Alexander Pope's Birthday

[Maximilianus]

Hi all, this is my first post, so let's see how I do it.

I happened to learn from another site that May 21st is Alexander's Pope birthday and as I don't know if you know, I just wanted to make it noticeable.

Besides, I must say that I couldn't find his name on the Author's List and I wonder: Shouldn't he be included on it? Let's remember he is, after Shakespeare and Tennyson, the third most frequently quoted writer in the English language. :)

[Niamh]

really? well then happy birthday mr pope!
I have a translation of the Illiad by Pope...

[quasimodo1]

Essay on Man, Epistle II
by Alexander Pope


I. Know, then, thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the stoic’s pride,
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;
Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much:
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused, or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!
Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides,
Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;
Instruct the planets in what orbs to run,
Correct old time, and regulate the sun;
Go, soar with Plato to th’ empyreal sphere,
To the first good, first perfect, and first fair;
Or tread the mazy round his followers trod,
And quitting sense call imitating God;
As Eastern priests in giddy circles run,
And turn their heads to imitate the sun.
Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule—
Then drop into thyself, and be a fool!
Superior beings, when of late they saw
A mortal man unfold all Nature’s law,
Admired such wisdom in an earthly shape
And showed a Newton as we show an ape.
Could he, whose rules the rapid comet bind,
Describe or fix one movement of his mind?
Who saw its fires here rise, and there descend,
Explain his own beginning, or his end?
Alas, what wonder! man’s superior part
Unchecked may rise, and climb from art to art;
But when his own great work is but begun,
What reason weaves, by passion is undone.
Trace Science, then, with Modesty thy guide;
First strip off all her equipage of pride;
Deduct what is but vanity or dress,
Or learning’s luxury, or idleness;
Or tricks to show the stretch of human brain,
Mere curious pleasure, or ingenious pain;
Expunge the whole, or lop th’ excrescent parts
Of all our vices have created arts;
Then see how little the remaining sum,
Which served the past, and must the times to come!

[breathtest]

Same day as my birthday. maybe it is a sign...

[Maximilianus]

really? well then happy birthday mr pope!
I have a translation of the Illiad by Pope...

Oh yes, his translation of The Iliad appeared between 1715 and 1720 and encouraged by its success he also translated The Odyssey, translation which appeared from 1725 to 1726. Apparently his Odyssey was a more arduous task and he got help from William Broome and Elijah Fenton (he tried to keep this secret, but somehow it leaked out and this damaged his reputation for a while).

[Maximilianus]

Essay on Man, Epistle II
by Alexander Pope


I. Know, then, thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the stoic’s pride,
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;
Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;
...

Great poem, isn't it?

"All sudden Gorgons hiss, and Dragons glare,
And ten-horn'd fiends and Giants rush to war.
Hell rises, Heav'n descends, and dance on Earth;
Gods, imps, and monsters, music, rage, and mirth,
A fire, a jigg, a battle, and a ball,
'Till one wide conflagration swallows all.
:Thence a new world to Nature's laws unknown,
Breaks out refulgent, with a heav'n its own."

(from his satire The Dunciad (1728), B III 235-42)

[Maximilianus]

Same day as my birthday. maybe it is a sign...

It probably is :thumbs_up :)

[Lokasenna]

Not a massive fan of Pope (or the 18th Century in general really). The only poem I really enjoyed was Eloisa to Abelard, which, it must be said, is a certifiable work of genius. The Dunciad is quite good as well, though not as enjoyably misanthropic as Swift's poetry.

Still, happy birthday Mr. Pope!