MD Study Notes

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He was born in 1688
He was a poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era
He was mainly self-educated
Health problems limited his physical activities, leading him to spend more time reading and writing
He translated Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
The famous quote “To err is human, to forgive, divine” comes from his work An Essay on Criticism

Published in 1711
It is one of Pope's first major poems
It is a verse essay
The work is about how writers and critics behave in Pope's contemporary age
- Bad criticism does greater harm than bad writing
- A common fault of poets is that they settle for easy and clichéd rhymes
- References to ancient writers such as Virgil, Homer, and Aristotle → the "Imitation of the ancients" should be considered as the ultimate standard for taste and quality

First published in 1712
It is a mock-heroic narrative poem
It is an example of high burlesque → caricatures and parodies
The poem satirises a minor incident by comparing it to the epic world of the gods
The poem is based on an event that Alexander Pope's friend, John Caryll, recounted to him
- The tale involves two members of important Catholic families
- Lord Petre cuts off a lock of Arabella Fermor's hair without permission, and the consequent argument creates a breach between the two families