Pope--An
Essay on Criticism
Pope has the
same sort of genial, pragmatic quality that Horace has. In fact,
his poetic "essay" starts out with a quote from
Horace: "If you know of any maxims superior to these, let
me know of them; if not, make use of these as I do."
Pope's advice on
writing and critiquing poetry can be broken down--in my
view--into three essentials:
1) follow nature in
writing--the rules of poetry "discovered" by the
ancients are consonant with the rules of nature;
2) art cannot be expected to
be wholly perfect and without flaws, and the critic should not
"make the whole depend upon a part" in critiquing a
work or a genre--in this way Pope dispenses with arguments over
the relative superiority of the ancients or the moderns,
domestic or foreign poets, etc.;
3) do not be overly harsh in
criticism, and do not be overly attached to the newest, latest
thing, or the oldest, most traditional thing--"Regard not
then if with be old or new, / But blame the false, and value
still the true."
Pope
would probably be described as a literary conservative today: he
emphasizes the necessity of familiarity with the literary
tradition for both the poet and the critic. He also emphasizes
the writer's intention in critical interpretation: "In
ev'ry work regard the writer's end, / Since none can compass
more than they intend," a position which the now-old New
critics term the Intentional fallacy. |