the line. (I, 217-218) Some very elaborate sound arrangements occur: Far as Creation's ample range extends, ash nm p a n e en The scale of sensual, mental pow'rs ascends: s a sen sh m en ps en Mark how it mounts, to Man's imperial race, m m n mn m p e From the green myriads in the peopled grass: grenmepepgr What modes of sight betwixt each wide extreme, modittwixtewidxtem The mole's dim curtain, and the lynx's beam. mod I m t ixe m (I, 207-212) Like An Essay on Criticism, An Essay on Man includes several in- stances of "word-analysis" representation; one excellent example, a reminder of the other very different poems being written at the time of An Essay on Man, is (politic, sly: p, 1, t, , k, s, I ) No less alike the Politic and Wise, All sly slow things, with circumspective eyes. (IV, 225-226) 78 THE REACH OF ART tion in Eloisa to Abelard among the very few instances in which Pope's judgment did not altogether preclude excess. Pope's use of alliteration, assonance, and representative meter in An Essay on Man resembles that in An Essay on Criticism but is not quite so restricted. The long section of Epistle I concerned with the comparative keenness of the senses is almost as famous for its representation as the section of illustrative representation in the earlier Essay. There is the grotesqueness of How Instinct varies in the grov'ling swine, Compared, half-reas'ning elephant, with thine. (I, 221-222) There is the delicate rhythm and music of Or touch, if tremblingly alive all o'er. (I, 197) And there is the sensitive accuracy and patterning of The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! Feels at each thread, and lives along the line. (I, 217-218) Some very elaborate sound arrangements occur: Far as Creation's ample range extends, ish nmpineen The scale of sensual, mental pow'rs ascends: sosen shmen psen Mark how it mounts, to Man's imperial race, m m n mnm p e From the green myriads in the peopled grass: gr e n m e p e p gr What modes of sight betwixt each wide extreme, modit twix tewid x t m The mole's dim curtain, and the lynx's beam. m dim ti xe m (I, 207-212) Like An Essay on Criticism, An Essay on Man includes several in- stances of "word-analysis" representation; one excellent example, a reminder of the other very different poems being written at the time of An Essay on Man, is (politic, sly: p, 1, t, , k, s, I ) No less alike the Politic and Wise, All sly slow things, with circumspective eyes. (IV, 225-226) 78 THE REACH OF ART tion in Eloisa to A belard among the very few instances in which Pope's judgment did not altogether preclude excess. Pope's use of alliteration, assonance, and representative meter in An Essay on Man resembles that in An Essay on Criticism but is not quite so restricted. The long section of Epistle I concerned with the comparative keenness of the senses is almost as famous for its representation as the section of illustrative representation in the earlier Essay. There is the grotesqueness of How Instinct varies in the grov'ling swine, Compared, half-reas'ning elephant, with thine. (I, 221-222) There is the delicate rhythm and music of Or touch, if tremblingly alive all o'er. (I, 197) And there is the sensitive accuracy and patterning of The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! Feels at each thread, and lives along the line. (I, 217-218) Some very elaborate sound arrangements occur: Far as Creation's ample range extends, ash n m p a n e en The scale of sensual, mental pow'rs ascends: sa En sh m 7'n pse n Mark how it mounts, to Man's imperial race, m m n m nm p e From the green myriads in the peopled grass: gren m epepgr What modes of sight betwixt each wide extreme, modit twix tewid x tem The mole's dim curtain, and the lynx's beam. m o d i m t i x e m (I, 207-212) Like An Essay on Criticism, An Essay on Man includes several in- stances of "word-analysis" representation; one excellent example, a reminder of the other very different poems being written at the time of An Essay on Man, is (politic, sly: p, 1, t, , k, s, I ) No less alike the Politic and Wise, All sly slow things, with circumspective eyes. (IV, 225-226) 78  THE. ESSAYS As in An Essay on Criticism, Pope uses caesura,' enjambment, and polysyllables well, and rime, including feminine rime,'-both well (though not nearly so often for satire) and badly, committing more bad rimes than in any other major poem. And as in An Essay on Criticism, he passes over numerous opportunities for representa- tion, for example the "lamb" and "poor Indian" passages in Epistle I, and the piling on of mountains in Epistle IV. The tone of the poem is much more formal than that of the earlier Essay. There is considerably more inversion; few lines are colloquial in tone; and several heightened passages are of great intensity. Accordingly, caesuras appear later in the line somewhat more frequently, and in the heightened passages much more fre- quently.2" Accordingly, too, the quality of vowels and consonants is darker. The poem often flows powerfully through a long series of open couplets. And the tone is varied more widely than in An Essay on Criticism. The "poor Indian" passage, for instance, is quiet with a regular, light beat, while the passage ending with the following lines has an increasing loudness, heaviness of beat, and swiftness of movement that is almost dizzying: Let ruling Angels from their spheres be hurl'd, Being on being wreck'd, and world on world, Heav'n's whole foundations to their centre nod, And Nature tremble to the throne of God. (I, 253-256) Such passages have a power equalled nowhere else in Pope except in The Dunciad, an emotional depth which only the close of The Dunciad can match. Pope also composes in An Essay on Man-as occasionally in An Essay on Criticism but much more frequently in his later career- many neat, accurate, "right" lines which illustrate no one skill but have that quality of inevitability which marks the fine artist and is "beyond the reach of art" to analyze: 18. E.g.: Created half to rise,/and half to fall, (II, 15) And turn'd on Man a fiercer savage,/Man. (III, 168) 19. Including one of the best and best-known in Pope: What can ennoble sots, or slaves, or cowards? Alas! not all the blood of all the Howards. (IV, 215-216) Bad feminine rimes occur at IV, 203-204, and IV, 277-278. 20. My reading of E. on M., Epistle I, shows 43 per cent of the caesuras to come after the 4th syllable or earlier, whereas in six of the "heightened" pas- sages is the poem (L 85-90, 113-130, 247-258, 267-280, 289-294, and II, 3-18), only 26 per cent after the 4th syllable or earlier. Count after 6th syllable or later: Epistle I, 23% per cent; "heightened" passages, 36 per cent. 79 THE. ESSAYS As in An Essay on Criticism, Pope uses caesura,[' enjambment, and polysyllables well, and rime, including feminine rime,'K-both well (though not nearly so often for satire) and badly, committing more bad rimes than in any other major poem. And as in An Essay on Criticism, he passes over numerous opportunities for representa- tion, for example the "lamb" and "poor Indian" passages in Epistle I, and the piling on of mountains in Epistle IV. The tone of the poem is much more formal than that of the earlier Essay. There is considerably more inversion; few lines are colloquial in tone; and several heightened passages are of great intensity. Accordingly, caesuras appear later in the line somewhat more frequently, and in the heightened passages much more fre- quently."' Accordingly, too, the quality of vowels and consonants is darker. The poem often flows powerfully through a long series of open couplets. And the tone is varied more widely than in An Essay on Criticism. The "poor Indian" passage, for instance, is quiet with a regular, light beat, while the passage ending with the following lines has an increasing loudness, heaviness of beat, and swiftness of movement that is almost dizzying: Let ruling Angels from their spheres be hurl'd, Being on being wreck'd, and world on world, Heav'n's whole foundations to their centre nod, And Nature tremble to the throne of God. (I, 253-256) Such passages have a power equalled nowhere else in Pope except in The Dunciad, an emotional depth which only the close of The Dunciad can match. Pope also composes in An Essay on Man-as occasionally in An Essay on Criticism but much more frequently in his later career- many neat, accurate, "right" lines which illustrate no one skill but have that quality of inevitability which marks the fine artist and is "beyond the reach of art" to analyze: 18. E.g.: Created half to rise,/and half to fall, (II, 15) And turn'd on Man a fiercer savage,/Man. (III, 168) 19. Including one of the best and best-known in Pope: What can ennoble sots, or slaves, or cowards? Alas[ not all the blood of all the Howards. (IV, 215-216) Bad feminine rimes occur at IV, 203-204, and IV, 277-278. - 20. My reading of E. on M., Epistle I, shows 43 per cent of the caesuras to come after the 4th syllable or earlier, whereas in six of the "heightened" pas- sages in the poem (I, 85-90, 113-130, 247-258, 267-280, 289-294, and II, 3-18), only 26 per cent after the 4th syllable or earlier. Count after 6th syllable or later: Epistle I, 231 per cent; "heightened" passages, 36 per cent. 79 THE. ESSAYS As in An Essay on Criticism, Pope uses caesura," enjambment, and polysyllables well, and rime, including feminine rime,"- both well (though not nearly so often for satire) and badly, committing more bad rimes than in any other major poem. And as in An Essay on Criticism, he passes over numerous opportunities for representa- tion, for example the "lamb" and "poor Indian" passages in Epistle I, and the piling on of mountains in Epistle IV. The tone of the poem is much more formal than that of the earlier Essay. There is considerably more inversion; few lines are colloquial in tone; and several heightened passages are of great intensity. Accordingly, caesuras appear later in the line somewhat more frequently, and in the heightened passages much more fre- quently.'t Accordingly, too, the quality of vowels and consonants is darker. The poem often flows powerfully through a long series of open couplets. And the tone is varied more widely than in An Essay on Criticism. The "poor Indian" passage, for instance, is quiet with a regular, light beat, while the passage ending with the following lines has an increasing loudness, heaviness of beat, and swiftness of movement that is almost dizzying: Let ruling Angels from their spheres be hurl'd, Being on being wreck'd, and world on world, Heav'n's whole foundations to their centre nod, And Nature tremble to the throne of God. (I, 253-256) Such passages have a power equalled nowhere else in Pope except in The Dunciad, an emotional depth which only the close of The Dunciad can match. Pope also composes in An Essay on Man-as occasionally in An Essay on Criticism but much more frequently in his later career- many neat, accurate, "right" lines which illustrate no one skill but have that quality of inevitability which marks the fine artist and is "beyond the reach of art" to analyze: 18. E.g.: Created half to rise,/and half to fall, (II, 15) And turn'd on Man a fiercer savage,/Man. (III, 168) 19. Including one of the best and best-known in Pope: What can ennoble sots, or slaves, or cowards? Alasl not all the blood of all the Howards. (IV, 215-216) Bad feminine rimes occur at IV, 203-204, and IV, 277-278. - 20. My reading of E. on M., Epistle I, shows 43 per cent of the caesuras to come after the 4th syllable or earlier, whereas in six of the "heightened" pas- sages in the poem (I, 85-90, 113-130, 247-258, 267-280, 289-294, and It 3-18), only 26 per cent after the 4th syllable or earlier. Count after 6th syllable or later: Epistle I, 23% per cent; "heightened" passages, 36 per cent. 79  THE REACH OF ART And Passions are the elements of Life, (I, 170) To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot, (II, 64) To welcome death, and calmly pass away, (II, 260) Entangle Justice in her net of Law, (III, 192) Because he wants a thousand pounds a year. (IV, 192) These are in addition to the many aphorisms which have become a part of the language. In summary then, An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man are similar in their use of condensation, balance, and comparison, in infrequency of sound patterning and representation, and in various aspects of meter. But, while both are in the middle style, the materials are quite different. And hence it is not surprising, on the basis of Pope's often-voiced creed that style must match subject matter not only from poem to poem but within a poem, that the comparisons in the two Essays are different comparisons and the balance a different balance; and moreover that the one poem is often colloquial in its diction, simple in its rhetoric, cool, witty, light in tone color, lacking in flow, while the other is usually dignified in its diction, often complex in its rhetoric, frequently sonorous, occasionally impassioned, with long, open verse-para- graphs of almost Miltonic flow. The purpose was didactic in both, but the materials were dissimilar; nor would Pope have been the man to forget that, while Horace is the progenitor of An Essay on Criticism, he is only the co-progenitor, with Lucretius, of An Essay on Man." II In technique and tone, Pope's Moral Essays"2 represent a tran- sition from An Essay on Man to the Horatian satires and epistles. 21. See Reuben A. Brower, Alexander Pope: the Poetry of Allusion (Ox- ford, The Clarendon Press, 1959), pp. 207, 216-217. 22. Tw. (III, ii, xxxvi-xxxvii) offers cogent reasons why the alternate title for these poems, Epistles to Several Persons, is better. I call them Moral Essays purely for reasons of convenience: to connect them with An Essay on Man, with which the same passage in Tw. says they are to be associated, and to differenti- ate them from the imitations of Horatian satires and epistles. Tw. also points out quite properly that the Moral Essays resemble Horatian epistles; but they do not resemble Horatian epistles as closely as the Epistle to Arbuthnot and the Epilogue to the Satires do; and even the second Moral Essay, which most nearly resembles Arbuthnot, the Epilogue, and the Horatian imitations, is like the other Moral Essays in dealing with the ruling passions (as the major Horatian poems do not), is less Horatian in its subject matter generally than 80 THE REACH OF ART And Passions are the elements of Life, (I, 170) To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot, (II, 64) To welcome death, and calmly pass away, (II, 260) Entangle Justice in her net of Law, (III, 192) Because he wants a thousand pounds a year. (IV, 192) These are in addition to the many aphorisms which have become a part of the language. In summary then, An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man are similar in their use of condensation, balance, and comparison, in infrequency of sound patterning and representation, and in various aspects of meter. But, while both are in the middle style, the materials are quite different. And hence it is not surprising, on the basis of Pope's often-voiced creed that style must match subject matter not only from poem to poem but within a poem, that the comparisons in the two Essays are different comparisons and the balance a different balance; and moreover that the one poem is often colloquial in its diction, simple in its rhetoric, cool, witty, light in tone color, lacking in flow, while the other is usually dignified in its diction, often complex in its rhetoric, frequently sonorous, occasionally impassioned, with long, open verse-para- graphs of almost Miltonic flow. The purpose was didactic in both, but the materials were dissimilar; nor would Pope have been the man to forget that, while Horace is the progenitor of An Essay on Criticism, he is only the co-progenitor, with Lucretius, of An Essay on Man st II In technique and tone, Pope's Moral Essaysa represent a tran- sition from An Essay on Man to the Horatian satires and epistles. 21. See Reuben A. Brower, Alexander Pope: the Poetry of Allusion (Ox- ford, The Clarendon Press, 1959), pp. 207, 216-217. 22. Tw. (III, ii, xxxvi-xxxvii) offers cogent reasons why the alternate title for these poems, Epistles to Several Persons, is better. I call them Moral Essays purely for reasons of convenience: to connect them with An Essay on Man, with which the same passage in Tw. says they are to be associated, and to differenti- ate them from the imitations of Horatian satires and epistles. Tw. also points out quite properly that the Moral Essays resemble Horatian epistles; but they do not resemble Horatian epistles as closely as the Epistle to Arbuthnot and the Epilogue to the Satires do; and even the second Moral Essay, which most nearly resembles Arbuthnot, the Epilogue, and the Horatian imitations, is like the other Moral Essays in dealing with the ruling passions (as the major Horatian poems do not), is less Horatian in its subject matter generally than 80 THE REACH OF ART And Passions are the elements of Life, (I, 170) To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot, (II, 64) To welcome death, and calmly pass away, (II, 260) Entangle Justice in her net of Law, (III, 192) Because he wants a thousand pounds a year. (IV, 192) These are in addition to the many aphorisms which have become a part of the language. In summary then, An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man are similar in their use of condensation, balance, and comparison, in infrequency of sound patterning and representation, and in various aspects of meter. But, while both are in the middle style, the materials are quite different. And hence it is not surprising, on the basis of Pope's often-voiced creed that style must match subject matter not only from poem to poem but within a poem, that the comparisons in the two Essays are different comparisons and the balance a different balance; and moreover that the one poem is often colloquial in its diction, simple in its rhetoric, cool, witty, light in tone color, lacking in flow, while the other is usually dignified in its diction, often complex in its rhetoric, frequently sonorous, occasionally impassioned, with long, open verse-para- graphs of almost Miltonic flow. The purpose was didactic in both, but the materials were dissimilar; nor would Pope have been the man to forget that, while Horace is the progenitor of An Essay on Criticism, he is only the co-progenitor, with Lucretius, of An Essay on Man? II In technique and tone, Pope's Moral Essays" represent a tran- sition from An Essay on Man to the Horatian satires and epistles. 21. See Reuben A. Brower, Alexander Pope: the Poetry of Allusion (Ox- ford, The Clarendon Press, 1959), pp. 207, 216-217. 22. Tw. (III, ii, xxxvi-xxxvii) offers cogent reasons why the alternate title for these poems, Epistles to Several Persons, is better. I call them Moral Essays purely for reasons of convenience: to connect them with An Essay on Man, with which the same passage in Tw. says they are to be associated, and to differenti- ate them from the imitations of Horatian satires and epistles. Tw. also points out quite properly that the Moral Essays resemble Horatian epistles; but they do not resemble Horatian epistles as closely as the Epistle to Arbuthnot and the Epilogue to the Satires do; and even the second Moral Essay, which most nearly resembles Arbuthnot, the Epilogue, and the Horatian imitations, is like the other Moral Essays in dealing with the ruling passions (as the major Horatian poems do not), is less Horatian in its subject matter generally than 80  THE ESSAYS The third Essay, that to Bathurst, with its serious tone and many questions, resembles An Essay on Man most nearly. The portraits and stories, its most memorable feature, do not much resemble the portraits in the other Moral Essays, being long and grave with the late caesuras for heightened passages,"5 and the flow, and at least something of the complex balance and the formality of An Essay on Man; and even the uncomplimentary portraits do not have the concentration and the representative ugliness of many in the other Essays and in the Horatian satires. But the third Moral Essay opens as colloquially and casually as any of the satires: Who shall decide, when Doctors disagree, And soundest Casuists doubt, like you and me? (1-2) Like An Essay on Man, it has very little representative meter; but it has the rather frequent alliteration on balanced parts which is typical of Pope in general but relatively infrequent in An Essay on Man: Statesman and Patriot ply alike the stocks, Peeress and Butler share alike the Box, And Judges job, and Bishops bite the town. (141-143) As in An Essay on Man, Pope uses very unusual anaphora: Cutler saw tenants break, and houses fall, For very want; he could not build a wall. His only daughter in a stranger's power, For very want; he could not pay a dow'r. (323-326) But in spite of a casual power of line and phrase, the tone is quieter than An Essay on Man's, and the serious passages become neither overwrought on the one hand nor sublime on the other. the Horatian group, and is unlike the Horatian group in certain technical aspects, having, for example, far fewer monosyllables and verbs than the four major Horatian poems, and resembling them, where it does, where they are less typical and more formal (the Epistle to Augustus and the Epilogue) rather than the reverse (Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book), Also Moral Essays, I and II, are almost identical in their caesural pattern. At any rate, this study demonstrates that the Moral Essays are transitional prosodically between An Essay on Man and the Horatian group. (Chronologically, the pat. tern is, of course, far from neat: see the chronology in Tw., and the discussion in Sherburn, Best of Pope, pp. 420 ff.) 23. The story of Sir Balaam has 24 per cent sixth-place caesuras. In contrast, even the heightened passage of the first Moral Essay, 174-209, has only 6 per cent.8 81 THE ESSAYS The third Essay, that to Bathurst, with its serious tone and many questions, resembles An Essay on Man most nearly. The portraits and stories, its most memorable feature, do not much resemble the portraits in the other Moral Essays, being long and grave with the late caesuras for heightened passages," and the flow, and at least something of the complex balance and the formality of An Essay on Man; and even the uncomplimentary portraits do not have the concentration and the representative ugliness of many in the other Essays and in the Horatian satires. But the third Moral Essay opens as colloquially and casually as any of the satires: Who shall decide, when Doctors disagree, And soundest Casuists doubt, like you and me? (1-2) Like An Essay on Man, it has very little representative meter; but it has the rather frequent alliteration on balanced parts which is typical of Pope in general but relatively infrequent in An Essay on Man: Statesman and Patriot ply alike the stocks, Peeress and Butler share alike the Box, And Judges job, and Bishops bite the town. (141-143) As in An Essay on Man, Pope uses very unusual anaphora: Cutler saw tenants break, and houses fall, For very want; he could not build a wall. His only daughter in a stranger's power, For very want; he could not pay a dow'r. (323-326) But in