Pope (ALEXANDER an poet born)

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

ALEXANDER, an poet; born in London, May 21, 1688. father was a devout Catholic. Pope small, delicate, and much deformed .... 1294 education was a desultory one. He picked up the rudiments of Greek and Latin from the family priest, and was successively sent to two schools, one at ..1305 Twyford, the other in London. He was taken home at the age of 12. Before he 1316 was 15 he attempted an epic poem, and at the age of 16 his "Pastorals" pro- 1334 cured him notice. In 1711 he published 1342 his poem the "Essay on Criticism," which 1352 was followed by "The Rape of the Lock," a polished and witty narrative poem founded on an incident of fashionable life. His next publications were "The Temple of Fame," a modernization and 1378 adaptation of Chaucer's "House of Fame"; "Windsor Forest," a pastoral poem (1713); and "The Epistle of Eloisa 1404 to Abelard" (1717). From 1713 to 1726 1406 .1409 he was engaged on a poetical translation 1410 of Homer's works, the "Iliad" (completed Fe- 1417 " in Odyssey 1720) " being only wholly half. The from pecuniary his pen, the re- 1431 1447 1455 1458 1464 1471 .... 1484 1492 1503 1503 1513 1522 1523 1534 .1550 1555 1555 .1559 1566 1572 1585 .1590 ..1590 1591 1592 1605 1605 1621 1623 1644 1655 .1667 1670 1676 ... 1689 1691 1700 1721 1724 1730 .... 1740 1758 1769 1775 ALEXANDER POPE 1800 .1823 1829 sults of these translations showed a total 1831 profit of nearly $45,000. In 1728 he 1846 ..1878 published his "Dunciad," a mock heroic 1903 poem intended to overwhelm his antago- 1914 nists with ridicule. This was followed by "Imitations of Horace" and by "Moral English Epistles" or "Essays." His "Essay on His Man" was published anonymously in was 1733, and completed ompleted and avowed by the . His author in the next year. In 1742 he added a fourth book to his "Dunciad." Pope was vain and irascible, and seems to have been equally open to flattery and prone to resentment; yet he was kindhearted and stanch to his friends, among whom he reckoned Swift, Arbuthnot, and Gay. His great weakness was a disposition to artifice to acquire reputation and applause. As a poet , no English writer has carried further correctness of versification. A large number of his letters were published in his own lifetime. He died in Twickenham, May 30, 1744. named had been appointed to all the high offices of the State, and that the extirpation of Protestantism was intended. On the strength of his allegation, various persons, including Viscount Stafford, were executed. Gradually evidence arose that the whole story was a fabrication. On May 8, 1685, Oates, who had received a pension of $10,000 for his revelations, was convicted of perjury, heavily fined, pilloried, and publicly flogged. He survived, making several attempts to exploit new plots, but deservedly despised. Died in 1705.