An Essay on Criticism

Summary

An Essay on Criticism is a verse essay in heroic couplets that Alexander Pope published anonymously in 1711, when he was twenty-three. It sets out, in the manner of Horace's Art of Poetry and Boileau's L'Art poétique, the principles by which writers and readers should judge poems, and much of it has passed into proverb. Pope divides the poem into three parts. The first argues that good critics, like good poets, are rare, and that both must take their light from heaven and their rules from nature. The ancients, above all Homer, discovered nature's rules, and their works remain the best guides: to copy nature is to copy them. Rules are needed, yet a great writer may sometimes snatch a grace beyond the reach of art, and the critic must judge the whole work rather than hunting for faults in its parts. The second part, the longest, diagnoses the causes of bad criticism. Pride comes first, then a little learning, which Pope calls dangerous: drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring of the Muses. Critics err by judging by parts instead of the whole, by loving conceits and glittering wit, by admiring language for its own sake, by attending only to metre, and by following fashion, party or envy. In a famous passage Pope makes the sound of his own verse echo its sense, slowing for the labour of Ajax and racing with Camilla. He defines true wit as nature to advantage dressed, what was often thought but never so well expressed. The third part turns from intellect to character. A good critic must be honest, modest, courteous and generous; he should speak the truth with tact, remember that to err is human and to forgive divine, and avoid the rash folly of those who rush in where angels fear to tread. The poem ends with a short history of criticism from Aristotle and Horace through Quintilian, Longinus and the Renaissance to Pope's own day. For classical Christian students the essay is a primer in judgment: it teaches that taste can be trained, that humility and charity belong to good reading, and that rules serve a deeper order. It is also a model of the couplet, packing argument into memorable two-line units, and it pairs naturally with Horace's Ars Poetica, which Pope admired and imitated.

Plot or Argument

• Contents

  Pope's prose summary of the argument, part by part.

• Part I: nature, the ancients and the rules

  True taste is as rare as genius; follow nature; the rules are nature methodised; the ancients, especially Homer, are the best guides; genius may snatch a grace beyond the rules.

• Part II: causes of bad criticism

  Pride, a little learning, judging by parts, love of conceits and ornament, attention only to metre, partiality, fashion and envy; the sound must echo the sense.

• Part III: the good critic and the history of criticism

  The critic's morals: truth, modesty, good breeding and generosity; a survey from Aristotle and Horace to Pope's friend William Walsh.

Characters

• The critic, subject

  The reader and judge of poems whose faults and virtues Pope describes.

• Homer, model

  The poet in whom nature and the rules were found to be the same.

• Aristotle, Horace, Quintilian and Longinus, ancient critics

  The masters of criticism praised in the closing survey.

• William Walsh, friend

  The critic and early mentor of Pope praised at the end.

Lessons

• A little learning

  Pope warns that shallow knowledge makes people proud, while deeper study makes them humble. The lines apply to every subject.

  • What does Pope mean by drink deep, or taste not?
  • Why is a little learning dangerous?
  • Where have you seen this in your own study?

• Judging the whole

  A good critic reads a work as a whole and does not hunt for small faults. Charity and fairness are part of good reading.

  • What faults of critics does Pope list?
  • Why is it unfair to judge by parts?
  • How might this apply to judging people?

• To err is human

  Pope ends with the moral qualities of a critic: truth, modesty, courtesy and forgiveness.

  • What does to forgive, divine imply about God?
  • How does Colossians 3:13 relate to this line?
  • Why does Pope join good taste and good character?

Context

In Queen Anne's reign English writers looked to the classical and French neoclassical critics for rules of good writing. Pope, a young Catholic poet without a university education, drew on Horace, Boileau, Quintilian and Longinus to join the debate.

Composition

Published anonymously in May 1711. The library's text is Thomas Marc Parrott's school edition (1906), which prints Pope's prose Contents and the whole poem; part divisions follow Pope's Contents.

Reception

The poem made Pope's name and drew an angry reply from the critic John Dennis, whom it mocked. Many of its lines became proverbs, and it remained a standard school text into the twentieth century.

Comparisons

• The Art of Poetry (Ars Poetica)

  Pope's chief classical model, also a verse letter of precepts on writing.

• Poetics

  Aristotle, praised in the closing survey, first systematised the rules Pope defends.

• An Essay on Man

  Pope's later verse essay turns the same couplet art to questions of God and human nature.

• Biographia Literaria

  Coleridge's critical autobiography offers a Romantic alternative to Pope's neoclassical rules.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The comparison of judgments to watches at the start.
• The claim that nature and Homer were the same.
• The list of the causes of bad criticism in Part II.
• Passages where the sound echoes the sense.
• The moral portrait of the good critic in Part III.

Key terms and names

Wit

In Pope's age, intelligence, imagination and verbal brilliance together, not only humour.

Neoclassicism

The movement that took the ancient classics and their rules as models.

Pierian spring

A spring sacred to the Muses; to drink from it is to learn deeply.

Heroic couplet

Two rhymed lines of iambic pentameter.

Conceit

An elaborate, ingenious figure of speech.

Decorum

Fitness of style and matter to the subject.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension What does Pope compare judgments to in the opening lines?
2. Comprehension Why are the ancients the best guides, according to Part I?
3. Comprehension Name three causes of bad criticism listed in Part II.
4. Interpretation What does Pope mean by true wit, and how is it different from cleverness?
5. Interpretation How does Pope make sound echo sense in the passage on Ajax and Camilla?
6. Interpretation Why does a little learning make critics proud?
7. Big Question Is good taste learned or born, and does it require good character?

Faith Connections

• Colossians 3:13 (Scripture)

  Bear with one another and forgive, as the Lord has forgiven you: the root of to forgive, divine.

• Proverbs 18:2 (Scripture)

  A fool takes no pleasure in understanding but only in expressing his opinion, as Pope's fools rush in.

• James 3:1-2 (Scripture)

  Not many should become teachers, for we all stumble: a sober word for critics.

• Augustine, On Christian Doctrine (Church Fathers)

  Augustine teaches charitable reading and that knowledge must serve love.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Good judgment, like good writing, is rare and must follow nature as the ancients revealed it; bad criticism springs from pride, shallow learning and partiality; therefore the good critic must join knowledge with humility, honesty and generosity.

Rhetorical device: onomatopoeia and metrical imitation. When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, the line too labours: Pope makes the verse act out its meaning.

Debate: Resolved: that a good critic must be a good person.

Memory Work

A little learning is a dang'rous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.

To err is human, to forgive, divine.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Explain Pope's portrait of the good critic and argue whether his standards still apply to reviews today.

Comparison with The Art of Poetry (Ars Poetica): Compare Pope's Essay with Horace's Art of Poetry: what does Pope keep from Horace, and what does he add?

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Have each student choose one couplet that has become a proverb and explain its meaning in the poem and in everyday use.

• Essay

  Does good criticism require good character? Use Part III of the Essay to argue your answer.

• Poetry

  Write a set of six heroic couplets of advice on how to read a book well.

• Dialogue

  Write an exchange between Pope and Horace on whether rules help or hinder genius.

Further Reading

• The Art of Poetry, Horace

  Pope's chief model, in the library.

• Poetics, Aristotle

  The first systematic treatise on poetry.

• Alexander Pope: A Life, Maynard Mack

  The standard modern biography (1985).

• Lives of the Poets, Samuel Johnson

  Johnson's life of Pope praises the Essay as a youthful masterpiece.