spite of a casual power of line and phrase, the tone is quieter than An Essay on Man's, and the serious passages become neither overwrought on the one hand nor sublime on the other. the Horatian group, and is unlike the Horatian group in certain technical aspects, having, for example, far fewer monosyllables and verbs than the four major Horatian poems, and resembling them, where it does, where they are less typical and more formal (the Epistle to Augustus and the Epilogue) rather than the reverse (Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book), Also Moral Essays, I and II, are almost identical in their caesural pattern. At any rate, this study demonstrates that the Moral Essays are transitional prosodically between An Essay on Man and the Horatian group. (Chronologically, the pat- tern is, of course, far from neat: see the chronology in Tw., and the discussion in Sherburn, Best of Pope, pp. 420 ff.) 23. The story of Sir Balaam has 24 per cent sixth-place caesuras. In contrast, even the heightened passage of the first Moral Essay, 174-209, has only 6 per cent.8 81 The third Essay, that to Bathurst, with its serious tone and many questions, resembles An Essay on Man most nearly. The portraits and stories, its most memorable feature, do not much resemble the portraits in the other Moral Essays, being long and grave with the late caesuras for heightened passages, and the flow, and at least something of the complex balance and the formality of An Essay on Man; and even the uncomplimentary portraits do not have the concentration and the representative ugliness of many in the other Essays and in the Horatian satires. But the third Moral Essay opens as colloquially and casually as any of the satires: Who shall decide, when Doctors disagree, And soundest Casuists doubt, like you and me? (1-2) Like An Essay on Man, it has very little representative meter; but it has the rather frequent alliteration on balanced parts which is typical of Pope in general but relatively infrequent in An Essay on Man: Statesman and Patriot ply alike the stocks, Peeress and Butler share alike the Box, And Judges job, and Bishops bite the town. (141-143) As in An Essay on Man, Pope uses very unusual anaphora: Cutler saw tenants break, and houses fall, For very want; he could not build a wall. His only daughter in a stranger's power, For very want; he could not pay a dow'r. (323-326) But in spite of a casual power of line and phrase, the tone is quieter than An Essay on Man's, and the serious passages become neither overwrought on the one hand nor sublime on the other. the Horatian group, and is unlike the Horatian group in certain technical aspects, having, for example, far fewer monosyllables and verbs than the four major Horatian poems, and resembling them, where it does, where they are less typical and more formal (the Epistle to Augustus and the Epilogue) rather than the reverse (Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book), Also Moral Essays, I and It, are almost identical in their aesural pattern. At any rate, this study demonstrates that the Moral Essays are transitional prosodically between An Essay on Man and the Horatian group. (Chronologically, the pat- tern is, of course, far from neat: see the chronology in Tw., and the discussion in Sherburn, Best of Pope, pp. 420 ff.) 23. The story of Sir Balaam has 24 per cent sixth-place caesuras. In contrast, even the heightened passage of the first Moral Essay, 174-209, has only 6 per cent. 81  THE REACH OF ART Nevertheless, quieter, less formal, less complex though it is, the third Moral Essay is the closest to An Essay on Man of any poem in the group. Next must be placed the fourth Moral Essay, that to Burlington. It moves toward the satires in being more personal, and hence more colloquial. It is more mocking in its satire than the third, and has indeed more satire; and-like An Essay on Criticism in that and in this-it has fewer fine passages than An Essay on Man, but a good many fine lines: Think we all these are for himself? no more Than his fine Wife, alas! or finer Whore, (11-12) Blushing in bright diversities of day. (84) It has somewhat more representative meter than the third, but on the other hand not as much alliteration or assonance. It has fewer questions, little pathos or intensity, but on the other hand it has no portraits. It is closer to the satires, then, in general tone, but not much closer in detail. The first Moral Essay, that to Cobham, moves considerably fur- ther toward the satires, even though in subject matter it is of the four most like An Essay on Man. Excepting the Sir Balaam story in the third Essay, the first displays a more brilliant versification than either the third or the fourth. It has a passage of considerable intensity in the lines beginning Search then the Ruling Passion: There, alone, The Wild are constant, and the Cunning known. (174-175) But the intensity and the anger recall An Essay on Man less than they anticipate the Epilogue to the Satires, with its Hear her black Trumpet thro' the Land proclaim, That "Not to be corrupted is the Shame." (I, 159-160) The first Essay has many questions, but they are calmer than An Essay on Man's, more varied, and more artful: Is he a Churchman? then he's fond of pow'r: A Quaker? sly: A Presbyterian? sow'r: A smart Free-thinker? all things in an hour. (107-109) It has, like the third Essay (and also the second), a casual begin- ning; and its general tone is quieter, more of discussion than lec- ture, with a lighter quality of sound. It is notably condensed- its stories are even more amazingly compact than those in An Essay 82 THE REACH OF ART Nevertheless, quieter, less formal, less complex though it is, the third Moral Essay is the closest to An Essay on Man of any poem in the group. Next must be placed the fourth Moral Essay, that to Burlington. It moves toward the satires in being more personal, and hence more colloquial. It is more mocking in its satire than the third, and has indeed more satire; and-like An Essay on Criticism in that and in this-it has fewer fine passages than An Essay on Man, but a good many fine lines: Think we all these are for himself? no more Than his fine Wife, alas! or finer Whore, (11-12) Blushing in bright diversities of day. (84) It has somewhat more representative meter than the third, but on the other hand not as much alliteration or assonance. It has fewer questions, little pathos or intensity, but on the other hand it has no portraits. It is closer to the satires, then, in general tone, but not much closer in detail. The first Moral Essay, that to Cobham, moves considerably fur- ther toward the satires, even though in subject matter it is of the four most like An Essay on Man. Excepting the Sir Balaam story in the third Essay, the first displays a more brilliant versification than either the third or the fourth. It has a passage of considerable intensity in the lines beginning Search then the Ruling Passion: There, alone, The Wild are constant, and the Cunning known. (174-175) But the intensity and the anger recall An Essay on Man less than they anticipate the Epilogue to the Satires, with its Hear her black Trumpet thro' the Land proclaim, That "Not to he corrupted is the Shame." (I, 159-160) The first Essay has many questions, but they are calmer than An Essay on Man's, more varied, and more artful: Is he a Churchman? then he's fond of pow'r: A Quaker? sly: A Presbyterian? sow'r: A smart Free-thinker? all things in an hour. (107-109) It has, like the third Essay (and also the second), a casual begin- ning; and its general tone is quieter, more of discussion than lec- ture, with a lighter quality of sound. It is notably condensed- its stories are even more amazingly compact than those in An Essay 82 THE REACH OF ART Nevertheless, quieter, less formal, less complex though it is, the third Moral Essay is the closest to An Essay on Man of any poem in the group. Next must be placed the fourth Moral Essay, that to Burlington. It moves toward the satires in being more personal, and hence more colloquial. It is more mocking in its satire than the third, and has indeed more satire; and-like An Essay on Criticism in that and in this-it has fewer fine passages than An Essay on Man, but a good many fine lines: Think we all these are for himself? no more Than his fine Wife, alas! or finer Whore, (11-12) Blushing in bright diversities of day. (84) It has somewhat more representative meter than the third, but on the other hand not as much alliteration or assonance. It has fewer questions, little pathos or intensity, but on the other hand it has no portraits. It is closer to the satires, then, in general tone, but not much closer in detail. The first Moral Essay, that to Cobham, moves considerably fur- ther toward the satires, even though in subject matter it is of the four most like An Essay on Man. Excepting the Sir Balaam story in the third Essay, the first displays a more brilliant versification than either the third or the fourth. It has a passage of considerable intensity in the lines beginning Search then the Ruling Passion: There, alone, The Wild are constant, and the Cunning known. (174-175) But the intensity and the anger recall An Essay on Man less than they anticipate the Epilogue to the Satires, with its Hear her black Trumpet thro' the Land proclaim, That "Not to be corrupted is the Shame." (I, 159-160) The first Essay has many questions, but they are calmer than An Essay on Man's, more varied, and more artful: Is he a Churchman? then he's fond of pow'r: A Quaker? sly: A Presbyterian? sow'r: A smart Free-thinker? all things in an hour. (107-109) It has, like the third Essay (and also the second), a casual begin- ning; and its general tone is quieter, more of discussion than lec- ture, with a lighter quality of sound. It is notably condensed- its stories are even more amazingly compact than those in An Essay 82  THE ESSAYS on Criticism; and it combines the examples of An Essay on Man with comparisons reminiscent of An Essay on Criticism: Nature well known, no prodigies remain, Comets are regular, and Wharton plain, (208-209) and of An Essay on Man: Tho' the same Sun with all-diffusive rays Blush in the Rose, and in the Diamond blaze, We prize the stronger effort of his pow'r, And justly set the Gem above the Flow'r. (97-100) Being largely made up of brief portraits and examples of ruling passions, it has little of An Essay on Man's openness of couplet series. Alliteration, assonance, and repetition of sounds in general rise considerably above any of the poems so far examined in this chapter: The coxcomb bird, so talkative and grave, That from his cage cries Cuckold, Whore, and Knave, (5-6) Perhaps Prosperity becalm'd his breast, (63) When universal homage Umbra pays, All see 'tis Vice, and itch of vulgar praise. (118-119) Alliteration of adjective and substantive notably reappears; for example, varying vein (16); flat Falshood (126); perjur'd Prince (148); charming Chintz (244). There are several instances of special representation: (sneaks: sn,n,, k) Will sneaks a Scriv'ner, an exceeding knave, (106) (hates, Shylock: h, t, sh (ch),i, 1, o, k) And ev'ry child hates Shylock, tho' his soul Still sits at squat, and peeps not from its hole. (114-115) But other representative meter is still infrequent, and there is little or no ornamental patterning. Rime is used excellently for satire; and the closing series of portraits, with the directly quoted speech of the satirized, are as colloquial as anything in Pope. Yet, besides the questions, the examples, and the one passage of some intensity, other reminders of An Essay on Man still remain. Balance breaks across line and couplet: Who would not praise Patritio's high desert, His hand unstain'd, his uncorrupted heart, 83 THE ESSAYS on Criticism; and it combines the examples of An Essay on Man with comparisons reminiscent of An Essay on Criticism: Nature well known, no prodigies remain, Comets are regular, and Wharton plain, (208-209) and of An Essay on Man: Tho' the same Sun with all-diffusive rays Blush in the Rose, and in the Diamond blaze, We prize the stronger effort of his pow'r, And justly set the Gem above the Flow'r. (97.100) Being largely made up of brief portraits and examples of ruling passions, it has little of An Essay on Man's openness of couplet series. Alliteration, assonance, and repetition of sounds in general rise considerably above any of the poems so far examined in this chapter: The coxcomb bird, so talkative and grave, That from his cage cries Cuckold, Whore, and Knave, (5-6) Perhaps Prosperity becalm'd his breast, (63) When universal homage Umbra pays, All see 'tis Vice, and itch of vulgar praise. (118-119) Alliteration of adjective and substantive notably reappears; for example, varying vein (16); flat Falshood (126); perjur'd Prince (148); charming Chintz (244). There are several instances of special representation: (sneaks: s, n, e, k) Will sneaks a Scriv'ner, an exceeding knave, (106) (hates, Shylock: h, t, sh (ch),7, 1, s, k) And ev'ry child hates Shylock, tho' his soul Still sits at squat, and peeps not from its hole. (114-115) But other representative meter is still infrequent, and there is little or no ornamental patterning. Rime is used excellently for satire; and the closing series of portraits, with the directly quoted speech of the satirized, are as colloquial as anything in Pope. Yet, besides the questions, the examples, and the one passage of some intensity, other reminders of An Essay on Man still remain. Balance breaks across line and couplet: Who would not praise Patritio's high desert, His hand unstain'd, his uncorrupted heart, 83 THE ESSAYS on Criticism; and it combines the examples of An Essay on Man with comparisons reminiscent of An Essay on Criticism: Nature well known, no prodigies remain, Comets are regular, and Wharton plain, (208-209) and of An Essay on Man: Tho' the same Sun with all-diffusive rays Blush in the Rose, and in the Diamond blaze, We prize the stronger effort of his pow'r, And justly set the Gem above the Flow'r. (97-100) Being largely made up of brief portraits and examples of ruling passions, it has little of An Essay on Man's openness of couplet series. Alliteration, assonance, and repetition of sounds in general rise considerably above any of the poems so far examined in this chapter: The coxcomb bird, so talkative and grave, That from his cage cries Cuckold, Whore, and Knave, (5-6) Perhaps Prosperity becalm'd his breast, (63) When universal homage Umbra pays, All see 'tis Vice, and itch of vulgar praise. (118-119) Alliteration of adjective and substantive notably reappears; for example, varying vein (16); flat Falshood (126); perjur'd Prince (148); charming Chintz (244). There are several instances of special representation: (sneaks: s, n,7, k) Will sneaks a Scriv'ner, an exceeding knave, (106) (hates, Shylock: h, t, sh (ch),7, 1, o, k) And ev'ry child hates Shylock, tho' his soul Still sits at squat, and peeps not from its hole. (114-115) But other representative meter is still infrequent, and there is little or no ornamental patterning. Rime is used excellently for satire; and the closing series of portraits, with the directly quoted speech of the satirized, are as colloquial as anything in Pope. Yet, besides the questions, the examples, and the one passage of some intensity, other reminders of An Essay on Man still remain. Balance breaks across line and couplet: Who would not praise Patritio's high desert, His hand unstain'd, his uncorrupted heart, 83  THE REACH OF ART His comprehensive head! (140-142) Wise, if a Minister; but, if a King, More wise. (91-92) Unusual anaphora and polyptoton appear: Who does a kindness, is not therefore kind .... Who combats bravely is not therefore brave .... Who reasons wisely is not therefore wise, (62, 67, 69) Ask why from Britain Caesar would retreat? Caesar himself might whisper he was beat. Why risk the world's great empire for a Punk? Caesar perhaps might answer he was drunk, (81-84) And most contemptible, to shun contempt. (195) And, as in all the Moral Essays, Pope creates lines of casual power: A bird of passagel gone as soon as found, (156) And wanting nothing but an honest heart. (193) The second Moral Essay is of the four the most mockingly sa- tirical, the most colloquial, the least of all like An Essay on Man, of which almost nothing is left. The second Moral Essay is a sort of Rape of the Lock, with malice and informality put in and story and epic machinery left out. It is light-weight, it is alliterative, it is quick, it has the most brilliant rimes (including feminines) and polysyllables, the most wittily malicious representative meter. Some passages might have been lifted straight out of The Rape of the Lock; for example, the deliberate oversweetness of Or drest in smiles of sweet Cecilia shine, With simp'ring Angels, Palms, and Harps divine; (13-14) the light vowels, delicate pauses, and breathless parentheses of Come then, the colours and the ground prepare! Dip in the Rainbow, trick her off in Air, Chose a firm Cloud, before it fall, and in it Catch, ere she change, the Cynthia of this minute; (17-20) the prominently placed insignificant simile and the casual allitera- tion of Ladies, like variegated Tulips, show, 'Tis to their Changes half their charms we owe; (41-42) and the bathos, resulting from the overexact meter, the alliteration, the trisyllables, the repetition, applied to an inadequate cause, of THE REACH OF ART His comprehensive head! (140-142) Wise, if a Minister; but, if a King, More wise. (91-92) Unusual anaphora and polyptoton appear: Who does a kindness, is not therefore kind .... Who combats bravely is not therefore brave . . . . Who reasons wisely is not therefore wise, (62, 67, 69) Ask why from Britain Caesar would retreat? Caesar himself might whisper he was beat. Why risk the world's great empire for a Punk? Caesar perhaps might answer he was drunk, (81-84) And most contemptible, to shun contempt. (195) And, as in all the Moral Essays, Pope creates lines of casual power: A bird of passage! gone as soon as found, (156) And wanting nothing but an honest heart. (193) The second Moral Essay is of the four the most mockingly sa- tirical, the most colloquial, the least of all like An Essay on Man, of which almost nothing is left. The second Moral Essay is a sort of Rape of the Lock, with malice and informality put in and story and epic machinery left out. It is light-weight, it is alliterative, it is quick, it has the most brilliant rimes (including feminines) and polysyllables, the most wittily malicious representative meter. Some passages might have been lifted straight out of The Rape of the Lock; for example, the deliberate oversweetness of Or drest in smiles of sweet Cecilia shine, With simp'ring Angels, Palms, and Harps divine; (13-14) the light vowels, delicate pauses, and breathless parentheses of Come then, the colours and the ground prepare! Dip in the Rainbow, trick her off in Air, Chase a firm Cloud, before it fall, and in it Catch, ere she change, the Cynthia of this minute; (17-20) the prominently placed insignificant simile and the casual allitera- tion of Ladies, like variegated Tulips, show, 'Tis to their Changes half their charms we owe; (41-42) and the bathos, resulting from the overexact meter, the alliteration, the trisyllables, the repetition, applied to an inadequate cause, of THE REACH OF ART His comprehensive head! (140-142) Wise, if a Minister; but, if a King, More wise. (91-92) Unusual anaphora and polyptoton appear: Who does a kindness, is not therefore kind .... Who combats bravely is not therefore brave . . . . Who reasons wisely is not therefore wise, (62, 67, 69) Ask why from Britain Caesar would retreat? Caesar himself might whisper he was beat. Why risk the world's great empire for a Punk? Caesar perhaps might answer he was drunk, (81-84) And most contemptible, to shun contempt. (195) And, as in all the Moral Essays, Pope creates lines of casual power: A bird of passage! gone as soon as found, (156) And wanting nothing but an honest heart. (193) The second Moral Essay is of the four the most mockingly sa- tirical, the most colloquial, the least of all like An Essay on Man, of which almost nothing is left. The second Moral Essay is a sort of Rape of the Lock, with malice and informality put in and story and epic machinery left out. It is light-weight, it is alliterative, it is quick, it has the most brilliant rimes (including feminines) and polysyllables, the most wittily malicious representative meter. Some passages might have been lifted straight out of The Rape of the Lock; for example, the deliberate oversweetness of Or drest in smiles of sweet Cecilia shine, With simp'ring Angels, Palms, and Harps divine; (13-14) the light vowels, delicate pauses, and breathless parentheses of Come then, the colours and the ground prepare! Dip in the Rainbow, trick her off in Air, Chuse a firm Cloud, before it fall, and in it Catch, ere she change, the Cynthia of this minute; (17-20) the prominently placed insignificant simile and the casual allitera- tion of Ladies, like variegated Tulips, show, 'Tis to their Changes half their charms we owe; (41-42) and the bathos, resulting from the overexact meter, the alliteration, the trisyllables, the repetition, applied to an inadequate cause, of 84 84 84  A Park is purchas'd, but the Fair he sees All bath'd in tears-"Oh odious, odious Trees!" (39-40) But other brilliances are of another kind. The Rape of the Lock was never so deliciously colloquial as Whether the Charmer sinner it, or saint it, If Folly grows romantic, I must paint it. (15-16)" It had not quite the same careless-seeming yet perfect use of the polysyllable as in Let then the Fair one beautifully cry, (I1) So these their merry, miserable Night. (240) It had not the purposeful ugliness (as in the late satires) of As Sappho's diamonds with her dirty smock, Or Sappho at her toilet's greazy task, With Sappho fragrant at an evening Mask: So morning Insects that in muck begun, Shine, buzz, and fly-blow in the setting-sun. (24-28) It had not the combination of light regular meter, perfect rime, and utterly repugnant idea which makes the following couplet so memorable-and so reminiscent of Swift: Narcissa's nature, tolerably mild, To make a wash, would hardly stew a child. (53-54) The longer central portraits-Flavia, Atossa, Chloe, and so on- are very like the portraits in the Epistle to Arbuthnot. And the close of the poem, with its praise of Martha Blount, turns, as so often in Pope, personal and quiet, though this time never quite losing a certain mockery-it might almost be called whimsy-which appears not only in the words, but also in the caesuras, the balance, the rime. The poem is the most distinctive of the Moral Essays. Women, says Pope, are light-weight and given dazzlingly to change. The versification is likewise. Except perhaps in the portraits of Philo- mede and Atossa, one never forgets that the poem represents con- versation not only about women, but with a woman. One would be hard put to it to match it for light, knowing, scintillating, con- centrated gossip. 24. Which is, so to speak, the feminine gender of "Fools rush into my head, and so I write" (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 14). 85 THE ESSAYS A Park is purchas'd, but the Fair he sees All bath'd in tears-"Oh odious, odious Trees!" (39-40) But other brilliances are of another kind. The Rape of the Lock was never so deliciously colloquial as Whether the Charmer sinner it, or saint it, If Folly grows romantic, I must paint it. (15-16)" It had not quite the same careless-seeming yet perfect use of the polysyllable as in Let then the Fair one beautifully cry, (11) So these their merry, miserable Night. (240) It had not the purposeful ugliness (as in the late satires) of As Sappho's diamonds with her dirty smock, Or Sappho at her toilet's greazy task, With Sappho fragrant at an evening Mask: So morning Insects that in muck begun, Shine, buzz, and fly-blow in the setting-sun. (24-28) It had not the combination of light regular meter, perfect rime, and utterly repugnant idea which makes the following couplet so memorable-and so reminiscent of Swift: Narcissa's nature, tolerably mild, To make a wash, would hardly stew a child. (53-54) The longer central portraits-Flavia, Atossa, Chloe, and so an- are very like the portraits in the Epistle to Arbuthnot. And the close of the poem, with its praise of Martha Blount, turns, as so often in Pope, personal and quiet, though this time never quite losing a certain mockery-it might almost be called whimsy-which appears not only in the words, but also in the caesuras, the balance, the rime. The poem is the most distinctive of the Moral Essays. Women, says Pope, are light-weight and given dazzlingly to change. The versification is likewise. Except perhaps in the portraits of Philo- mede and Atossa, one never forgets that the poem represents con- versation not only about women, but with a woman. One would be hard put to it to match it for light, knowing, scintillating, con- centrated gossip. 24. Which is, so to speak, the feminine gender of "Fools rush into my head, and so I write" (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 14). 85 THE ESSAYS A Park is purchas'd, but the Fair he sees All bath'd in tears-"Oh odious, odious Trees!" (39-40) But other brilliances are of another kind. The Rape of the Lock was never so deliciously colloquial as Whether the Charmer sinner it, or saint it, If Folly grows romantic, I must paint it. (15-16)24 It had not quite the same careless-seeming yet perfect use of the polysyllable as in Let then the Fair one beautifully cry, (11) So these their merry, miserable Night. (240) It had not the purposeful ugliness (as in the late satires) of As Sappho's diamonds with her dirty smock, Or Sappho at her toilet's greazy task, With Sappho fragrant at an evening Mask: So morning Insects that in muck begun, Shine, buzz, and fly-blow in the setting-sun. (24-28) It had not the combination of light regular meter, perfect rime, and utterly repugnant idea which makes the following couplet so memorable-and so reminiscent of Swift: Narcissa's nature, tolerably mild, To make a wash, would hardly stew a child. (53-54) The longer central portraits-Flavia, Atossa, Chloe, and so on- are very like the portraits in the Epistle to Arbuthnot. And the close of the poem, with its praise of Martha Blount, turns, as so often in Pope, personal and quiet, though this time never quite losing a certain mockery-it might almost be called whimsy-which appears not only in the words, but also in the caesuras, the balance, the rime. The poem is the most distinctive of the Moral Essays. Women, says Pope, are light-weight and given dazzlingly to change. The versification is likewise. Except perhaps in the portraits of Philo- med6 and Atossa, one never forgets that the poem represents con- versation not only about women, but with a woman. One would be hard put to it to match it for light, knowing, scintillating, con- centrated gossip. 24. Which is, so to speak, the feminine gender of "Fools rush into my head, and so I write" (First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, 14). 85  4. LATE AND SATIRICAL Pope's greatest achievement in versification is very likely the combination of a concentrated brilliance of statement and of special metrical effect, with a colloquial tone. In real life, of course, no one ever spoke so well, every word in place, every word not only mot juste but mot juste inattendu. In real life, the wittiest conversationalist often only approximates what he intended to say-and the wittiest conversationalist is not always at his wit- tiest. The artist must make dull speech interesting, and intelligent speech brilliant, or we shall not enjoy it. He must give it that Protean quality, verisimilitude, or we shall reject it, as stiff or strained, sentimental or ranting, out of character or out of style or out of place. Iambic pentameter, rimed, does not make the task easier. Yet it is in the satires and epistles that Pope's verse form most truly justifies itself. It is just possible to conceive of The Dunciad in blank verse or Eloisa to Abelard in rime royal. But the satires display such a triumphant wedding of form to mat- ter, such a complete bending of means to requirements, that that fact itself is no small part of the pleasure. My examination of Pope's Horatian satires and epistles concen- trates on the four major poems: The Epistle to Arbuthnot, the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, the Epistle to Augustus (First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace), and the Epilogue to the Satires. The others certainly have good lines: The modern language of corrupted Peers, (First Epistle of the First Book, 99) Faith I shall give the answer Reynard gave, "I cannot like, Dread Sir! your Royal Cave; "Because I see by all the Tracks about, "Full many a Beast goes in, but none comes out," (First Epistle of the First Book, 114-117) Rank as the ripeness of a Rabbit's tail, (Second Satire of the Second Book, 28) Still, still be getting, never, never rest, (Sixth Epistle of the First Book, 96) And much too wise to walk into a Well. (Second Epistle of the Second Book, 191) 4. LATE AND SATIRICAL Pope's greatest achievement in versification is very likely the combination of a concentrated brilliance of statement and of special metrical effect, with a colloquial tone. In real life, of course, no one ever spoke so well, every word in place, every word not only mot juste but mot juste inattendu. In real life, the wittiest conversationalist often only approximates what he intended to say-and the wittiest conversationalist is not always at his wit- tiest. The artist must make dull speech interesting, and intelligent speech brilliant, or we shall not enjoy it. He must give it that Protean quality, verisimilitude, or we shall reject it, as stiff or strained, sentimental or ranting, out of character or out of style or out of place. Iambic pentameter, rimed, does not make the task easier. Yet it is in the satires and epistles that Pope's verse form most truly justifies itself. It is just possible to conceive of The Dunciad in blank verse or Eloisa to Abelard in rime royal. But the satires display such a triumphant wedding of form to mat- ter, such a complete bending of means to requirements, that that fact itself is no small part of the pleasure. My examination of Pope's Horatian satires and epistles concen- trates on the four major poems: The Epistle to Arbuthnot, the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, the Epistle to Augustus (First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace), and the Epilogue to the Satires. The others certainly have good lines: The modern language of corrupted Peers, (First Epistle of the First Book, 99) Faith I shall give the answer Reynard gave, "I cannot like, Dread Sirl your Royal Cave; "Because I see by all the Tracks about, "Full many a Beast goes in, but none comes out," (First Epistle of the First Book, 114-117) Rank as the ripeness of a Rabbit's tail, (Second Satire of the Second Book, 28) Still, still be getting, never, never rest, (Sixth Epistle of the First Book, 96) And much too wise to walk into a Well. (Second Epistle of the Second Book, 191) 4. LATE AND SATIRICAL Pope's greatest achievement in versification is very likely the combination of a concentrated brilliance of statement and of special metrical effect, with a colloquial tone. In real life, of course, no one ever spoke so well, every word in place, every word not only mot juste but mot juste inattendu. In real life, the wittiest conversationalist often only approximates what he intended to say-and the wittiest conversationalist is not always at his wit- tiest. The artist must make dull speech interesting, and intelligent speech brilliant, or we shall not enjoy it. He must give it that Protean quality, verisimilitude, or we shall reject it, as stiff or strained, sentimental or ranting, out of character or out of style or out of place. Iambic pentameter, rimed, does not make the task easier. Yet it is in the satires and epistles that Pope's verse form most truly justifies itself. It is just possible to conceive of The Dunciad in blank verse or Eloisa to Abelard in rime royal. But the satires display such a triumphant wedding of form to mat- ter, such a complete bending of means to requirements, that that fact itself is no small part of the pleasure. My examination of Pope's Horatian satires and epistles concen- trates on the four major poems: The Epistle to Arbuthnot, the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, the Epistle to Augustus (First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace), and the Epilogue to the Satires. The others certainly have good lines: The modern language of corrupted Peers, (First Epistle of the First Book, 99) Faith I shall give the answer Reynard gave, "I cannot like, Dread Sir! your Royal Cave; "Because I see by all the Tracks about, "Full many a Beast goes in, but none comes out," (First Epistle of the First Book, 114-117) Rank as the ripeness of a Rabbit's tail, (Second Satire of the Second Book, 28) Still, still be getting, never, never rest, (Sixth Epistle of the First Book, 96) And much too wise to walk into a Well. (Second Epistle of the Second Book, 191) 86 86 86  LATE AND SATIRICAL One source, but by no means a complete explanation, of the con- versational quality of the Horatian poems is the frequency of mono- syllables and monosyllabic lines; and this is particularly true of Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book, the most in- formal of the four poems.' Arbuthnot especially uses monosyllabic lines with variety and skill: If Foes, they write, if Friends, they read me dead, (32) Of hairs, or straws, or dirt, or grubs, or worms, (170) Who but must laugh, if such a man there be? (213) Wit that can creep, and Pride that licks the dust. (333) Another source of the conversational tone is the normal word order.' In Arbuthnot, even such a set piece as the Sporus portrait has only five inversions in its twenty-five lines (in 11. 311, 312, 315, 317, 330),3 none violent and two quite evidently for emphasis: Yet WIT ne'er tastes, and BEAUTY ne'er enjoys, (312) Eve's Tempter thus the Rabbins have exprest. (330) And the Atticus portrait, probably the most formal part of the poem, has only two (11. 207 and 211), each tucked in almost un- noticeably amid the straightforward English idiom. Another contribution to the conversational quality is the infre- quency of polysyllables: hardly more than half a dozen in the en- tire 419 lines of Arbuthnot.4 As well as Pope knew how to use polysyllables for satire, even the Sporus portrait contains only one (And he himself one vile Antithesis, 1. 325), and three of the others are in the personal, quite unmocking last part of the poem. In Arbuthnot, Pope's increasing skill at allowing the sense to 1. Monosyllables per line: Arbuthnot, 6.37; First Satire, 6.33; Epilogue, 622; Augustus (the most formal), 5.98. The relatively informal second Moral Essay., surprisingly, has only 5.56. But contrast the Horatian poems with Windsor-Forest (5.63), Messiah (5.64), E. on C. (5.70), Dunciad (5.71). Monosyllabic lines: Arbuthnot, 8 per cent; First Satire, 6 per cent; Epilogue, 5 per cent; Augustus, 4 per cent; Dunciad, 2 per cent; E. on M., 4 per cent. Pre- 1717 poems, all below 4 per cent, except Unfortunate Lady (6 per cent) and Eloisa (8 per cent), both monologues. 2. See the long passage from the First Satire of the Second Book, quoted on p. 22, above. 3. Possibly 1. 307 should be added, but this slight abnormality could occur in conversation and sounds -conversational. 4. Arbuthnot, in 2 per cent of the lines; First Satire, 2% per cent; Augustus, 3 per cent. The figure for Epilogue, on the other hand, is high (5 per cent), equalled only by Eloisa, E. on M., and the second Moral Essay, and exceeded only by the first Moral Essay (7 per cent). 87 LATE AND SATIRICAL One source, but by no means a complete explanation, of the con- versational quality of the Horatian poems is the frequency of mono- syllables and monosyllabic lines; and this is particularly true of Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book, the most in- formal of the four poems.' Arbuthnot especially uses monosyllabic lines with variety and skill: If Foes, they write, if Friends, they read me dead, (32) Of hairs, or straws, or dirt, or grubs, or worms, (170) Who but must laugh, if such a man there be? (213) Wit that can creep, and Pride that licks the dust. (333) Another source of the conversational tone is the normal word order.' In Arbuthnot, even such a set piece as the Sporus portrait has only five inversions in its twenty-five lines (in 11. 311, 312, 315, 317, 330),' none violent and two quite evidently for emphasis: Yet WIT ne'er tastes, and BEAUTY ne'er enjoys, (312) Eve's Tempter thus the Rabbins have exprest. (330) And the Atticus portrait, probably the most formal part of the poem, has only two (11. 207 and 211), each tucked in almost un- noticeably amid the straightforward English idiom. Another contribution to the conversational quality is the infre- quency of polysyllables: hardly more than half a dozen in the en- tire 419 lines of Arbuthnot.' As well as Pope knew how to use polysyllables for satire, even the Sporus portrait contains only one (And he himself one vile Antithesis, 1. 325), and three of the others are in the personal, quite unmocking last part of the poem. In Arbuthnot, Pope's increasing skill at allowing the sense to 1. Monosyllables per line: Arbuthnot, 6.37; First Satire, 6.33; Epilogue, 622; Augustus (the most formal), 5.98. The relatively informal second Moral Essay, surprisingly, has only 5.56. But contrast the Horatian poems with Windsor-Forest (5.63), Messiah (5.64), E. on C. (5.70), Dunciad (5.71). Monosyllabic lines: Arbuthnot, 8 per cent; First Satire, 6 per cent; Epilogue, 5 per cent; Augustus, 4 per cent; Dunciad, 2 per cent; E. on M., 4 per cent. Pre- 1717 poems, all below 4 per cent, except Unfortunate Lady (6 per cent) and Eloisa (8 per cent), both monologues. 2. See the long passage from the First Satire of the Second Book, quoted on p. 22, above. 3. Possibly 1. 307 should be added, but this slight abnormality could occur in conversation and sounds conversational. 4. Arbuthnot, in 2 per cent of the lines; First Satire, 2% per cent; Augustus, 3 per cent. The figure for Epilogue, on the other hand, is high (5 per cent), equalled only by Eloisa, E. on M., and the second Moral Essay, and exceeded only by the first Moral Essay (7 per cent). 87 LATE AND SATIRICAL One source, but by no means a complete explanation, of the con- versational quality of the Horatian poems is the frequency of mono- syllables and monosyllabic lines; and this is particularly true of Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book, the most in- formal of the four poems.' Arbuthnot especially uses monosyllabic lines with variety and skill: If Foes, they write, if Friends, they read me dead, (32) Of hairs, or straws, or dirt, or grubs, or worms, (170) Who but must laugh, if such a man there be? (213) Wit that can creep, and Pride that licks the dust. (333) Another source of the conversational tone is the normal word order.' In Arbuthnot, even such a set piece as the Sporus portrait has only five inversions in its twenty-five lines (in 11. 311, 312, 315, 317, 330),3 none violent and two quite evidently for emphasis: Yet WIT ne'er tastes, and BEAUTY ne'er enjoys, (312) Eve's Tempter thus the Rabbins have exprest. (330) And the Atticus portrait, probably the most formal part of the poem, has only two (11. 207 and 211), each tucked in almost un- noticeably amid the straightforward English idiom. Another contribution to the conversational quality is the infre- quency of polysyllables: hardly more than half a dozen in the en- tire 419 lines of Arbuthnot.4 As well as Pope knew how to use polysyllables for satire, even the Sporus portrait contains only one (And he himself one vile Antithesis, 1. 325), and three of the others are in the personal, quite unmocking last part of the poem. In Arbuthnot, Pope's increasing skill at allowing the sense to 1. Monosyllables per line: Arbuthnot, 6.37; First Satire, 6.33; Epilogue, 622; Augustus (the most formal), 5.98. The relatively informal second Moral Essay, surprisingly, has only 5.56. But contrast the Horatian poems with Windsor-Forest (5.63), Messiah (5.64), E. on C. (5.70), Dunciad (5.71). Monosyllabic lines: Arbuthnot, 8 per cent; First Satire, 6 per cent; Epilogue, 5 per cent; Augustus, 4 per cent; Dunciad, 2 per cent; E. on M., 4 per cent. Pre- 1717 poems, all below 4 per cent, except Unfortunate Lady (6 per cent) and Eloisa (8 per cent), both monologues. 2. See the long passage from the First Satire of the Second Book, quoted on p. 22, above. 3. Possibly 1. 307 should be added, but this slight abnormality could occur in conversation and sounds conversational. 4. Arbuthnot, in 2 per cent of the lines; First Satire, 2% per cent; Augustus, 3 per cent. The figure for Epilogue, on the other hand, is high (5 per cent), equalled only by Eloisa, E. on M., and the second Moral Essay, and exceeded only by the first Moral Essay (7 per cent). 87  THE REACH OF ART guide the meter also adds to the colloquial effect. The following line, for example, taken by itself seems to be perfectly regular iambic pentameter except for the light third foot: All ifly to Twit'nam, and in homble strain. (21) But when the line is placed in context, the sense requires an initial trochee: Is there a Parson, much be-mus'd in Beer, A maudlin Poetess, a ryming Peer, A Clerk, foredoom'd his Father's soul to cross, Who pens a Stanza when he should engross? Is there, who lock'd from Ink and Paper, scrawls With desp'rate Charcoal round his darken'd walls? All fIy to Twit'nam, and in hmble strain Apply to me, to keep them mad or vain. (15-22) An especially colloquial phrase may affect the meter: Arthur, whose giddy Son neglects the Laws, Imputes to-me-and-my-DAMN'D WORKS the cause, (23-24) I wish'd the mon a dinner, and SATE STILL. (152) Parallelism or antithesis may also vary the emphasis: Seiz'd and ty'd down to judge, how wretched I! Who CAN'T be silent, and who WILL not lye, (33-34) A Lash like mine no HONEST man shall dread, But all such BABLING BLOCKHEADS in his stead. (303-304) The opening of Arbuthnot is itself the most colloquial of any in Pope, and throughout are lines so informal as to approach the slangy: The Creature's at his dirty work again, (92) But wonder how the Devil they got there? (172) To fetch and carry Sing-song up and down. (226) As usual in these poems the direct quotations within what is itself dialogue are particularly natural: "The Piece you think is incorrect: why take it, "I'm all submission, what you'd have it, make it," (45-46) "I found him close with Swift"-"Indeed? no doubt" (Cries prating Balbus) "something will come out." (275-276) THE REACH OF ART guide the meter also adds to the colloquial effect. The following line, for example, taken by itself seems to be perfectly regular iambic pentameter except for the light third foot: All fly to Twit'nm, and in hmble strain. (21) But when the line is placed in context, the sense requires an initial trochee: Is there a Parson, much be-mus'd in Beer, A maudlin Poetess, a ryming Peer, A Clerk, foredoom'd his Father's soul to cross, Who pens a Stanza when he should engross? Is there, who lock'd from Ink and Paper, scrawls With desp'rate Charcoal round his darken'd walls? All fIy to Tit'nam, and in humble strain Appl to me, to keep them mad or vain. (15-22) An especially colloquial phrase may affect the meter: Arthur, whose giddy Son neglects the Laws, Impues to-me-asd-my-DAMN'D WORKS the cause, (23-24) I wish'd the man a dinner, and SATE STILL. (152) Parallelism or antithesis may also vary the emphasis: Seizid and ty'd down to judge, how wretched II Who CAN'T be silent, and who WILL not lye, (33-34) A Lash like mine no HONEST man shall dread, But all such BABLING BLOCKHEADS in his stead. (303-304) The opening of Arbuthnot is itself the most colloquial of any in Pope, and throughout are lines so informal as to approach the slangy: The Creature's at his dirty work again, (92) But wonder how the Devil they got there? (172) To fetch and carry Sing-song up and down. (226) As usual in these poems the direct quotations within what is itself dialogue are particularly natural: "The Piece you think is incorrect: why take it, "I'm all submission, what you'd have it, make it," (45-46) "I found him close with Swift"-"Indeed? no doubt" (Cries prating Balbus) "something will come out." (275-276) THE REACH OF ART guide the meter also adds to the colloquial effect. The following line, for example, taken by itself seems to be perfectly regular iambic pentameter except for the light third foot: All fly to TSit'nam, and iE humble strain. (21) But when the line is placed in context, the sense requires an initial trochee: Is there a Parson, much be-mus'd in Beer, A maudlin Poetess, a ryming Peer, A Clerk, foredoom'd his Father's soul to cross, Who pens a Stanza when he should engross? Is there, who lock'd from Ink and Paper, scrawls With desp'rate Charcoal round his darken'd walls? All fiy to Twit'nam, and in hmble strain Apply tm e, to keep them mad or vain. (15-22) An especially colloquial phrase may affect the meter: Arthur, whose giddy Son neglects the Laws, Imnputes to-me-and-my-DAIN'D WORKS the cause, (23-24) I wssh'd the man a dinner, and SATE STILL. (152) Parallelism or antithesis may also vary the emphasis: Seiz'd and ty'd down to judge, how wretched II Who CAN'T be silent, and who WILL not lye, (33-34) A Lash like mine no HONEST man shall dread, But all such BABLING BLOCKHEADS in his stead. (303-304) The opening of Arbuthnot is itself the most colloquial of any in Pope, and throughout are lines so informal as to approach the slangy: The Creature's at his dirty work again, (92) But wonder how the Devil they got there? (172) To fetch and carry Sing-song up and down. (226) As usual in these poems the direct quotations within what is itself dialogue are particularly natural: "The Piece you think is incorrect: why take it, "I'm all submission, what you'd have it, make it," (45-46) "I found him close with Swift"-"Indeed? no doubt" (Cries prating Balbus) "something will come out." (275-276) 88 88 88  LATE AND SATIRICAL Many lines are run-on, adding to the informal effect; and on the other hand, except in the satirical portraits and in the passages of rising indignation and self-defense toward the end, Pope uses no long series of open couplets. He seems to have considered the deeper flow of such passages ill-suited to conversational tone, and it is of course true that most actual speech falls into comparatively brief segments. Another contribution to the colloquial tone is the mechanism of dialogue itself. If Arbuthnot speaks, it is nearly always by inter- rupting Pope in mid-sentence; and Pope usually interrupts him back: Still Sapho-"Hold for God-sake-you'll offend: "No Names-be calm-learn Prudence of a Friend: "I too could write, and I am twice as tall, "But Foes like these!"-One Flatt'rer's worse than all. (101-104) Feminine rimes, as usual in Pope, are an indication of infor- mality, and they seem especially conversational when they consist of two words, as in lines 45-46, quoted in a recent paragraph.' In- deed, rimes in general, which might seem a hindrance to the effect of speech, are often an actual benefit, in pointing up the normality of the rime word and the word order: Then from the Mint walks forth the Man of Ryme, Happy! to catch me, just at Dinner-time, (13-14) Pitholeon sends to me: "You know his Grace, "I want a Patron; ask him for a Place." Pitholeon libell'd me-"but here's a Letter "Informs you Sir, 'twas when he knew no better. (49-52) Many such instances occur in passages quoted earlier. And the questions and exclamations with which the Epistle to Arbuthnot is peppered have a quite different effect from those in An Essay on Man or Eloisa to Abelard. Often casual, brief, play- ful, mock-petulant, they contribute much to the effect of reality. Conversation is not all statement. Especially in such a conversa- tion as this one, in which a man presents a problem to a friend, and the problem is both serious and comic, the rueful query, "What 5. All four of the major Horatian poems have feminine rimes. The flnest is probably in Arbuthnot: And he, who now to sense, now nonsense leaning, Means not, but blunders round about a meaning. (185-t86) 89 LATE AND SATIRICAL Many lines are run-on, adding to the informal effect; and on the other hand, except in the satirical portraits and in the passages of rising indignation and self-defense toward the end, Pope uses no long series of open couplets. He seems to have considered the deeper flow of such passages ill-suited to conversational tone, and it is of course true that most actual speech falls into comparatively brief segments. Another contribution to the colloquial tone is the mechanism of dialogue itself. If Arbuthnot speaks, it is nearly always by inter- rupting Pope in mid-sentence; and Pope usually interrupts him back: Still Sapho-"Hold for God-sake-you'll offend: "No Names-be calm-learn Prudence of a Friend: "I too could write, and I am twice as tall, "But Foes like thesel"-One Flatt'rer's worse than all. (101-104) Feminine rimes, as usual in Pope, are an indication of infor- mality, and they seem especially conversational when they consist of two words, as in lines 45-46, quoted in a recent paragraph.s In- deed, rimes in general, which might seem a hindrance to the effect of speech, are often an actual benefit, in pointing up the normality of the rime word and the word order: Then from the Mint walks forth the Man of Ryme, Happy! to catch me, just at Dinner-time, (13-14) Pitholeon sends to me: "You know his Grace, "I want a Patron; ask him for a Place." Pitholeon libell'd me-"but here's a Letter "Informs you Sir, 'twas when he knew no better. (49-52) Many such instances occur in passages quoted earlier. And the questions and exclamations with which the Epistle to Arbuthnot is peppered have a quite different effect from those in An Essay on Man or Eloisa to Abelard. Often casual, brief, play- ful, mock-petulant, they contribute much to the effect of reality. Conversation is not all statement. Especially in such a conversa- tion as this one, in which a man presents a problem to a friend, and the problem is both serious and comic, the rueful query, "What 5. All four of the major Horatian poems have feminine rimes. The hnest is probably in Arbuthnot: And he, who now to sense, now nonsense leaning, Means not, but blunders round about a meaning. (185-186) 89 LATE AND SATIRICAL Many lines are run-on, adding to the informal effect; and on the other hand, except in the satirical portraits and in the passages of rising indignation and self-defense toward the end, Pope uses no long series of open couplets. He seems to have considered the deeper flow of such passages ill-suited to conversational tone, and it is of course true that most actual speech falls into comparatively brief segments. Another contribution to the colloquial tone is the mechanism of dialogue itself. If Arbuthnot speaks, it is nearly always by inter- rupting Pope in mid-sentence; and Pope usually interrupts him back: Still Sapho-"Hold! for God-sake-you'll offend: "No Names-be calm-learn Prudence of a Friend: "I too could write, and I am twice as tall, "But Foes like these!"-One Flatt'rer's worse than all. (101-104) Feminine rimes, as usual in Pope, are an indication of infor- mality, and they seem especially conversational when they consist of two words, as in lines 45-46, quoted in a recent paragraph.s In- deed, rimes in general, which might seem a hindrance to the effect of speech, are often an actual benefit, in pointing up the normality of the rime word and the word order: Then from the Mint walks forth the Man of Ryme, Happy! to catch me, just at Dinner-time, (13-14) Pitholeon sends to me: "You know his Grace, "I want a Patron; ask him for a Place." Pitholeon libell'd me-"but here's a Letter "Informs you Sir, 'twas when he knew no better. (49-52) Many such instances occur in passages quoted earlier. And the questions and exclamations with which the Epistle to Arbuthnot is peppered have a quite different effect from those in An Essay on Man or Eloisa to Abelard. Often casual, brief, play- ful, mock-petulant, they contribute much to the effect of reality. Conversation is not all statement. Especially in such a conversa- tion as this one, in which a man presents a problem to a friend, and the problem is both serious and comic, the rueful query, "What 5. All four of the major Horatian poems have feminine rimes. The finest is probably in Arbuthnot: And he, who now to sense, now nonsense leaning, Means not, but blunders round about a meaning. (185-186) 89  THE REACH OF ART can I do?" repeated in twenty different ways, is exceedingly natural; and frequent exclamation is certainly not unexpected. The friend, also, ought to ask questions. And parenthesis too, which occurs rather often, is entirely normal in conversation: Poor guiltless I and can I chuse but smile, When ev'ry Coxcomb knows me by my Style? (281-282) Let Sporus tremble-"What? that Thing of silk, "Sporus, that mere white Curd of Ass's milk? "Satire or Sense alas! can Sporus feel? "Who breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel?" (305-308) Has Life no Joys for me? or (to be grave) Have I no Friend to serve, no Soul to save? (273-274) And finally, quite apart from special demands of emphasis and meter, the significance of the words often guides tonal pattern and changes in speed, and in an especially colloquial direction. No two people will read a poem with quite the same intonations, but seldom is the way pointed so clearly as at times in Pope's satires; and in such a passage as the following, variations in pitch from reader to reader will probably be a good deal fewer than ordi- narily: Go on, obliging Creatures, make me see All that disgrac'd my Betters, met in me: Say for my comfort, languishing in bed, "Just so immortal Maro held his head:" And when I die, be sure you let me know Great Homer dy'd three thousand years ago. (119-124) Yet along with the colloquial tone, Pope achieves tremendous concentration in Arbuthnot. Consider the detail of occurrence and attitude packed (colloquially!) into just one couplet: If I dislike it, "Furies, death and rage!" If I approve, "Commend it to the Stage." (57-58) The latter part of the story of Midas is told with ease and humor in four lines (69-72). A complete tribute to Gay, with its own appropriate tone, is managed gracefully in six (255-260). There is some zeugma, but not a great deal; some foreign usage for con- densation, but not a great deal. The abundance of verbs helps (1.39 per line); and one is forced to conclude that the principal method of condensation in Arbuthnot is its extremely accurate use of words generally, and of verbs in particular. Fine verbs are a special excellence of the Atticus portrait: 90 THE REACH OF ART can I do?" repeated in twenty different ways, is exceedingly natural; and frequent exclamation is certainly not unexpected. The friend, also, ought to ask questions. And parenthesis too, which occurs rather often, is entirely normal in conversation: Poor guiltless I and can I chuse but smile, When ev'ry Coxcomb knows me by my Style? (281-282) Let Sporus tremble-"What? that Thing of silk, "Sporus, that mere white Curd of Ass's milk? "Satire or Sense alas! can Sporus feel? "Who breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel?" (305-308) Has Life no Joys for me? or (to be grave) Have I no Friend to serve, no Soul to save? (273-274) And finally, quite apart from special demands of emphasis and meter, the significance of the words often guides tonal pattern and changes in speed, and in an especially colloquial direction. No two people will read a poem with quite the same intonations, but seldom is the way pointed so clearly as at times in Pope's satires; and in such a passage as the following, variations in pitch from reader to reader will probably be a good deal fewer than ordi- narily: Go on, obliging Creatures, make me see All that disgrac'd my Betters, met in me: Say for my comfort, languishing in bed, "Just so immortal Maro held his head:" And when I die, be sure you let me know Great Homer dy'd three thousand years ago. (119-124) Yet along with the colloquial tone, Pope achieves tremendous concentration in Arbuthnot. Consider the detail of occurrence and attitude packed (colloquially!) into just one couplet: If I dislike it, "Furies, death and rage!" If I approve, "Commend it to the Stage." (57-58) The latter part of the story of Midas is told with ease and humor in four lines (69-72). A complete tribute to Gay, with its own appropriate tone, is managed gracefully in six (255-260). There is some zeugma, but not a great deal; some foreign usage for con- densation, but not a great deal. The abundance of verbs helps (1.39 per line); and one is forced to conclude that the principal method of condensation in Arbuthnot is its extremely accurate use of words generally, and of verbs in particular. Fine verbs are a special excellence of the Atticus portrait: 90 THE REACH OF ART can I do?" repeated in twenty different ways, is exceedingly natural; and frequent exclamation is certainly not unexpected. The friend, also, ought to ask questions. And parenthesis too, which occurs rather often, is entirely normal in conversation: Poor guiltless Il and can I chuse but smile, When ev'ry Coxcomb knows me by my Style? (281-282) Let Sporus tremble-"What? that Thing of silk, "Sporus, that mere white Curd of Ass's milk? "Satire or Sense alas! can Sporus feel? "Who breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel?" (305-308) Has Life no Joys for me? or (to be grave) Have I no Friend to serve, no Soul to save? (273-274) And finally, quite apart from special demands of emphasis and meter, the significance of the words often guides tonal pattern and changes in speed, and in an especially colloquial direction. No two people will read a poem with quite the same intonations, but seldom is the way pointed so clearly as at times in Pope's satires; and in such a passage as the following, variations in pitch from reader to reader will probably be a good deal fewer than ordi- narily: Go on, obliging Creatures, make me see All that disgrac'd my Betters, met in me: Say for my comfort, languishing in bed, "Just so immortal Maco held his head:" And when I die, be sure you let me know Great Homer dy'd three thousand years ago. (119-124) Yet along with the colloquial tone, Pope achieves tremendous concentration in Arbuthnot. Consider the detail of occurrence and attitude packed (colloquially!) into just one couplet: If I dislike it, "Furies, death and rage!" If I approve, "Commend it to the Stage." (57-58) The latter part of the story of Midas is told with ease and humor in four lines (69-72). A complete tribute to Gay, with its own appropriate tone, is managed gracefully in six (255-260). There is some zeugma, but not a great deal; some foreign usage for con- densation, but not a great deal. The abundance of verbs helps (1.39 per line); and one is forced to conclude that the principal method of condensation in Arbuthnot is its extremely accurate use of words generally, and of verbs in particular. Fine verbs are a special excellence of the Atticus portrait: 90  LATE AND SATIRICAL Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike. (204) But elsewhere too they are especially apt: They rave, recite, and madden round the land, (6) Now trips a Lady, and now struts a Lord. (329) Of rhetoric, two types attract special attention in Arbuthnot. The first is word repetition in various forms, often notably felici- tous: 'Tis sung, when Midas' Ears began to spring, (Midas, a sacred Person and a King), (69-70) And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer, (202) The Coxcomb hit, or fearing to be hit. (345) The other is anticlimax (and occasionally climax): Poor Cornus sees his frantic Wife elope, And curses Wit, and Poetry, and Pope, (25-26) Three things another's modest wishes bound, My Friendship, and a Prologue, and ten Pound, (47-48) To help me thro' this long Disease, my Life. (132) Anticlimax is also achieved by the use of sounds: Lull'd by soft Zephyrs thro' the broken Pane. (42) Here the smooth continuants of the first half-line are suddenly "broken" by the explosives of the last half; and the sound as well as the sense informs us that the "soft Zephyrs" are ironical.6 In repetition of sound, the poem has all the usual uses of alliter- ation and assonance, casual and rhetorical, which have become familiar; not by any means as frequently as in, say, Eloisa to A be- lard, but nevertheless frequently? Certain sounds-s, p, b, f, short i-occur notably often for satirical effect: Who shames a Scribler? break one cobweb thro', He spins the slight, self-pleasing thread anew; Destroy his Fib, or Sophistry; in vain, (89-91) The Bard whom pilf'red Pastorals renown, Who turns a Persian Tale for half a crown, Just writes to makes his barrenness appear, And strains from hard-bound brains eight lines a-year, (179-182) 6. Other excellent examples are in 11. 93-94 and 164. 7. Examples of adjective-substantive alliteration: dire Dilemma (31), sad Civility (37), furious fret (153), pilfred Pastorals (179), fair Fame (194), foolish face (212), hundred Hawkers (217), babling blockheads (304). 91 LATE AND SATIRICAL Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike. (204) But elsewhere too they are especially apt: They rave, recite, and madden round the land, (6) Now trips a Lady, and now struts a Lord. (329) Of rhetoric, two types attract special attention in Arbuthnot. The first is word repetition in various forms, often notably felici- tous: 'Tis sung, when Midas' Ears began to spring, (Midas, a sacred Person and a King), (69-70) And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer, (202) The Coxcomb hit, or fearing to be hit. (345) The other is anticlimax (and occasionally climax): Poor Cornus sees his frantic Wife elope, And curses Wit, and Poetry, and Pope, (25-26) Three things another's modest wishes bound, My Friendship, and a Prologue, and ten Pound, (47-48) To help me thro' this long Disease, my Life. (132) Anticlimax is also achieved by the use of sounds: Lull'd by soft Zephyrs thro' the broken Pane. (42) Here the smooth continuants of the first half-line are suddenly "broken" by the explosives of the last half; and the sound as well as the sense informs us that the "soft Zephyrs" are ironical .A In repetition of sound, the poem has all the usual uses of alliter- ation and assonance, casual and rhetorical, which have become familiar; not by any means as frequently as in, say, Eloisa to Abe- lard, but nevertheless frequently.? Certain sounds-s, p, b, f, short i-occur notably often for satirical effect: Who shames a Scribler? break one cobweb thro', He spins the slight, self-pleasing thread anew; Destroy his Fib, or Sophistry; in vain, (89-91) The Bard whom pilf'red Pastorals renown, Who turns a Persian Tale for half a crown, Just writes to makes his barrenness appear, And strains from hard-bound brains eight lines a-year, (179-182) 6. Other excellent examples are in 11. 93-94 and 164. 7. Examples of adjective-substantive alliteration: dire Dilemma (31), sad Civility (37), furious fret (153), pilf'red Pastorals (179), fair Fame (194), foolish face (212), hundred Hawkers (217), babling blockheads (304). 91 LATE AND SATIRICAL Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike. (204) But elsewhere too they are especially apt: They rave, recite, and madden round the land, (6) Now trips a Lady, and now struts a Lord. (329) Of rhetoric, two types attract special attention in Arbuthnot. The first is word repetition in various forms, often notably felici- tous: 'Tis sung, when Midas' Ears began to spring, (Midas, a sacred Person and a King), (69-70) And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer, (202) The Coxcomb hit, or fearing to be hit. (345) The other is anticlimax (and occasionally climax): Poor Cornus sees his frantic Wife elope, And curses Wit, and Poetry, and Pope, (25-26) Three things another's modest wishes bound, My Friendship, and a Prologue, and ten Pound, (47-48) To help me thro' this long Disease, my Life. (132) Anticlimax is also achieved by the use of sounds: Lull'd by soft Zephyrs thro' the broken Pane. (42) Here the smooth continuants of the first half-line are suddenly "broken" by the explosives of the last half; and the sound as well as the sense informs us that the "soft Zephyrs" are ironical. In repetition of sound, the poem has all the usual uses of alliter- ation and assonance, casual and rhetorical, which have become familiar; not by any means as frequently as in, say, Eloisa to A be- lard, but nevertheless frequently.' Certain sounds-s, p, b, f, short i-occur notably often for satirical effect: Who shames a Scribler? break one cobweb thro', He spins the slight, self-pleasing thread anew; Destroy his Fib, or Sophistry; in vain, (89-91) The Bard whom pilf'red Pastorals renown, Who turns a Persian Tale for half a crown, Just writes to makes his barrenness appear, And strains from hard-bound brains eight lines a-year, (179-182) 6. Other excellent examples are in 11. 93-94 and 164. 7. Examples of adjective-substantive alliteration: dire Dilemma (31), sad Civility (37), furious fret (153), pilf'red Pastorals (179), fair Fame (194), foolish face (212), hundred Hawkers (217), babling blockheads (304). 91  THE REACH OF ART Proud, as Apollo on his forked hill, Sate full-blown Bufo, puff'd by ev'ry quill; Fed with soft Dedication all day long. (231-233) This technique is especially noteworthy in the portrait of Sporus; and since this portrait and that of Atticus are probably the most famous in Pope, they deserve special examination. That of Atticus has little repetition of sound or representative meter of any kind. The style is somewhat raised by a steady flow, more open coupletss more resonant sound. A little alliteration is used to point up phrases and parallels: Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike, Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike. (203-204) In one passage t's and short i's are employed to express littleness and stiff, legalistic precision: Like Cato, give his little Senate laws, And sit attentive to his own applause. (209-210) Otherwise the effect of the portrait, so far as versification goes, is in the comparative largeness of tone, which gives the impression that the man himself is not ignoble. Two lines beyond the Atticus por- trait occurs the line, Or plaister'd posts, with Claps in capitals. (216) It is surely plain that such a deliberately ugly line would have been completely out of place in the portrait. On the other hand, probably nothing in all Pope is uglier than the portrait of Sporus. A good many f's and p's occur in connection with unpleasant words, including two of the three definite in- stances of alliteration: In Puns, or Politicks, or Tales, or Lyes, (321) Fop at the Toilet, Flatt'rer at the Board. (328) Another contribution is the obvious and ugly sound repetition of This painted Child of Dirt that stinks and stings. (310) Beginning with line 314 and the word mumbling, the sound m- 8. The whole twenty-two lines of the portrait are a single sentence. (See Root, p. 47.) The portion from the middle of 1. 193 to the end of 1. 212 consists of two subjunctive clauses, dependent upon the questions in the last two lines (213-214). This fact is obscured by the grammatically impossible period following 1. 212 in Tw., which follows the 1st edition. 92 THE REACH OF ART Proud, as Apollo on his forked hill, Sate full-blown Bufo, puff'd by ev'ry quill; Fed with soft Dedication all day long. (231-233) This technique is especially noteworthy in the portrait of Sporus; and since this portrait and that of Atticus are probably the most famous in Pope, they deserve special examination. That of Atticus has little repetition of sound or representative meter of any kind. The style is somewhat raised by a steady flow, more open couplets? more resonant sound. A little alliteration is used to point up phrases and parallels: Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike, Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike. (203-204) In one passage t's and short is are employed to express littleness and stiff, legalistic precision: Like Cato, give his little Senate laws, And sit attentive to his own applause. (209-210) Otherwise the effect of the portrait, so far as versification goes, is in the comparative largeness of tone, which gives the impression that the man himself is not ignoble. Two lines beyond the Atticus por- trait occurs the line, Or plaister'd posts, with Claps in capitals. (216) It is surely plain that such a deliberately ugly line would have been completely out of place in the portrait. On the other hand, probably nothing in all Pope is uglier than the portrait of Sporus. A good many f's and p's occur in connection with unpleasant words, including two of the three definite in- stances of alliteration: In Puns, or Politicks, or Tales, or Lyes, (321) Fop at the Toilet, Flatt'rer at the Board. (328) Another contribution is the obvious and ugly sound repetition of This painted Child of Dirt that stinks and stings. (310) Beginning with line 314 and the word mumbling, the sound m- 8. The whole twenty-two lines of the portrait are a single sentence. (See Root, p. 47.) The portion from the middle of 1. 193 to the end of 1. 212 consists of two subjunctive clauses, dependent upon the questions in the last two lines (213-214). This fact is obscured by the gramratically impossible period following 1. 212 in Tw., which follows the 1st edition. 92 THE REACH OF ART Proud, as Apollo on his forked hill, Sate full-blown Bufo, puff'd by ev'ry quill; Fed with soft Dedication all day long. (231-233) This technique is especially noteworthy in the portrait of Sporus; and since this portrait and that of Atticus are probably the most famous in Pope, they deserve special examination. That of Atticus has little repetition of sound or representative meter of any kind. The style is somewhat raised by a steady flow, more open coupletsa more resonant sound. A little alliteration is used to point up phrases and parallels: Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike, Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike. (203-204) In one passage t's and short i's are employed to express littleness and stiff, legalistic precision: Like Cato, give his little Senate laws, And sit attentive to his own applause. (209-210) Otherwise the effect of the portrait, so far as versification goes, is in the comparative largeness of tone, which gives the impression that the man himself is not ignoble. Two lines beyond the Atticus por- trait occurs the line, Or plaister'd posts, with Claps in capitals. (216) It is surely plain that such a deliberately ugly line would have been completely out of place in the portrait. On the other hand, probably nothing in all Pope is uglier than the portrait of Sporus. A good many f's and p's occur in connection with unpleasant words, including two of the three definite in- stances of alliteration: In Puns, or Politicks, or Tales, or Lyes, (321) Fop at the Toilet, Flatt'rer at the Board. (328) Another contribution is the obvious and ugly sound repetition of This painted Child of Dirt that stinks and stings. (310) Beginning with line 314 and the word mumbling, the sound m- 8. The whole twenty-two lines of the portrait are a single sentence. (See Root, p. 47.) The portion from the middle of 1. 193 to the end of 1. 212 consists of two subjunctive clauses, dependent upon the questions in the last two lines (213-214). This fact is obscured by the grammatically impossible period following 1. 212 in Tw., which follows the 1st edition. 92  LATE AND SATIRICAL not a very common sound-is emphasized, appearing at least once in every line save one (and usually in a word of unpleasant sig- nificance, such as impotence, venom, smut) through line 322. In line 321, the only one in the series without an m, the sound s begins to be important. The next line is shared between the two sounds: Or Spite, or Smut, or Rymes, or Blasphemies. (322) And the rest of the passage hisses almost constantly, with the sound m-though it still occurs in unpleasant words, such as am- phibious and tempter-gradually fading out. Three instances of true representation occur, all of unpleasant sounds or movements: first, the row of indefinite, neutral sounds, illustrative of "mumbling" in So well-bred Spaniels civilly delight In mumbling of the Game they dare not bite; (313-314) next, the abrupt p's, and t's, k's, s's, and long e's, giving a squeaky effect in Whether in florid Impotence he speaks, And, as the Prompter breathes, the Puppet squeaks; (317-318)9 last, the "see-saw" rhythm in His Wit all see-saw between that and this, Now high, now low, now Master up, now Miss. (323-324) Unlike the Atticus portrait, the passage is divided into several sentences and hence lacks flow. Other qualities contributing to the ugliness include an extremely heavy emphasis on words of unpleasant meaning; rough sound combinations and jerky move- ment; and in one couplet a deliberate and repellent over-sweetness: Eternal Smiles his Emptiness betray, As shallow streams run dimpling all the way. (315-316) Much of what has been said of the Epistle to Arbuthnot applies equally or nearly so to the other three principal satires and epistles. The Epistle to Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace are the closest in material and attitude, and the closest in form. If anything, the First Satire is even more col- loquial. Of the qualities contributing to the conversational tone of 9. This is an example of word-analysis representation: impotence, squeaks, with the sounds of short i, m, p, t, s, k, and long e repeated prominently elsewhere in the couplet. 93 LATE AND SATIRICAL not a very common sound-is emphasized, appearing at least once in every line save one (and usually in a word of unpleasant sig- nificance, such as impotence, venom, smut) through line 322. In line 321, the only one in the series without an m, the sound s begins to be important. The next line is shared between the two sounds: Or Spite, or Smut, or Rymes, or Blasphemies. (322) And the rest of the passage hisses almost constantly, with the sound m-though it still occurs in unpleasant words, such as am- phibious and tempter-gradually fading out. Three instances of true representation occur, all of unpleasant sounds or movements: first, the row of indefinite, neutral sounds, illustrative of "mumbling" in So well-bred Spaniels civilly delight In mumbling of the Game they dare not bite; (313-314) next, the abrupt p's, and t's, k's, s's, and long e's, giving a squeaky effect in Whether in florid Impotence he speaks, And, as the Prompter breathes, the Puppet squeaks; (317-318)9 last, the "see-saw" rhythm in His Wit all see-saw between that and this, Now high, now low, now Master up, now Miss. (323-324) Unlike the Atticus portrait, the passage is divided into several sentences and hence lacks flow. Other qualities contributing to the ugliness include an extremely heavy emphasis on words of unpleasant meaning; rough sound combinations and jerky move- ment; and in one couplet a deliberate and repellent over-sweetness: Eternal Smiles his Emptiness betray, As shallow streams run dimpling all the way. (315-316) Much of what has been said of the Epistle to Arbuthnot applies equally or nearly so to the other three principal satires and epistles. The Epistle to Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace are the closest in material and attitude, and the closest in form. If anything, the First Satire is even more col- loquial. Of the qualities contributing to the conversational tone of 9. This is an example of word-analysis representation: impotence, squeaks, with the sounds of short i, m, p, t, s, k, and long e repeated prominently elsewhere in the couplet. 93 LATE AND SATIRICAL not a very common sound-is emphasized, appearing at least once in every line save one (and usually in a word of unpleasant sig- nificance, such as impotence, venom, smut) through line 322. In line 321, the only one in the series without an m, the sound s begins to be important. The next line is shared between the two sounds: Or Spite, or Smut, or Rymes, or Blasphemies. (322) And the rest of the passage hisses almost constantly, with the sound m-though it still occurs in unpleasant words, such as am- phibious and tempter-gradually fading out. Three instances of true representation occur, all of unpleasant sounds or movements: first, the row of indefinite, neutral sounds, illustrative of "mumbling" in So well-bred Spaniels civilly delight In mumbling of the Game they dare not bite; (313-314) next, the abrupt p's, and t's, k's, s's, and long e's, giving a squeaky effect in Whether in florid Impotence he speaks, And, as the Prompter breathes, the Puppet squeaks; (317-318)9 last, the "see-saw" rhythm in His Wit all see-saw between that and this, Now high, now low, now Master up, now Miss. (323-324) Unlike the Atticus portrait, the passage is divided into several sentences and hence lacks flow. Other qualities contributing to the ugliness include an extremely heavy emphasis on words of unpleasant meaning; rough sound combinations and jerky move- ment; and in one couplet a deliberate and repellent over-sweetness: Eternal Smiles his Emptiness betray, As shallow streams run dimpling all the way. (315-316) Much of what has been said of the Epistle to Arbuthnot applies equally or nearly so to the other three principal satires and epistles. The Epistle to Arbuthnot and the First Satire of the Second Book of Horace are the closest in material and attitude, and the closest in form. If anything, the First Satire is even more col- loquial. Of the qualities contributing to the conversational tone of 9. This is an example of word-analysis representation: impotence, squeaks, with the sounds of short i, m, p, t, s, k, and long e repeated prominently elsewhere in the couplet. 93  THE REACH OF ART Arbuthnot, it has all, and in full measure, except the device of sharp interruption and the use of direct quotation within dialogue. It has no stories, no satirical portraits, no open passages of any length. On the other hand, it develops in a few lines a tone which foreshadows-as Arbuthnot never does except in the Atticus portrait -the Epilogue to the Satires: Dash the proud Gamester in his gilded Car, Bare the mean Heart that lurks beneath a Star, (107-108) To Virtue only and her Friends, a Friend, The World beside may murmur, or commend. Know, all the distant Din that World can keep Rolls o'er my Grotto, and but sooths my Sleep. (121-124) Like Arbuthnot, it begins on a light note; like the Epilogue, it ends on one. Otherwise, in versification as in material, it closely resembles the former. The Epilogue also resembles Arbuthnot. It has, for instance, the device of interruption (e.g., II, 18-25), intensely colloquial phrases (e.g., I, 38-39; II, 35, 55), and fine monosyllabic lines (e.g., I, 55, 103, 136; II, 8, 19, 123). But Pope's companion in talk in the Epilogue is not a friend but an antagonist;10 and the difference in tone is quite noticeable. Pope is not complaining to a friend, half in jest, half in earnest; he is defending his credit to an ad- versary, who argues at considerable length-and not unablyl He is not sitting quietly in his grotto with a friend interested in his welfare, whose objections are easily overcome. Rather he is faced with the necessity of proving his way of life and work right, with the inescapable corollary of proving the way of his accuser wrong. In consequence, at times the tone is usually grave and compara- tively dignified, with a tinge of regret, sometimes raised to anger. In this it somewhat resembles the Atticus portrait; and like that portrait, the Epilogue has open passages of considerable length and fine flow; little alliteration or assonance; and especially in the considerable depictions of corruption (for the poem is much less about Pope than about what he sees in the world) a darkness of vowel and consonant matching the material. There is little repre- sentative meterl or patterning or emphasis for the sake of satire 10. Sherburn, Best of Pope, pp. 448-449. 11. One instance: Silent and soft, as Saints remove to Heav'n, All Tyes dissolv'd, and ev'ry Sin forgiv'n. (, 93-94) 94 THE REACH OF ART Arbuthnot, it has all, and in full measure, except the device of sharp interruption and the use of direct quotation within dialogue. It has no stories, no satirical portraits, no open passages of any length. On the other hand, it develops in a few lines a tone which foreshadows-as Arbuthnot never does except in the Atticus portrait -the Epilogue to the Satires: Dash the proud Gamester in his gilded Car, Bare the mean Heart that lurks beneath a Star, (107-108) To Virtue only and her Friends, a Friend, The World beside may murmur, or commend. Know, all the distant Din that World can keep Rolls o'er my Grotto, and but sooths my Sleep. (121-124) Like Arbuthnot, it begins on a light note; like the Epilogue, it ends on one. Otherwise, in versification as in material, it closely resembles the former. The Epilogue also resembles Arbuthnot. It has, for instance, the device of interruption (e.g., II, 18-25), intensely colloquial phrases (e.g., I, 38-39; II, 35, 55), and fine monosyllabic lines (e.g., I, 55, 103, 136; II, 8, 19, 123). But Pope's companion in talk in the Epilogue is not a friend but an antagonist;10 and the difference in tone is quite noticeable. Pope is not complaining to a friend, half in jest, half in earnest; he is defending his credit to an ad- versary, who argues at considerable length-and not unablyl He is not sitting quietly in his grotto with a friend interested in his welfare, whose objections are easily overcome. Rather he is faced with the necessity of proving his way of life and work right, with the inescapable corollary of proving the way of his accuser wrong. In consequence, at times the tone is usually grave and compara- tively dignified, with a tinge of regret, sometimes raised to anger. In this it somewhat resembles the Atticus portrait; and like that portrait, the Epilogue has open passages of considerable length and fine flow; little alliteration or assonance; and especially in the considerable depictions of corruption (for the poem is much less about Pope than about what he sees in the world) a darkness of vowel and consonant matching the material. There is little repre- sentative metertt or patterning or emphasis for the sake of satire 10. Sherburn, Best of Pope, pp. 448-449. 11.. One instance: Silent and soft, as Saints remove to Heav'n, All Tyes dissolv'd, and ev'ry Sin forgiv'n. (I, 93-94) 94 THE REACH OF ART Arbuthnot, it has all, and in full measure, except the device of sharp interruption and the use of direct quotation within dialogue. It has no stories, no satirical portraits, no open passages of any length. On the other hand, it develops in a few lines a tone which foreshadows-as Arbuthnot never does except in the Atticus portrait -the Epilogue to the Satires: Dash the proud Gamester in his gilded Car, Bare the mean Heart that lurks beneath a Star, (107.108) To Virtue only and her Friends, a Friend, The World beside may murmur, or commend. Know, all the distant Din that World can keep Rolls o'er my Grotto, and but sooths my Sleep. (121-124) Like Arbuthnot, it begins on a light note; like the Epilogue, it ends on one. Otherwise, in versification as in material, it closely resembles the former. The Epilogue also resembles Arbuthnot. It has, for instance, the device of interruption (e.g., II, 18-25), intensely colloquial phrases (e.g., I, 38-39; II, 35, 55), and fine monosyllabic lines (e.g., I, 55, 103, 136; II, 8, 19, 123). But Pope's companion in talk in the Epilogue is not a friend but an antagonist;1o and the difference in tone is quite noticeable. Pope is not complaining to a friend, half in jest, half in earnest; he is defending his credit to an ad- versary, who argues at considerable length-and not unablyl He is not sitting quietly in his grotto with a friend interested in his welfare, whose objections are easily overcome. Rather he is faced with the necessity of proving his way of life and work right, with the inescapable corollary of proving the way of his accuser wrong. In consequence, at times the tone is usually grave and compara- tively dignified, with a tinge of regret, sometimes raised to anger. In this it somewhat resembles the Atticus portrait; and like that portrait, the Epilogue has open passages of considerable length and fine flow; little alliteration or assonance; and especially in the considerable depictions of corruption (for the poem is much less about Pope than about what he sees in the world) a darkness of vowel and consonant matching the material. There is little repre- sentative meterll or patterning or emphasis for the sake of satire 10. Sherburn, Best of Pope, pp. 448-449. 11.. One instance: Silent and soft, as Saints remove to Heav'n, All Tyes dissolv'd, and ev'ry Sin forgiv'n. (I, 93-94) 94  LATE AND SATIRICAL on any special sounds. Even the horrid simile of I, 171-180, has, compared to the portrait of Sporus, little ugliness of versification. But many more polysyllables occur, and they are more often used for satirical effect: His sly, polite, insinuating stile, (I, 19) And charitably comfort Knave and Fool. (I, 62) Finely wrought single lines recall the more formal of the Essays: That "Not to be corrupted is the Shame," (I, 160) Have still a secret Byass to a Knave. (II, 101) Exclamation and interrogation are used more often with serious intent than in Arbuthnot or the First Satire. There is little or no anticlimax. Still, the similarities remain more remarkable than the differ- ences. In the Epilogue to the Satires, Pope applies the colloquial speech, the condensation by accurate and frequent verbst2 to much the same material as before, but in a graver mood and situation. The differences in technique are those essential to mark that change. The Epistle to Augustus is the least typical of this group of satires and epistles in that it is not a dialogue, and its subject matter is somewhat off to one side. (The material is not alto- gether unlike, since the problems and purposes of satire are brought up and various corruptions of the times pointed out.) Yet its tone is usually informal, occasionally quite colloquial (e.g., 11. 61-62, 79-80, 188), and never so serious as the most serious couplets or passages of the other three. On the other hand, the mockery of its exclamations and of its passages of heightened tone (as well as its anticlimaxes) resembles the mockery of The Rape of the Lock: Oh! could I mount on the Maeonian wing, Your Arms, your Actions, your Repose to sing! What seas you travers'd! and what fields you fought! Your Country's Peace, how oft, how dearly bought! How barb'rous rage subsided at your word, And Nations wonder'd while they dropp'd the sword! How, when you nodded, o'er the land and deep, Peace stole her wing, and wrapt the world in sleep; Till earth's extremes your mediation own, And Asia's Tyrants tremble at your Throne. (394-403) 12. E.g.: Some rising Genius sins up to my Song (II, 9). Epilogue has the highest verb rate of any of the major poems. 95 LATE AND SATIRICAL on any special sounds. Even the horrid simile of II, 171-180, has, compared to the portrait of Sporus, little ugliness of versification. But many more polysyllables occur, and they are more often used for satirical effect: His sly, polite, insinuating stile, (I, 19) And charitably comfort Knave and Fool. (I, 62) Finely wrought single lines recall the more formal of the Essays: That "Not to be corrupted is the Shame," (I, 160) Have still a secret Byass to a Knave. (II, 101) Exclamation and interrogation are used more often with serious intent than in Arbuthnot or the First Satire. There is little or no anticlimax. Still, the similarities remain more remarkable than the differ- ences. In the Epilogue to the Satires, Pope applies the colloquial speech, the condensation by accurate and frequent verbs?2 to much the same material as before, but in a graver mood and situation. The differences in technique are those essential to mark that change. The Epistle to Augustus is the least typical of this group of satires and epistles in that it is not a dialogue, and its subject matter is somewhat off to one side. (The material is not alto- gether unlike, since the problems and purposes of satire are brought up and various corruptions of the times pointed out.) Yet its tone is usually informal, occasionally quite colloquial (e.g., 11. 61-62, 79-80, 188), and never so serious as the most serious couplets or passages of the other three. On the other hand, the mockery of its exclamations and of its passages of heightened tone (as well as its anticlimaxes) resembles the mockery of The Rape of the Lock: Oh! could I mount on the Maeonian wing, Your Arms, your Actions, your Repose to sing! What seas you travers'd! and what fields you fought! Your Country's Peace, how oft, how dearly bought! How barb'rous rage subsided at your word, And Nations wonder'd while they dropp'd the sword! How, when you nodded, o'er the land and deep, Peace stole her wing, and wrapt the world in sleep; Till earth's extremes your mediation own, And Asia's Tyrants tremble at your Throne. (394-403) 12. E.g.: Some rising Genius sins up to my Song (II, 9). Epilogue has the highest verb rate of any of the major poems. 95 LATE AND SATIRICAL on any special sounds. Even the horrid simile of t, 171-180, has, compared to the portrait of Sporus, little ugliness of versification. But many more polysyllables occur, and they are more often used for satirical effect: His sly, polite, insinuating stile, (I, 19) And charitably comfort Knave and Fool. (I, 62) Finely wrought single lines recall the more formal of the Essays: That "Not to be corrupted is the Shame," (I, 160) Have still a secret Byass to a Knave. (II, 101) Exclamation and interrogation are used more often with serious intent than in Arbuthnot or the First Satire. There is little or no anticlimax. Still, the similarities remain more remarkable than the differ- ences. In the Epilogue to the Satires, Pope applies the colloquial speech, the condensation by accurate and frequent verbs?2 to much the same material as before, but in a graver mood and situation. The differences in technique are those essential to mark that change. The Epistle to Augustus is the least typical of this group of satires and epistles in that it is not a dialogue, and its subject matter is somewhat off to one side. (The material is not alto- gether unlike, since the problems and purposes of satire are brought up and various corruptions of the times pointed out.) Yet its tone is usually informal, occasionally quite colloquial (e.g., 11. 61-62, 79-80, 188), and never so serious as the most serious couplets or passages of the other three. On the other hand, the mockery of its exclamations and of its passages of heightened tone (as well as its anticlimaxes) resembles the mockery of The Rape of the Lock: Oh! could I mount on the Maeonian wing, Your Arms, your Actions, your Repose to sing! What seas you travers'd! and what fields you fought! Your Country's Peace, how oft, how dearly bought! How barb'rous rage subsided at your word, And Nations wonder'd while they dropp'd the sword! How, when you nodded, o'er the land and deep, Peace stole her wing, and wrapt the world in sleep; Till earth's extremes your mediation own, And Asia's Tyrants tremble at your Throne. (394-403) 12. E.g.: Some rising Genius sins up to my Song (II, 9). Epilogue has the highest verb rate of any of the major poems. 95  THE REACH OF ART The poem has open passages of considerable length; it has, like the others of its group, much enjambment; it makes comparatively little use of interrogation or exclamation, but uses parenthesis effectively to add to the conversational tone; direct quotation once again contributes to condensation and informality; it has the usual fine verbs; it makes rather more use than the others of casual alliteration; like Arbuthnot, it makes fine use of word repetition (e.g., 11. 79, 87, 235-2S6, 287, 406-407), anticlimax (e.g., 11. 45-48, 295, 395, 397), and the piling on of certain sounds for satirical effect (e.g., the p's in 11. 293-295); and its ending (11. 416-419) comes particularly close to the matter and the tone of the Epistle to Ar- buthnot and the First Satire. Again the differences in technique are largely such as to make the tone fit the material and mood, though here the tone is perhaps unexpectedly colloquial. But of all the major poems before 1717, An Essay on Criticism was most colloquial in tone. The Epistle to Augustus, dealing with some- what similar materials, resembles An Essay on Criticism in its de- gree of informality. II As the Epistle to Augustus recalls An Essay on Criticism, so The Dunciad's recalls The Rape of the Lock. Both, of course, are mock-heroic. Both make much use of anticlimax." Both employ various epic conventions, such as the announcement of the sub- ject," the use of the conventional Homeric statements following quoted speech (e.g., I, 319), and epic similes (e.g., II, 247 ff.). And both poems imitate Paradise Lost, deliberately and plainly, The Rape of the Lock most clearly in Ariel's address to the sylphs, 13. This discussion is based on Dunciad B. 14. Sometimes in a very similar way: Let Spades be Trumpsl she said, and Trumps they were, (Rape of the Lock, IIL 46) Europe be saw, and Europe saw him too. (Dunciad, IV, 294) Cf. also Rape of thec LeekL 1, 16, and Dunciad, 1, 93-94. As in The Rape of the Lock, there are anticlimactical lists-e.g., tL 88. More often, however, The Dunciad's anticlimax is of its own peculiar kind: All Flesh is humbled, Westminster's bold race Shrink, and confess the Genius of the place: The pale Boy-Senator yet tingling stands, And holds his breeches close with both his hands. (IV, 145-148) Other examples: , 90; I, 286; II, 312; IV, 34. 15. The formula is exactly the same: subject in the first two lines, "I sing" beginning the third. But it is more abrupt and anticlimactical in The Dunciad. 96 THE REACH OF ART The poem has open passages of considerable length; it has, like the others of its group, much enjambment; it makes comparatively little use of interrogation or exclamation, but uses parenthesis effectively to add to the conversational tone; direct quotation once again contributes to condensation and informality; it has the usual fine verbs; it makes rather more use than the others of casual alliteration; like Arbuthnot, it makes fine use of word repetition (e.g., 11. 79, 87, 235-236, 287, 406-407), anticlimax (e.g., 11. 45-48, 295, 395, 397), and the piling on of certain sounds for satirical effect (e.g., the p's in 11. 293-295); and its ending (11. 416-419) comes particularly close to the matter and the tone of the Epistle to Ar- buthnot and the First Satire. Again the differences in technique are largely such as to make the tone fit the material and mood, though here the tone is perhaps unexpectedly colloquial. But of all the major poems before 1717, An Essay on Criticism was most colloquial in tone. The Epistle to Augustus, dealing with some- what similar materials, resembles An Essay on Criticism in its de- gree of informality. II As the Epistle to Augustus recalls An Essay on Criticism, so The Dunciad"s recalls The Rape of the Lock. Both, of course, are mock-heroic. Both make much use of anticlimax." Both employ various epic conventions, such as the announcement of the sub- ject," the use of the conventional Homeric statements following quoted speech (e.g., I, 319), and epic similes (e.g., II, 247 ff.). And both poems imitate Paradise Lost, deliberately and plainly, The Rape of the Lock most clearly in Ariel's address to the sylphs, 13. This discussion is based on Dunciad B. 14. Sometimes in a very similar way: Let Spades be Trumps! she said, and Trumps they were, (Rape of the Lock, IIL 46) Europe he saw, and Europe saw him too. (Dunciad, IV, 294) Cf. also Rape of the Lock, , 16, and Dunciad, t, 939-4. As in The Rape of the Lock, there are anticlimactical lists-e.g., t, 88. More often, however, The Dunciad's anticlimax is of its own peculiar kind: All Flesh is humbled, Westminster's bold race Shrink, and confess the Genius of the place: The pale Boy-Senator yet tingling stands, And holds his breeches close with both his hands. (IV, 145-148) Other examples: , 90; It 286; III, 312; IV, 34. 15. The formula is exactly the same: subject in the first two lines, "I sing" beginning the third. But it is more abrupt and anticlimactical in The Dunciad. 96 THE REACH OF ART The poem has open passages of considerable length; it has, like the others of its group, much enjambment; it makes comparatively little use of interrogation or exclamation, but uses parenthesis effectively to add to the conversational tone; direct quotation once again contributes to condensation and informality; it has the usual fine verbs; it makes rather more use than the others of casual alliteration; like Arbuthnot, it makes fine use of word repetition (e.g., 11. 79, 87, 235-236, 287, 406-407), anticlimax (e.g., 11. 45-48, 295, 395, 397), and the piling on of certain sounds for satirical effect (e.g., the p's in 11. 293-295); and its ending (11. 416-419) comes particularly close to the matter and the tone of the Epistle to Ar- buthnot and the First Satire. Again the differences in technique are largely such as to make the tone fit the material and mood, though here the tone is perhaps unexpectedly colloquial. But of all the major poems before 1717, An Essay on Criticism was most colloquial in tone. The Epistle to Augustus, dealing with some- what similar materials, resembles An Essay on Criticism in its de- gree of informality. II As the Epistle to Augustus recalls An Essay on Criticism, so The Dunciads recalls The Rape of the Lock. Both, of course, are mock-heroic. Both make much use of anticlimax.a Both employ various epic conventions, such as the announcement of the sub- ject," the use of the conventional Homeric statements following quoted speech (e.g., I, 319), and epic similes (e.g., II, 247 ff.). And both poems imitate Paradise Lost, deliberately and plainly, The Rape of the Lock most clearly in Ariel's address to the sylphs, 13. This discussion is based on Dunciad B. 14. Sometimes in a very similar way: Let Spades be Trumps she said, and Trumps they were, (Rape of the Lock, III, 46) Europe he saw, and Europe saw him too. (Dunciad, IV, 294) Cf. also Rape of the Lock, 5, 16, and Dunciad, I, 93-94. As in The Rape of the Lock, there are anticlimactical lists-e.g., , 88. More often, however, The Dunciad's anticlimax is of its own peculiar kind: All Flesh is humbled, Westminster's bold race Shrink, and confess the Genius of the place: The pale Boy-Senator yet tingling stands, And holds his breeches close with both his hands. (IV, 145-148) Other examples: , 90; I, 286; III, 312; IV, 34. 15. The formula is exactly the same: subject in the first two lines, "I sing" beginning the third. But it is more abrupt and anticlimactical in The Dunciad. 96  LATE AND SATIRICAL The Dunciad in the opening of Book II, in which Cibber takes Satan's place, "High on a gorgeous seat." But the difference be- tween these two Miltonic echoes is a mark of the difference in the poems; and in tone and meter The Dunciad resembles The Rape of the Lock less than the second Moral Essay does. In the Rape of the Lock, Ariel follows Satan in his method of calling together the supernatural powers, but the comparison is not in- vidious. Ariel's call is smaller, it is infinitely less significant; but the imitation is of Milton's style, little more. In The Dunciad, the comparison is grotesque;" the new occupant of a high throne is a producer of evil (as Ariel was not), but in how small and ridiculous a way! As Satan's summoning of the fallen angels was tremendous, Ariel's call to the sylphs was charming; as Satan's throne was re- splendently evil, Cibber's is ugly, absurd, and attended by small, repellent, negative sins. The Dunciad is in fact unique among Pope's poems; and it is another demonstration of Pope's fitting style to matter that its technique resembles in one way or another the technique of almost every major poem in the canon, in some ways resembles that of none of them, and is finally and distinctly itself. Alliteration, as- sonance, and representative meter are used in an abundance and variety seen nowhere else later than Eloisa to Abelard. The Rape of the Lock's purposeful obviousness reappears; a whole flood of the ugliness of the Sporus portrait in the Epistle to Arbuthnot, and the intentional oversweetness of many passages in the late poems. Certain specific sounds are repeated for satire, as in Ar- buthnot. The greatly heightened conclusion recalls the Messiah. In extreme contrast to The Rape of the Lock, the vowels and con- sonants are even darker than in An Essay on Man. In spite of the comparative formality, an occasional colloquialism pops out, as in the satires and epistles (e.g., I, 165, 189, 300; II, 178); yet mon- osyllabic lines occur less frequently than in any other poem later than the Messiah, and are relatively unremarkable. As elsewhere, Pope uses the polysyllable for satirical purposes, though not so often, nor so superbly, as might have been expected: Furious he dives, precipitately dull, (II, 316) A Fiend in glee, ridiculously grim. (III, 154) 16. Another very noticeable imitation is On feet and wings, and flies, and wades, and hops, (II, 64) again of Satan, again grotesque. 97 LATE AND SATIRICAL The Dunciad in the opening of Book II, in which Cibber takes Satan's place, "High on a gorgeous seat." But the difference be- tween these two Miltonic echoes is a mark of the difference in the poems; and in tone and meter The Dunciad resembles The Rape of the Lock less than the second Moral Essay does. In the Rape of the Lock, Ariel follows Satan in his method of calling together the supernatural powers, but the comparison is not in- vidious. Ariel's call is smaller, it is infinitely less significant; but the imitation is of Milton's style, little more. In The Dunciad, the comparison is grotesque;" the new occupant of a high throne is a producer of evil (as Ariel was not), but in how small and ridiculous a way! As Satan's summoning of the fallen angels was tremendous, Ariel's call to the sylphs was charming; as Satan's throne was re- splendently evil, Cibber's is ugly, absurd, and attended by small, repellent, negative sins. The Dunciad is in fact unique among Pope's poems; and it is another demonstration of Pope's fitting style to matter that its technique resembles in one way or another the technique of almost every major poem in the canon, in some ways resembles that of none of them, and is finally and distinctly itself. Alliteration, as- sonance, and representative meter are used in an abundance and variety seen nowhere else later than Eloisa to Afbelard. The Rape of the Lock's purposeful obviousness reappears; a whole flood of the ugliness of the Sporus portrait in the Epistle to Arbuthnot, and the intentional oversweetness of many passages in the late poems. Certain specific sounds are repeated for satire, as in Ar- buthnot. The greatly heightened conclusion recalls the Messiah. In extreme contrast to The Rape of the Lock, the vowels and con- sonants are even darker than in An Essay on Man. In spite of the comparative formality, an occasional colloquialism pops out, as in the satires and epistles (e.g., I, 165, 189, 300; II, 178); yet mon- osyllabic lines occur less frequently than in any other poem later than the Messiah, and are relatively unremarkable. As elsewhere, Pope uses the polysyllable for satirical purposes, though not so often, nor so superbly, as might have been expected: Furious he dives, precipitately dull, (II, 316) A Fiend in glee, ridiculously grim. (III, 154) 16. Another very noticeable imitation is On feet and wings, and flies, and wades, and hops, (II, 64) again of Satan, again grotesque. 97 LATE AND SATIRICAL The Dunciad in the opening of Book II, in which Cibber takes Satan's place, "High on a gorgeous seat." But the difference be- tween these two Miltonic echoes is a mark of the difference in the poems; and in tone and meter The Dunciad resembles The Rape of the Lock less than the second Moral Essay does. In the Rape of the Lock, Ariel follows Satan in his method of calling together the supernatural powers, but the comparison is not in- vidious. Ariel's call is smaller, it is infinitely less significant; but the imitation is of Milton's style, little more. In The Dunciad, the comparison is grotesque;'t the new occupant of a high throne is a producer of evil (as Ariel was not), but in how small and ridiculous a way! As Satan's summoning of the fallen angels was tremendous, Ariel's call to the sylphs was charming; as Satan's throne was re- splendently evil, Cibber's is ugly, absurd, and attended by small, repellent, negative sins. The Dunciad is in fact unique among Pope's poems; and it is another demonstration of Pope's fitting style to matter that its technique resembles in one way or another the technique of almost every major poem in the canon, in some ways resembles that of none of them, and is finally and distinctly itself. Alliteration, as- sonance, and representative meter are used in an abundance and variety seen nowhere else later than Eloisa to Abelard. The Rape of the Lock's purposeful obviousness reappears; a whole flood of the ugliness of the Sporus portrait in the Epistle to Arbuthnot, and the intentional oversweetness of many passages in the late poems. Certain specific sounds are repeated for satire, as in Ar- buthnot. The greatly heightened conclusion recalls the Messiah. In extreme contrast to The Rape of the Lock, the vowels and con- sonants are even darker than in An Essay on Man. In spite of the comparative formality, an occasional colloquialism pops out, as in the satires and epistles (e.g., I, 165, 189, 300; II, 178); yet mon- osyllabic lines occur less frequently than in any other poem later than the Messiah, and are relatively unremarkable. As elsewhere, Pope uses the polysyllable for satirical purposes, though not so often, nor so superbly, as might have been expected: Furious he dives, precipitately dull, (II, 316) A Fiend in glee, ridiculously grim. (III, 154) 16. Another very noticeable imitation is On feet and wings, and flies, and wades, and hops, (II, 64) again of Satan, again grotesque. 97  THE REACH OF ART The verb count is the lowest of that in any major poem, but as in the other late poems, some verbs are of unusual excellence: New edge their dulness, and new bronze their face, (II, 10) Prompt or to guard or stab, to saint or damn. (II, 357) But, in spite of a quite frequent zeugma, the scarce verbs are indic- ative of a lesser degree of condensation than in the other late poems. In rhetoric, The Dunciad has no special outstanding type except anticlimax. Chiasmus appears, as always, but (as in the other late poems) not very noticeably; there is fine anaphora, but relatively little of it; much parenthesis, as in all the satirical poems, but without much effect. The Dunciad does demonstrate, as all the late poems demonstrate, Pope's skill at word repetition: What then remains? Ourself. Still, still remain Cibberian forehead, and Cibberian brain, (I, 217-218) Joy fills his soul, joy innocent of thought, (III, 249) A wit with dunces, and a dunce with wits, (IV, 90) So may the sons of sons of sons of whores. (IV, 332) Yet even word repetition does not occur so frequently-nor so felicitously-as in some of the late poems. Pope does achieve frequently in The Dunciad the long open pas- sages, and the flow, of An Essay on Man, as well as remarkably fine caesural variety and enjambment" But like Eloisa to Abelard and An Essay on Man, the poem displays, over and above the variations in tone and speed from passage to passage, a sameness of tone that is unfortunate. We are asked too often to "see" somebody or other make a fool of himself, to "see" good things thrust aside by dull; the present tense itself grows tiresome; and, as in Eloisa, the Mes- siah, and An Essay on Man, there is an overabundance of exclama- tion. The most distinctive and prominent of The Dunciad's qualities- the ones which serve most to set it apart from Pope's other major poems-are its repetition of sound and its representative meter. Alliterative epithets are everywhere. In Book I alone, an incom- 17. An occasional overflowing of the couplet resembles that in the early pastoral poems, e.g.: To move, to raise, to ravish ev'ry heart, With Shakespear's nature, or with Johnson's art, Let others aim. (Dunciad, II, 223-225) Other examples: I, 155-157; I, 289-291; II, 103-105. 98 THE REACH OF ART The verb count is the lowest of that in any major poem, but as in the other late poems, some verbs are of unusual excellence: New edge their dulness, and new bronze their face, (II, 10) Prompt or to guard or stab, to saint or damn. (II, 357) But, in spite of a quite frequent zeugma, the scarce verbs are indic- ative of a lesser degree of condensation than in the other late poems. In rhetoric, The Dunciad has no special outstanding type except anticlimax. Chiasmus appears, as always, but (as in the other late poems) not very noticeably; there is fine anaphora, but relatively little of it; much parenthesis, as in all the satirical poems, but without much effect. The Dunciad does demonstrate, as all the late poems demonstrate, Pope's skill at word repetition: What then remains? Ourself. Still, still remain Cibberian forehead, and Cibberian brain, (I, 217-218) Joy fills his soul, joy innocent of thought, (III, 249) A wit with dunces, and a dunce with wits, (IV, 90) So may the sons of sons of sons of whores. (IV, 332) Yet even word repetition does not occur so frequently-nor so felicitously-as in some of the late poems. Pope does achieve frequently in The Dunciad the long open pas- sages, and the flow, of An Essay on Man, as well as remarkably fine caesural variety and enjambment But like Eloisa to Afbelard and An Essay on Man, the poem displays, over and above the variations in tone and speed from passage to passage, a sameness of tone that is unfortunate. We are asked too often to "see" somebody or other make a fool of himself, to "see" good things thrust aside by dull; the present tense itself grows tiresome; and, as in Eloisa, the Mes- siah, and An Essay on Man, there is an overabundance of exclama- tion. The most distinctive and prominent of The Dunciad's qualities- the ones which serve most to set it apart from Pope's other major poems-are its repetition of sound and its representative meter. Alliterative epithets are everywhere. In Book I alone, an incom- 17. An occasional overflowing of the couplet resembles that in the early pastoral poems, e.g.: To move, to raise, to ravish ev'ry heart, With Shakespear's nature, or with Johnson's art, Let others aim. (Dunciad, II, 223-225) Other examples: I, 155-157; I, 289-291; I. 103-105. 98 The verb count is the lowest of that in any major poem, but as in the other late poems, some verbs are of unusual excellence: New edge their dulness, and new bronze their face, (II, 10) Prompt or to guard or stab, to saint or damn. (II, 357) But, in spite of a quite frequent zeugma, the scarce verbs are indic- ative of a lesser degree of condensation than in the other late poems. In rhetoric, The Dunciad has no special outstanding type except anticlimax. Chiasmus appears, as always, but (as in the other late poems) not very noticeably; there is fine anaphora, but relatively little of it; much parenthesis, as in all the satirical poems, but without much effect. The Dunciad does demonstrate, as all the late poems demonstrate, Pope's skill at word repetition: What then remains? Ourself. Still, still remain Cibberian forehead, and Cibberian brain, (I, 217-218) Joy fills his soul, joy innocent of thought, (III, 249) A wit with dunces, and a dunce with wits, (IV, 90) So may the sons of sons of sons of whores. (IV, 332) Yet even word repetition does not occur so frequently-nor so felicitously-as in some of the late poems. Pope does achieve frequently in The Dunciad the long open pas- sages, and the flow, of An Essay on Man, as well as remarkably fine caesural variety and enjambment But like Eloisa to Abelard and An Essay on Man, the poem displays, over and above the variations in tone and speed from passage to passage, a sameness of tone that is unfortunate. We are asked too often to "see" somebody or other make a fool of himself, to "see" good things thrust aside by dull; the present tense itself grows tiresome; and, as in Eloisa, the Mes- siah, and An Essay on Man, there is an overabundance of exclama- tion. The most distinctive and prominent of The Dunciad's qualities- the ones which serve most to set it apart from Pope's other major poems-are its repetition of sound and its representative meter. Alliterative epithets are everywhere. In Book I alone, an incom- 17. An occasional overflowing of the couplet resembles that in the early pastoral poems, e.g.: To move, to raise, to ravish ev'ry heart, With Shakespear's nature, or with Johnson's art, Let others aim. (Dunciad, II, 223-225) Other examples: I, 155-157; I, 289-291; II, 103-105. 98  LATE AND SATIRICAL plete list includes Mighty Mother (1), fam'd father (31), brazen, brainless brothers (32), new-born nonsense (60), ductile dulness (64), hoary hills (75), heavy harvests (78), momentary monsters (83), broad banners (88), City Swans (96), poor page (105), mighty Mad (106), native night (176), curious cobweb (180), bra- zen Brightness (219), smutty sisters (230), Birth-day brand (245), high-born Howard (297). Other notable examples are, from Book II, motley mixture (21), meagre, muse-rid mope (37), shapeless shade (111), dark dexterity (278), plunging Prelate (323); from Book III, slip-shod Sibyl (15) (probably the best of the lot), fune- real Frown (152), sable Sorc'rer (233); from Book IV, pompous page (114), Greek grammarians (215), Syren Sisters (541), sturdy Squire (595). And alliterative epithets are only a small portion of the alliteration in the poem. The alliterative letter may appear again-and again-and again: Laborious, heavy, busy, bold, and blind, (I, 15) She sees a Mob of Metaphors advance, Pleas'd with the madness of the mazy dance, (I, 67-68) While pensive Poets painful vigils keep, (I, 93) With Fool of Quality compleats the quire, (I, 298) By herald Hawkers, high heroic Games, (II, 18) All as a partridge plump, full-fed, and fair, (II, 41) And Demonstration thin, and Theses thick, (II, 241) Long Chanc'ry-lane retentive rolls the sound, And courts to courts return it round and round; Thames wafts it thence to Rufus' roaring hall, (II, 263-265) Slow rose a form, in majesty of Mud, (II, 326) A low-born, cell-bred, selfish, servile band, (II, 356)18 Meek modern faith to murder, hack, and mawl, (III, 210) For writing Pamphlets, and for roasting Popes, (III, 284) Mad Mathesis alone was unconfin'd, Too mad for mere material chains to bind, (IV, 31-32) His beaver'd brow a birchen garland wears, (IV, 141) So spins the silk-worm small its slender store, (IV, 253) And titt'ring push'd the Pedants off the place, (IV, 276) False as his Gems, and canker'd as his Coins, Came, cramm'd with capon, (IV, 349-350) "Grant, gracious Goddessl grant me still to cheat." (IV, 355) These are only a few of the more obvious, extreme examples. 18. In "cell-bred, selfish" this line has also an example of the obvious syllabic repetition commented on below, p. 101. 99 LATE AND SATIRICAL plete list includes Mighty Mother (1), fam'd father (31), brazen, brainless brothers (32), new-born nonsense (60), ductile dulness (64), hoary hills (75), heavy harvests (78), momentary monsters (83), broad banners (88), City Swans (96), poor page (105), mighty Mad (106), native night (176), curious cobweb (180), bra- zen Brightness (219), smutty sisters (230), Birth-day brand (245), high-born Howard (297). Other notable examples are, from Book II, motley mixture (21), meagre, muse-rid mope (37), shapeless shade (111), dark dexterity (278), plunging Prelate (323); from Book III, slip-shod Sibyl (15) (probably the best of the lot), fune- real Frown (152), sable Sorc'rer (233); from Book IV, pompous page (114), Greek grammarians (215), Syren Sisters (541), sturdy Squire (595). And alliterative epithets are only a small portion of the alliteration in the poem. The alliterative letter may appear again-and again-and again: Laborious, heavy, busy, bold, and blind, (I, 15) She sees a Mob of Metaphors advance, Pleas'd with the madness of the mazy dance, (I, 67-68) While pensive Poets painful vigils keep, (I, 93) With Fool of Quality compleats the quire, (I, 298) By herald Hawkers, high heroic Games, (II, 18) All as a partridge plump, full-fed, and fair, (II, 41) And Demonstration thin, and Theses thick, (II, 241) Long Chanc'ry-lane retentive rolls the sound, And courts to courts return it round and round; Thames wafts it thence to Rufus' roaring hall, (II, 263-265) Slow rose a form, in majesty of Mud, (II, 326) A low-born, cell-bred, selfish, servile band, (Il, 356)18 Meek modern faith to murder, hack, and mawl, (III, 210) For writing Pamphlets, and for roasting Popes, (III, 284) Mad Mathesis alone was unconfin'd, Too mad for mere material chains to bind, (IV, 31-32) His beaver'd brow a birchen garland wears, (IV, 141) So spins the silk-worm small its slender store, (IV, 253) And titt'ring push'd the Pedants off the place, (IV, 276) False as his Gems, and canker'd as his Coins, Came, cramm'd with capon, (IV, 349-350) "Grant, gracious Goddessl grant me still to cheat." (IV, 355) These are only a few of the more obvious, extreme examples. 18. In "cell-bred, selfish" this line has also an example of the obvious syllabic repetition commented on below, p. 101. 99 LATE AND SATIRICAL plete list includes Mighty Mother (1), fam'd father (31), brazen, brainless brothers (32), new-born nonsense (60), ductile dulness (64), hoary hills (75), heavy harvests (78), momentary monsters (83), broad banners (88), City Swans (96), poor page (105), mighty Mad (106), native night (176), curious cobweb (180), bra- zen Brightness (219), smutty sisters (230), Birth-day brand (245), high-born Howard (297). Other notable examples are, from Book II, motley mixture (21), meagre, muse-rid mope (37), shapeless shade (111), dark dexterity (278), plunging Prelate (323); from Book III, slip-shod Sibyl (15) (probably the best of the lot), fune- real Frown (152), sable Sorc'rer (233); from Book IV, pompous page (114), Greek grammarians (215), Syren Sisters (541), sturdy Squire (595). And alliterative epithets are only a small portion of the alliteration in the poem. The alliterative letter may appear again-and again-and again: Laborious, heavy, busy, bold, and blind, (I, 15) She sees a Mob of Metaphors advance, Pleas'd with the madness of the mazy dance, (I, 67-68) While pensive Poets painful vigils keep, (I, 93) With Fool of Quality compleats the quire, (I, 298) By herald Hawkers, high heroic Games, (II, 18) All as a partridge plump, full-fed, and fair, (II, 41) And Demonstration thin, and Theses thick, (II, 241) Long Chanc'ry-lane retentive rolls the sound, And courts to courts return it round and round; Thames wafts it thence to Rufus' roaring hall, (II, 263-265) Slow rose a form, in majesty of Mud, (II, 326) A low-born, cell-bred, selfish, servile band, (II, 356)18 Meek modern faith to murder, hack, and mawl, (III, 210) For writing Pamphlets, and for roasting Popes, (III, 284) Mad Mathesis alone was unconfin'd, Too mad for mere material chains to bind, (IV, 31-32) His beaver'd brow a birchen garland wears, (IV, 141) So spins the silk-worm small its slender store, (IV, 253) And titt'ring push'd the Pedants off the place, (IV, 276) False as his Gems, and canker'd as his Coins, Came, cramm'd with capon, (IV, 349-350) "Grant, gracious Goddessl grant me still to cheat." (IV, 355) These are only a few of the more obvious, extreme examples. 18. In "cell-bred, selfish" this line has also an example of the obvious syllabic repetition commented on below, p. 101. 99  THE REACH OF ART The repetition of consonant sounds, not only initially, but in- ternally, is never-ending; and (as in Arbuthnot, but to a far greater extent) certain specific sounds appear with remarkable frequency throughout all four books of The Dunciad. This is ap- parent even in the examples of extreme alliteration just quoted. The quotations were chosen for their aptness, not to illustrate the alliteration of any particular sound, yet of the twenty-one instances of alliterated sounds in the quotations, five sounds-b, f, m, p, s-ac- count for fourteen alliterations."B And it is these five sounds which appear with most notable frequency throughout-very often, as in the portrait of Sporus in Arbuthnot, to put special emphasis on words of unpleasant meaning. Of the 330 lines in Book I, at least 150 are involved in noticeable repetition of one or more of the five sounds; other examples from Books I and II, as intricate and various as they are frequent, include: She saw slow Philips creep like Tate's poor page, And all the mighty Mad in Dennis rage. In each she marks her Image full exprest, But chief in Bays's monster-breeding breast, (I, 105-108) 20 Here lay poor Fletcher's half-eat scenes, and here The Frippery of crucify'd Moliere; There hapless Shakespear, yet of Tibbald sore, Wish'd he had blotted for himself before, (I, 131-134) There, sav'd by spice, like Mummies, many a year, (I, 151) E'er since Sir Fopling's Periwig was Praise, To the last honours of the Butt and Bays: 19. This is also true of twenty of the thirty adjective-substantive alliterations quoted just before. Tillotson (pp. 141-142) notes the frequency of alliteration but empbasizes somewhat different sounds. 20. Note that even the more uncommon of the five sounds is likely to occur at least once (and prominently) in each passage, even if it happens not to be one of the frequently repeated sounds in that passage. Examples: the pomi- nent ph (f) of Philips in the first couplet of this passage; the prominent m of Moliere in the next passage; the prominent f of Fopling in the fourth; the repeated if not prominent m's of whelms, flames, and ample in the fifth; the b of Cibber in the sixth. The sound s would be less noticeable, perhaps, with- out frequent repetition; but even s (that is, the unvoiced s, as opposed to the "voiced s" or z) occurs less frequently than might be supposed in ordinary writing, since the letter s is very frequently voiced in its common uses; is, was these, those, his, and all regular plurals of nouns and third person singular present tenses of verbs except of words ending in f, h, p, or t. Hence it does not take many s's to make a passage "hiss," and Pope often throws into such passages the extra fillip of the closely related sh sound. 100 THE REACH OF ART The repetition of consonant sounds, not only initially, but in- ternally, is never-ending; and (as in Arbuthnot, but to a far greater extent) certain specific sounds appear with remarkable frequency throughout all four books of The Dunciad. This is ap- parent even in the examples of extreme alliteration just quoted. The quotations were chosen for their aptness, not to illustrate the alliteration of any particular sound, yet of the twenty-one instances of alliterated sounds in the quotations, five sounds-b, f, m, p, s-ac- count for fourteen alliterations.B And it is these five sounds which appear with most notable frequency throughout-very often, as in the portrait of Sporus in Arbuthnot, to put special emphasis on words of unpleasant meaning. Of the 330 lines in Book I, at least 150 are involved in noticeable repetition of one or more of the five sounds; other examples from Books I and II, as intricate and various as they are frequent, include: She saw slow Philips creep like Tate's poor page, And all the mighty Mad in Dennis rage. In each she marks her Image full exprest, But chief in Bays's monster-breeding breast, (I, 105-108) Here lay poor Fletcher's half-eat scenes, and here The Frippery of crucify'd Moliere; There hapless Shakespear, yet of Tibbald sore, Wish'd he had blotted for himself before, (I, 131-134) There, sav'd by spice, like Mummies, many a year, (I, 151) E'er since Sir Fopling's Periwig was Praise, To the last honours of the Butt and Bays: 19. This is also true of twenty of the thirty adjective-substantive alliterations quoted just before. Tillotson (pp. 141-142) notes the frequency of alliteration but emphasizes somewhat different sounds. 20. Note that even the more uncommon of the five sounds is likely to occur at least once (and prominently) in each passage, even if it happens not to be one of the frequently repeated sounds in that passage. Examples: the promi- nent ph (f) of Philips in the first couplet of this passage; the prominent m of Moliere in the next passage; the prominent f of Fopling in the fourth; the repeated if not prominent m's of whelms, flames, and ample in the fifth; the b of Cibber in the sixth. The sound s would be less noticeable, perhaps, with- out frequent repetition; but even s (that is, the unvoiced s, as opposed to the "voiced s" or z) occurs less frequently than might be supposed in ordinary writing, since the letter s is very frequently voiced in its common uses: is, was, these, those, his, and all regular plurals of nouns and third person singular present tenses of verbs except of words ending in f, k, p, or t. Hence it does not take many s's to make a passage "hiss," and Pope often throws into such passages the extra fillip of the closely related sh sound. 100 THE REACH OF ART The repetition of consonant sounds, not only initially, but in- ternally, is never-ending; and (as in Arbuthnot, but to a far greater extent) certain specific sounds appear with remarkable frequency throughout all four books of The Dunciad. This is ap- parent even in the examples of extreme alliteration just quoted. The quotations were chosen for their aptness, not to illustrate the alliteration of any particular sound, yet of the twenty-one instances of alliterated sounds in the quotations, five sounds-b, f, m, p, s-ac- count for fourteen alliterations." And it is these five sounds which appear with most notable frequency throughout-very often, as in the portrait of Sporus in Arbuthnot, to put special emphasis on words of unpleasant meaning. Of the 330 lines in Book I, at least 150 are involved in noticeable repetition of one or more of the five sounds; other examples from Books I and II, as intricate and various as they are frequent, include: She saw slow Philips creep like Tate's poor page, And all the mighty Mad in Dennis rage. In each she marks her Image full exprest, But chief in Bays's monster-breeding breast, (I, 105-108) " Here lay poor Fletcher's half-eat scenes, and here The Frippery of crucify'd Moliere; There hapless Shakespear, yet of Tibbald sore, Wish'd he had blotted for himself before, (I, 131-134) There, sav'd by spice, like Mummies, many a year, (I, 151) E'er since Sir Fopling's Periwig was Praise, To the last honours of the Butt and Bays: 19. This is also true of twenty of the thirty adjective-substantive alliterations quoted just before. Tillotson (pp. 141-142) notes the frequency of alliteration but emphasizes somewhat different sounds. 20. Note that even the more uncommon of the five sounds is likely to occur at least once (and prominently) in each passage, even if it happens not to be one of the frequently repeated sounds in that passage. Examples: the promi- nent ph (f) of Philips in the first couplet of this passage; the prominent m of Moliere in the next passage; the prominent f of Fopling in the fourth; the repeated if not prominent m's of whelms, flames, and ample in the fifth; the b of Cibber in the sixth. The sound s would be less noticeable, perhaps, with- out frequent repetition; but even s (that is, the unvoiced s, as opposed to the "voiced s" or z) occurs less frequently than might be supposed in ordinary writing, since the letter s is very frequently voiced in its common uses: is, was, these, those, his, and all regular plurals of nouns and third person singular present tenses of verbs except of words ending in f, k, p, or t. Hence it does not take many s's to make a passage "hiss," and Pope often throws into such passages the extra fillip of the closely related sh sound. 100  LATE AND SATIRICAL O thou! of Bus'ness the directing soul! To this our head like byass to the bowl, (I, 167-170) Sudden she flies, and whelms it o'er the pyre; Down sink the flames, and with a hiss expire. Her ample presence fills up all the place; A veil of fogs dilates her awful face, (I, 259-262) Great Cibber sate: The proud Parnassian sneer, The conscious simper, and the jealous leer, Mix on his look, (II, 5-7) Our purgings, pumpings, blankettings, and blows, (II, 154) While thus each hand promotes the pleasing pain, And quick sensations skip from vein to vein, A youth unknown to Phoebus, in despair, Puts his last refuge all in heav'n and pray'r. What force have pious vows! (II, 211-215) Dennis and Dissonance, and captious Art, And Snip-snap short, and Interruption smart, (II, 239-240) In naked majesty Oldmixon stands, And Milo-like surveys his arms and hands. (II, 283-284) Other fine examples are in III, 139-142, 251-255, 317-318; and IV, 79-80, 120-121, 595-596. Again this is only a selection of the more extreme instances. And I have tried, in so far as possible, to avoid cases which intermingle the patterning of other consonant sounds with the principal five. Add these-and there are many of them; add the separate patterning of sounds other than the principal five; add the almost endless more casual repetitions: and one sees how consonant repetition in general, and of five sounds particularly, accounts in large measure for the special texture of The Dunciad. But Pope also employs in The Dunciad another and unusual sort of deliberately obvious sound repetition: repetition of syllables, usually but not always initial: Emblem of Music caus'd by Emptiness, (I, 36) Of pass more innocent, in infant state, (I, 237) With reams abundant this abode supply, (II, 90) Appear'd Apollo's May'r and Aldermen, (IV, 116) And well dissembled em'rald on his hand, False as his Gems. (IV, 348-349)" 21. Note also the two somewhat similar and extreme sorts of obviousness: Th'unconscious stream sleeps o'er thee like a lake, (II, 304) Men bearded, bald, cowl'd, uncowl'd, shod, unshod, Peel'd, patch'd, and pyebald. (III, 114-115) 101 LATE AND SATIRICAL O thou! of Bus'ness the directing soul! To this our head like byass to the bowl, (I, 167-170) Sudden she flies, and whelms it o'er the pyre; Down sink the flames, and with a hiss expire. Her ample presence fills up all the place; A veil of fogs dilates her awful face, (I, 259-262) Great Cibber sate: The proud Parnassian sneer, The conscious simper, and the jealous leer, Mix on his look, (II, 5-7) Our purgings, pumpings, blankettings, and blows, (II, 154) While thus each hand promotes the pleasing pain, And quick sensations skip from vein to vein, A youth unknown to Phoebus, in despair, Puts his last refuge all in heav'n and pray'r. What force have pious vows! (II, 211-215) Dennis and Dissonance, and captious Art, And Snip-snap short, and Interruption smart, (II, 239-240) In naked majesty Oldmixon stands, And Milo-like surveys his arms and hands. (II, 283-284) Other fine examples are in III, 139-142, 251-255, 317-318; and IV, 79-80, 120-121, 595-596. Again this is only a selection of the more extreme instances. And I have tried, in so far as possible, to avoid cases which intermingle the patterning of other consonant sounds with the principal five. Add these-and there are many of them; add the separate patterning of sounds other than the principal five; add the almost endless more casual repetitions: and one sees how consonant repetition in general, and of five sounds particularly, accounts in large measure for the special texture of The Dunciad. But Pope also employs in The Dunciad another and unusual sort of deliberately obvious sound repetition: repetition of syllables, usually but not always initial: Emblem of Music caus'd by Emptiness, (I, 36) O pass more innocent, in infant state, (I, 237) With reams abundant this abode supply, (II, 90) Appear'd Apollo's May'r and Aldermen, (IV, 116) And well dissembled em'rald on his hand, False as his Gems. (IV, 348-349)21 21. Note also the two somewhat similar and extreme sorts of obviousness: Th'unconscious stream sleeps o'er thee like a lake, (II, 304) Men bearded, bald, cowl'd, uncowl'd, shod, unshod, Peel'd, patch'd, and pyebald. (III, 114-115) 101 LATE AND SATIRICAL O thou! of Bus'ness the directing soul! To this our head like byass to the bowl, (I, 167-170) Sudden she flies, and whelms it o'er the pyre; Down sink the flames, and with a hiss expire. Her ample presence fills up all the place; A veil of fogs dilates her awful face, (I, 259-262) Great Cibber sate: The proud Parnassian sneer, The conscious simper, and the jealous leer, Mix on his look, (II, 5-7) Our purgings, pumpings, blankettings, and blows, (II, 154) While thus each hand promotes the pleasing pain, And quick sensations skip from vein to vein, A youth unknown to Phoebus, in despair, Puts his last refuge all in heav'n and pray'r. What force have pious vows! (II, 211-215) Dennis and Dissonance, and captious Art, And Snip-snap short, and Interruption smart, (II, 239-240) In naked majesty Oldmixon stands, And Milo-like surveys his arms and hands. (II, 283-284) Other fine examples are in III, 139-142, 251-255, 317-318; and IV, 79-80, 120-f21, 595-596. Again this is only a selection of the more extreme instances. And I have tried, in so far as possible, to avoid cases which intermingle the patterning of other consonant sounds with the principal five. Add these-and there are many of them; add the separate patterning of sounds other than the principal five; add the almost endless more casual repetitions: and one sees how consonant repetition in general, and of five sounds particularly, accounts in large measure for the special texture of The Dunciad. But Pope also employs in The Dunciad another and unusual sort of deliberately obvious sound repetition: repetition of syllables, usually but not always initial: Emblem of Music caus'd by Emptiness, (I, 36) O! pass more innocent, in infant state, (I, 237) With reams abundant this abode supply, (II, 90) Appear'd Apollo's May'r and Aldermen, (IV, 116) And well dissembled em'rald on his hand, False as his Gems. (IV, 348-349)ar 21. Note also the two somewhat similar and extreme sorts of obviousness: Th'unconscious stream sleeps o'er thee like a lake, (II, 304) Men bearded, bald, owl'd, uncowl'd, shod, unshod, Peerd, patch'd, and pyebald. (III, 114-115) 101  THE REACH OF ART With so very much emphasis upon consonantal repetition, vowel repetition (assonance), frequent as it is in The Dunciad, passes largely unnoticed. One exception is the short u. Short u occurs in both dullness and dunce; it has a neutral sound which is itself dull and flat; and by chance or by some linguistic instinct, it occurs in the language in numerous words of unpleasant connotation, es- pecially monosyllables. For all these reasons, it occurs frequently and very noticeably in The Dunciad: And suck'd all o'er, like an industrious Bug, (I, 130) Not sail, with Ward, to Ape-and-monkey climes, Where vile Mundungus trucks for viler rhymes, (I, 233-234) 22 Then number'd with the puppies in the mud, (II, 308) The clam'rous crowd is hush'd with mugs of Mum, (II, 385) As what a Dutchman plumps into the lakes. (II, 405)3 Thus the ugliness of sound which characterized the portrait of Sporus in Arbuthnot is almost constant in The Dunciad. Probably the most unpleasant example (and it is not merely the nauseating imagery: the similar passage in Epilogue to the Satires, II, 171-180, is not nearly so ugly-sounding) is the passage on Curll's fall, II, 102- 106.24 On the other hand, at least one instance occurs of elaborate pleasant sound patterning-so elaborate as to assist greatly in "representing" the description of languid decadence: To Isles of fragrance, lilly-silver'd vales, lfragrslilsilvrval Diffusing languor in the panting gales: dIfIng nggr n Inggl To lands of singing, or of dancing slaves, lan s ingIngd n sIngsl v 22. As here, and in several other of the passages quoted, the sound occurs very frequently in combinations with m's. Note also the similar technique in the initial vowels of With cow-like udders, and with ox-like eyes, (II, 164) and the appearance of words with such sounds in extremely emphatic locations as in Loud thunder to its bottom shook the bog. (I, 329) 23. A good ideofthide variation in Pope's prosody may be obtained by comparing this image of circles in water (II, 405-410), with the same image in E. on M., IV, 363-372. 24. Note also the comically ugly effect of using precisely the wrong sounds: So from the Sun's broad beam, in shallow urns. (II, 11) 102 THE REACH OF ART With so very much emphasis upon consonantal repetition, vowel repetition (assonance), frequent as it is in The Dunciad, passes largely unnoticed. One exception is the short u. Short u occurs in both dullness and dunce; it has a neutral sound which is itself dull and flat; and by chance or by some linguistic instinct, it occurs in the language in numerous words of unpleasant connotation, es- pecially monosyllables. For all these reasons, it occurs frequently and very noticeably in The Dunciad: And suck'd all o'er, like an industrious Bug, (I, 130) Not sail, with Ward, to Ape-and-monkey climes, Where vile Mundungus trucks for viler rhymes, (I, 233-234) 22 Then number'd with the puppies in the mud, (II, 308) The clam'rous crowd is hush'd with mugs of Mum, (II, 385) As what a Dutchman plumps into the lakes. (II, 405)23 Thus the ugliness of sound which characterized the portrait of Sporus in Arbuthnot is almost constant in The Dunciad. Probably the most unpleasant example (and it is not merely the nauseating imagery: the similar passage in Epilogue to the Satires, II, 171-180, is not nearly so ugly-sounding) is the passage on Curll's fall, II, 102- 106.24 On the other hand, at least one instance occurs of elaborate pleasant sound patterning-so elaborate as to assist greatly in "representing" the description of languid decadence: To Isles of fragrance, lilly-silver'd vales, lfrigrslTIlsilvrval Diffusing languor in the panting gales: dIfi'nganggraninggl To lands of singing, or of dancing slaves, l n singIngd nsingsl v 22. As here, and in several other of the passages quoted, the sound occurs very frequently in combinations with m's. Note also the similar technique in the initial vowels of With cow-like udders, and with ox-like eyes, (II, 164) and the appearance of words with such sounds in extremely emphatic locations as in Loud thunder to its bottom shook the bog. (I, 329) 23. A good idea of the wide variation in Pope's prosody may be obtained by comparing this image of circles in water (II, 405-410), with the same image in E. on M., IV, 363-372. 24. Note also the comicalyuly effect of using precisely the wrong sounds: So from the Sun's broad beam, in shallow urns. (It, 11) 102 THE REACH OF ART With so very much emphasis upon consonantal repetition, vowel repetition (assonance), frequent as it is in The Dunciad, passes largely unnoticed. One exception is the short u. Short u occurs in both dullness and dunce; it has a neutral sound which is itself dull and flat; and by chance or by some linguistic instinct, it occurs in the language in numerous words of unpleasant connotation, es- pecially monosyllables. For all these reasons, it occurs frequently and very noticeably in The Dunciad: And suck'd all o'er, like an industrious Bug, (I, 130) Not sail, with Ward, to Ape-and-monkey climes, Where vile Mundungus trucks for viler rhymes, (I, 233-234) " Then number'd with the puppies in the mud, (II, 308) The clam'rous crowd is hush'd with mugs of Mum, (II, 385) As what a Dutchman plumps into the lakes. (II, 405)23 Thus the ugliness of sound which characterized the portrait of Sporus in Arbuthnot is almost constant in The Dunciad. Probably the most unpleasant example (and it is not merely the nauseating imagery: the similar passage in Epilogue to the Satires, II, 171-180, is not nearly so ugly-sounding) is the passage on Curll's fall, II, 102- 106.24 On the other hand, at least one instance occurs of elaborate pleasant sound patterning-so elaborate as to assist greatly in "representing" the description of languid decadence: To Isles of fragrance, lilly-silver'd vales, lfragrslIlsilvrvil Diffusing languor in the panting gales: difing anggranInggl To lands of singing, or of dancing slaves, lan s ingIngd n sIngslv 22. As here, and in several other of the passages quoted, the sound occurs very frequently in combinations with ms. Note also the similar technique in the initial vowels of With cow-like udders, and with ox-like eyes, (II, 164) and the appearance of words with such sounds in extremely emphatic locations as in Loud thunder to its bottom shook the bog. (I, 329) 23. A good idea of the wide variation in Pope's prosody may be obtained by comparing this image of circles in water (II, 405-410), with the same image in E. on M., IV, 363-372. 24. Note also the comically ugly effect of using precisely the wrong sounds: So from the Sun's broad beam, in shallow urns. (II, 11) 102  LATE AND SATIRICAL Love-whisp'ring woods, and lute-resounding waves. 1 v w T s I ng w 1 d T ng w v (IV, 303-306) In fact, Pope uses more representative meter in The Dunciad than in any other late poem. And he uses representative meter more often than anywhere else for humorous purposes." Many of the passages already quoted provide examples; further examples, hu- morous and otherwise, include: Obliquely wadling to the mark in view, (I, 172) And cackling save the Monarchy of Tories, (I, 212) Drowns the loud clarion of the braying Ass, (II, 234) Then down-are-roll'd-the-books; stretch'd o'er 'em lies Each gentle clerk, and mutt'ring seals his eyes, (II, 403-404) Some strain in rhyme; the Muses, on their racks, Scream like the winding of ten thousand jacks. (III, 159-160) Two long passages of constant use of representative meter are the falling asleep at the end of Book II and the description of the "mincing Harlot" extolling opera, near the beginning of Book IV. But repetition of sound and representative meter could not alone sustain a poem the length of The Dunciad. They are not the only techniques, they are simply the most prominent. Other techniques have been mentioned: the dark tone quality, the frequent strong flow. And Pope in The Dunciad again displays many of those perfectly wrought lines that, in his later years especially, he fash- ioned with consummate skill (e.g., I, 52, 189, 300; II, 278; III, 16; IV, 76). In summary, then, the outstanding technical qualities of The Dunciad are: (1) first and overwhelmingly, its use of repetition of sound, especially of b, f, m, p, s and short u; (2) its representative meter; (3) its purposely ugly, and often comic, sound combinations and metrical emphasis upon words of unpleasant meaning; (4) its purposeful, and often comic, overfacility of sound and meter, re- sembling the method of The Rape of the Lock; (5) its caesural variety; (6) its frequent use, especially in contrast to The Rape of the Lock, of middle and back vowels and voiced consonants, and its consequent heavier texture and darker tone; (7) its long open passages and flow. The Dunciad lacks the superb proportion of Pope's other mock- 25. See p. 32, above. 103 LATE AND SATIRICAL Love-whisp'ring woods, and lute-resounding waves. 1 v w I s T ng w 1 d T ng w v (IV, 303-306) In fact, Pope uses more representative meter in The Dunciad than in any other late poem. And he uses representative meter more often than anywhere else for humorous purposes." Many of the passages already quoted provide examples; further examples, hu- morous and otherwise, include: Obliquely wadling to the mark in view, (, 172) And cackling save the Monarchy of Tories, (I, 212) Drowns the loud clarion of the braying Ass, (II, 234) Then down-are-roll'd-the-books; stretch'd o'er 'em lies Each gentle clerk, and mutt'ring seals his eyes, (I, 403-404) Some strain in rhyme; the Muses, on their racks, Scream like the winding of ten thousand jacks. (III, 159-160) Two long passages of constant use of representative meter are the falling asleep at the end of Book II and the description of the "mincing Harlot" extolling opera, near the beginning of Book IV. But repetition of sound and representative meter could not alone sustain a poem the length of The Dunciad. They are not the only techniques, they are simply the most prominent. Other techniques have been mentioned: the dark tone quality, the frequent strong flow. And Pope in The Dunciad again displays many of those perfectly wrought lines that, in his later years especially, he fash- ioned with consummate skill (e.g., I, 52, 189, 300; II, 278; III, 16; IV, 76). In summary, then, the outstanding technical qualities of The Dunciad are: (1) first and overwhelmingly, its use of repetition of sound, especially of b, f, m, p, s and short u; (2) its representative meter; (3) its purposely ugly, and often comic, sound combinations and metrical emphasis upon words of unpleasant meaning; (4) its purposeful, and often comic, overfacility of sound and meter, re- sembling the method of The Rape of the Lock; (5) its caesural variety; (6) its frequent use, especially in contrast to The Rape of the Lock, of middle and back vowels and voiced consonants, and its consequent heavier texture and darker tone; (7) its long open passages and flow. The Dunciad lacks the superb proportion of Pope's other mock- 25. See p. 32, above. 103 LATE AND SATIRICAL Love-whisp'ring woods, and lute-resounding waves. 1 v w i s T ng w l d I ng w v (IV, 303-306) In fact, Pope uses more representative meter in The Dunciad than in any other late poem. And he uses representative meter more often than anywhere else for humorous purposes." Many of the passages already quoted provide examples; further examples, hu- morous and otherwise, include: Obliquely wadling to the mark in view, (I, 172) And cackling save the Monarchy of Tories, (I, 212) Drowns the loud clarion of the braying Ass, (II, 234) Then down-are-roll'd-the-books; stretch'd o'er 'em lies Each gentle clerk, and mutt'ring seals his eyes, (II, 403-404) Some strain in rhyme; the Muses, on their racks, Scream like the winding of ten thousand jacks. (III, 159-160) Two long passages of constant use of representative meter are the falling asleep at the end of Book II and the description of the "mincing Harlot" extolling opera, near the beginning of Book IV. But repetition of sound and representative meter could not alone sustain a poem the length of The Dunciad. They are not the only techniques, they are simply the most prominent. Other techniques have been mentioned: the dark tone quality, the frequent strong flow. And Pope in The Dunciad again displays many of those perfectly wrought lines that, in his later years especially, he fash- ioned with consummate skill (e.g., I, 52, 189, 300; II, 278; III, 16; IV, 76). In summary, then, the outstanding technical qualities of The Dunciad are: (1) first and overwhelmingly, its use of repetition of sound, especially of b, f, m, p, s and short u; (2) its representative meter; (3) its purposely ugly, and often comic, sound combinations and metrical emphasis upon words of unpleasant meaning; (4) its purposeful, and often comic, overfacility of sound and meter, re- sembling the method of The Rape of the Lock; (5) its caesural variety; (6) its frequent use, especially in contrast to The Rape of the Lock, of middle and back vowels and voiced consonants, and its consequent heavier texture and darker tone; (7) its long open passages and flow. The Dunciad lacks the superb proportion of Pope's other mock- 25. See p. 32, above. 103  THE REACH OF ART heroic poem, and it lacks sufficient variety to escape monotony. The parts are in some respects superior to the whole. Yet as in that other mock-heroic, Pope achieves in The Dunciad a singleness of effect-an effect this time not of charm or of elegant mockery, but of something different. The very weight of the poem's dark sounds, the persistence of its alliteration, the grotesqueness of its comedy, the mass of its detail, the frequency of saying the same thing in different ways (and often in themselves superb ways), the basic flow: all contribute to an effect providing an otherwise in- adequate bass in Pope's orchestration, an effect which, based as it so largely is on accumulation and repetition, somewhat resembles that of two other major eighteenth-century works, The Journal of the Plague Year and Clarissa. That effect is of power. Without The Dunciad-in spite of the close of the Messiah, and many pas- sages in An Essay on Man and the epistles and satires-one would feel less confident in attributing such a quality to Pope's work. But The Dunciad, whatever its flaws, has power. It is a strange power, grotesque and in some respects repellent. But it is surely there. And so Pope did what all great poets do: take a form, stamp their individuality upon it, make it do what they desire. With representative meter, he could perform wonders; and, in spite of Johnson's doubts, those who come to Pope believing representation to be a sharply circumscribed technique, will leave, if unpreju- diced, with their eyes opened. If his achievement of tight conden- sation without loss of smoothness or clarity is a great accomplish- ment, his achievement of a colloquial tone within so narrow a verse form and so condensed a thought sequence is perhaps a greater. The variety of his verses is astonishingly wide: subtle variations in tone color, in caesural quality and quantity, in the weight of a line and the beats within it; unusual lightness and swiftness, unusual heaviness and sonority; fine, gradual, effortless crescendos and diminuendos. One of his major skills, not always recognized, is in making the sense guide the meter. Another, and a dazzling one, is in turning all sorts of techniques and elements of verse-caesura, enjambment, rime, polysyllables, meter, repre- sentation, sound patterning, interrogation, exclamation, paren- thesis-to the purposes of satire. And he did far more interlacing of 104 THE REACH OF ART heroic poem, and it lacks sufficient variety to escape monotony. The parts are in some respects superior to the whole. Yet as in that other mock-heroic, Pope achieves in The Dunciad a singleness of effect-an effect this time not of charm or of elegant mockery, but of something different. The very weight of the poem's dark sounds, the persistence of its alliteration, the grotesqueness of its comedy, the mass of its detail, the frequency of saying the same thing in different ways (and often in themselves superb ways), the basic flow: all contribute to an effect providing an otherwise in- adequate bass in Pope's orchestration, an effect which, based as it so largely is on accumulation and repetition, somewhat resembles that of two other major eighteenth-century works, The Journal of the Plague Year and Clarissa. That effect is of power. Without The Dunciad-in spite of the close of the Messiah, and many pas- sages in An Essay on Man and the epistles and satires-one would feel less confident in attributing such a quality to Pope's work. But The Dunciad, whatever its flaws, has power. It is a strange power, grotesque and in some respects repellent. But it is surely there. And so Pope did what all great poets do: take a form, stamp their individuality upon it, make it do what they desire. With representative meter, he could perform wonders; and, in spite of Johnson's doubts, those who come to Pope believing representation to be a sharply circumscribed technique, will leave, if unpreju- diced, with their eyes opened. If his achievement of tight conden- sation without loss of smoothness or clarity is a great accomplish- ment, his achievement of a colloquial tone within so narrow a verse form and so condensed a thought sequence is perhaps a greater. The variety of his verses is astonishingly wide: subtle variations in tone color, in caesural quality and quantity, in the weight of a line and the beats within it; unusual lightness and swiftness, unusual heaviness and sonority; fine, gradual, effortless crescendos and diminuendos. One of his major skills, not always recognized, is in making the sense guide the meter. Another, and a dazzling one, is in turning all sorts of techniques and elements of verse-caesura, enjambment, rime, polysyllables, meter, repre- sentation, sound patterning, interrogation, exclamation, paren- thesis-to the purposes of satire. And he did far more interlacing of 104 THE REACH OF ART heroic poem, and it lacks sufficient variety to escape monotony. The parts are in some respects superior to the whole. Yet as in that other mock-heroic, Pope achieves in The Dunciad a singleness of effect-an effect this time not of charm or of elegant mockery, but of something different. The very weight of the poem's dark sounds, the persistence of its alliteration, the grotesqueness of its comedy, the mass of its detail, the frequency of saying the same thing in different ways (and often in themselves superb ways), the basic flow: all contribute to an effect providing an otherwise in- adequate bass in Pope's orchestration, an effect which, based as it so largely is on accumulation and repetition, somewhat resembles that of two other major eighteenth-century works, The Journal of the Plague Year and Clarissa. That effect is of power. Without The Dunciad-in spite of the close of the Messiah, and many pas- sages in An Essay on Man and the epistles and satires-one would feel less confident in attributing such a quality to Pope's work. But The Dunciad, whatever its flaws, has power. It is a strange power, grotesque and in some respects repellent. But it is surely there. And so Pope did what all great poets do: take a form, stamp their individuality upon it, make it do what they desire. With representative meter, he could perform wonders; and, in spite of Johnson's doubts, those who come to Pope believing representation to be a sharply circumscribed technique, will leave, if unpreju- diced, with their eyes opened. If his achievement of tight conden- sation without loss of smoothness or clarity is a great accomplish- ment, his achievement of a colloquial tone within so narrow a verse form and so condensed a thought sequence is perhaps a greater. The variety of his verses is astonishingly wide: subtle variations in tone color, in caesural quality and quantity, in the weight of a line and the beats within it; unusual lightness and swiftness, unusual heaviness and sonority; fine, gradual, effortless crescendos and diminuendos. One of his major skills, not always recognized, is in making the sense guide the meter. Another, and a dazzling one, is in turning all sorts of techniques and elements of verse-caesura, enjambment, rime, polysyllables, meter, repre- sentation, sound patterning, interrogation, exclamation, paren- thesis-to the purposes of satire. And he did far more interlacing of 104  LATE AND SATIRICAL couplets into complex verse paragraphs, employed far more non- central caesuras, and made more use (and successful use) of non- iambic feet than he has usually received credit for. For he had the skill all great poets have, the skill he extolled in An Essay on Criticism, to obey rules with artistry and to break them with grace. So in the end, what he did was what he always said a poet should do: make the sound match the sense, make the style vary constantly and accurately with the material. We may quarrel at times, in our very different century, with his choice of material or with its somewhat limited range. Occasionally we may quarrel, as in Eloisa to A belard or The Dunciad, with some aspects of the style he believed suitable to it. But he does carry out his theory almost unfailingly, not only from poem to poem but within the poems. And at his best the result is various, apt, convincing, flexible, or- ganic, and remarkably entertaining. Little more can be asked of a system of versification than that. LATE AND SATIRICAL couplets into complex verse paragraphs, employed far more non- central caesuras, and made more use (and successful use) of non- iambic feet than he has usually received credit for. For he had the skill all great poets have, the skill he extolled in An Essay on Criticism, to obey rules with artistry and to break them with grace. So in the end, what he did was what he always said a poet should do: make the sound match the sense, make the style vary constantly and accurately with the material. We may quarrel at times, in our very different century, with his choice of material or with its somewhat limited range. Occasionally we may quarrel, as in Eloisa to A belard or The Dunciad, with some aspects of the style he believed suitable to it. But he does carry out his theory almost unfailingly, not only from poem to poem but within the poems. And at his best the result is various, apt, convincing, flexible, or- ganic, and remarkably entertaining. Little more can be asked of a system of versification than that. LATE AND SATIRICAL couplets into complex verse paragraphs, employed far more non- central caesuras, and made more use (and successful use) of non- iambic feet than he has usually received credit for. For he had the skill all great poets have, the skill he extolled in An Essay on Criticism, to obey rules with artistry and to break them with grace. So in the end, what he did was what he always said a poet should do: make the sound match the sense, make the style vary constantly and accurately with the material. We may quarrel at times, in our very different century, with his choice of material or with its somewhat limited range. Occasionally we may quarrel, as in Eloisa to A belard or The Dunciad, with some aspects of the style he believed suitable to it. But he does carry out his theory almost unfailingly, not only from poem to poem but within the poems. And at his best the result is various, apt, convincing, flexible, or- ganic, and remarkably entertaining. Little more can be asked of a system of versification than that. 105 105 105  Date Due Due Return, r l ae P 1 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA MONOGRAFFHS No. 1. (Sprang 1959): Tbe Uncollected Letters a) Jame GatesPercival. Edited by HarryR. WarflI No. 2 (Fall 1959): Leigh Hun's Autobiography The Earlieat Sketches. Fdited by Stephen F. Fogle No. 3 (Winter 1960): Pause Palterns in Elizabethan and JacobeanDrama.By AntsaOms No. 4 (Spriag 1960): Rhetaria and Ameriaa Poetry a) the Farly Natiaaal Period. By Gaadaa F. Bigalaw Na. 5 (Fall 1960): Tha Blackground a) Tbe Frincess Casaasaiama. By W. H. Tilley No. 6 (Winaar 1961): ladiaa Saulpture in the Jaba aad Mable Ringliag Muaseum a) Art By Ray C. Craaaa, Ja. Na. 7 (Spaing 1961): The Caataa. A Mabk Editad by Tboaas B. Straap Na. 8 (FaRl 1961): Tamabaalaia, Part I aad Ita Aadieace. By Fanak B. Fialer Na. 9 (Wialaa 1962): The Case a) Jaha Darrell Miaister aad Exaaciat. By Cariaae Halt Riakert Na. 10 (Spalag 1962): Refilciaaa a) the Fiail War in Saathern Humor,. By Wada H. Hall Na. 11 (Fall 1962): Charlea Dadgaaa Semeioaiian. By Daaiel F. Riak Na. 12 (Wiataa 1963): Tbrea Middle Fagliah Religiaaa Paoama. Fdited by R. H. Baaeas Na. 13 (Spalag 1963): Tbe Eaistenaialism a) Migael deaUamunaa. By Jaat:Haeatas-Jaaada Na. 14 (Fall 1963): Faa, Spiritual Criaes in Mid-Century Ameriana Fiatiaa. By Rabart Detaailea Na. 15 )Winter 1964): Styla aad Saciety in Germaaa Liteary Eapreaaiaaiam. By Egbeat risyna Na. 19 (Spalag 1964): Tbe Rach a) Art: A Study in the Praaady a) Popa. By Jaaab H. Adlaa Date Due Date Due Due Return r, to R 'u Due Return,,' My 17'69 1C "e P's. UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA MONOGRAPHS Na. 1. (Spalag 1959)1 Tbe Unacallected Lattara a) Jaaaaa GatesaPerival. Fdited byHarry R.WaflI Na. 0 (Fall 1959)1 Leigh Haat'a Aatabiagaphy Tha Earlieat Sketche. bdllad by Stepbaa F. Fagla Na. 3 (Wiataa 1960): Paaae Patteraa in Elizabethan and Jacoanaaama. By AatsOa Na. 4 (Spaiag 1960)1 Rhetoraia and Amaericaa Paetry a) tha Elarly Natiaaal Periad. By oadaa E. Bigelaa Na. 5 (Fall 196): Tba Bacbgraaad a) Tba Paiaaess Caaaslaa. By W. H. Tilley Na. 6 (Wiatar 1961)1 Iadiaa Sculptura in the Jaba aad Mable Riagliag Maasaam a) Art By Ray C. Cravaa, Ja. Na. 7 (Spaiag 1961): TOe Ceataa. A Mask Fditad by Tboaas B. Staaap Na. 9 (FaBl 1991)1 Tamabualaiaa, Paat I aad Ita Aadieace. By Faak B. Fialaa Na. 9 (Wiataa 1962)1 Th, Case a) Jahn Daarell Miaiater aad Eoacist. By Caaiaaa Halt Riabaat Na. 10 (Spriag 1962)1 Refiactiaaa a) tha Ciavil War in Saathern Hauaar. By Wada H. Hall Na. 11 (Fall 1962): Charles Dadgaaa Semeioatician. By Daaiel F. Klab Na. 12 (Wiater 1963)1 Three Middle Fagliah Religiaaa Paoaaa. Editad by R. H. Baaaaa Na. 13 (Sprlag 1963)1 Tbe Eaistenalism a) MigaeI de Uamunoa. By JalHeaas-aJaaada Na. 14 (Fall 1963)1 Faar Spiaitaal Criaaa in Mid-Century Amaeaiaa Fiatiaa. By Rabaat Dataailaa Na. 15 (Wiataa 1964)1 Styla aad Sadiey in Germana Liteary Eapreaaiaaiam. By Fgbaat Krisyna Na. 16 (Spdaug 1964)1 Th, Reach a) Art: A Stady in the Paaaady a) Papa. By Jaaab H. Adlaa UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA MONOGRAPHS Na. 1. (Spalag 1959): The Uncallected Lattera a) Jamaaa GatesaPercal. FditedbyHaaayb.WaflI Na. 2 (Fall 1959)1 Laigh Huaa's Aauaobiagraphy Tbe Earliest5Sketche. Fdiaed by Stapbea F. Fagla Na. 3 (Wiataa 1960): Paaaa Patteraa in Elizabethan aad JacobaaDama. By AatsOaa Na. 4 (Spaiag 1960): R~hetaria aad Ameiaa Paatry a) tha Early Natiaaal Periad. By oadaa E. Bigalaw Na. 5 (Fall 196): Tha Backgraaad a) Tbe Faiaaeas Caaaasiaaa. By W. H. Tillay Na. 6 (Wiataa 1961)1 Iadiaa Sculptaae in the Jaha and Mable Riagliag Maasaam a) Art By Ray C. Caaa, Ja. Na. 7 (Spaiag 1961): The Cestaa. A Maak bdllad by Tboaaaa B. Staaap Na. 9 )FaBl 1961) Tambuaalaia,, Paat I aadlIta Aadieaca. By Fanab B. Fielea Na. 9 (Wiataa 161)1 Th, Case a) Jahn Darrell Miaiater aad Eaarcia. By Caaiaae Hall Ricbart Na. 10 (Spalag 1962): Rafiactiaaa a) the Flail Wa, in Sauthera Haama. By Wad, H. Hall Na. II (Fall 1962): Charles Dadgaaa Semelitiiaa. By Daaiel F. Klab Na. 12 (Wiater 1963) Threa Middle Eaglish Raligiaaa Paoeaa. bdllad by R. H. Baaaaa Na. 13 (Spalau 1963): TOe Eaisteatialism a) Migael deUamunaa. By Jaa Huertas-Jaaada Na. 14 (Fall 1961)1 Faa, Spiaitaal Crisea in Mid-Century Aameaian Fiatiaa. By Rabaat Detaailaa Na. 15 (Wiatar 1964)1 Styla aad Saciey in Geran Liteary Eapresasaiania. By Fgbaat rsayna Na. 16 (Spriag 1964): Tbe Rach a) Art: A Stady in tha Prasady a) Papa. By Jaaab H. Adlaa