The Rape of the Lock and Other Major Writings: Poems and Other Writings (Penguin Classics)

by Alexander Pope

  189. My modest satire bade translate: Pope’s satire showed other poets that they should stick to translation, since their attempts at original works were so bad.

  190. Tate: Nahum Tate, Poet Laureate at the end of the seventeenth century, and notorious for his adaptation of King Lear with a happy ending.

  197. fond … alone: i.e. fond of ruling all alone.

  198. the Turk: Sultans were believed to have their close relatives murdered in order to forestall rebellion.

  209. Cato: Roman patriot celebrated in Addison’s tragedy Cato. See Pope’s ‘Prologue’ to the play, 23 and note.

  211. templars: Law students, in a London site known as the Temple after its former religious status. See also Horace, Epistle, II, ii, 127n.

  214. Atticus: See ‘Windsor Forest’, 258n. (with an obvious reference here to Addison’s name).

  215. rubric: Red letters on a book’s title-page.

  216. claps: Posters ‘clapped’, or hung, on posts outside a bookseller’s shop.

  217. hawkers’s: Street peddlers.

  222. birthday song: The main obligation of the Poet Laureate was to write birthday and New Year odes for the monarch, who is imagined here as ignoring them.

  223. witlings: See ‘Essay on Criticism’, 40n.

  225. daggled: ‘to daggle: to be in the mire; to run through wet or dirt’ (Dictionary, citing this line).

  228. orange: Commonly sold in theatres.

  230. Bufo: Toad (Latin), used here to suggest a complacent patron. Castalian: Spring below the twin peaks of Mount Parnassus (the ‘forkèd hill’ (231)).

  232. puffed by ev’ry quill: Given exaggerated praise by every quill pen.

  236. Pindar: Greek lyric poet; the allusion ‘ridicules the affectation of antiquaries who frequently exhibit the headless trunks and terms of statues for Plato, Homer, Pindar, etc.’ (Pope’s note).

  239. seat: Country seat, estate.

  243. dry rehearsal: Recitation, ‘dry’ because boring, and also because no port is offered.

  244. paid in kind: He disappoints them by repaying them not with money but with poems of his own.

  248. helped to bury: ‘Mr Dryden, after having lived in exigencies, had a magnificent funeral bestowed upon him by the contribution of several persons of quality’ (Pope’s note).

  249. grey goose quill: Favoured for making pens.

  258. tell it on his tomb: Pope contributed the epitaph for John Gay’s monument in Westminster Abbey, which begins: ‘Of manners gentle, of affections mild; / In wit, a man; simplicity, a child; / With native humour temp’ring virtuous rage, / Formed to delight at once and lash the age.’ See also ‘Epistle to T. Blount’, 47n.

  260. Queensberry: During his final years Gay lived with the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, who commissioned his monument in Westminster Abbey.

  262. ‘To live … do’: Pope quotes from Of Prudence, by John Denham.

  276. Balbus: A Roman lawyer.

  279. for mine … mistakes: Poems, including Pope’s, often appeared anonymously at first, and he was accustomed to having others’ bad verses attributed to him.

  280. Sir Will: Sir William Yonge, Whig politician regarded as sycophantic toward Walpole. Bubo: See ‘IV Burlington’, 20n.

  282. coxcomb: See ‘Essay on Criticism’, 27n.

  290. copies out: i.e. plagiarizes.

  296. injured, to defend: i.e. to defend you when you’ve been injured.

  300. Cannons: See ‘I Cobham’, 54 and note and ‘IV Burlington’, 99 and note.

  305. Sporus: Handsome young slave whom Nero had castrated and then married. Pope’s target is Hervey; ‘painted’ (310) refers to his use of cosmetics.

  306. asses’ milk: Taken as a tonic by invalids, including Hervey and Pope.

  308. wheel: ‘an instrument on which criminals are tortured’ (Dictionary).

  318. prompter: The prime minister, Robert Walpole. puppet: Hervey.

  319. Eve: Hervey’s confidante Queen Caroline. familiar toad: ‘familiar: a demon supposed to attend at call’ (Dictionary), such as a witch’s cat; in Book IV of Paradise Lost Satan lurks in the form of a toad at Eve’s ear.

  324. master … miss: Referring to Hervey’s equivocal sexuality.

  328. at the board: At table.

  330. rabbins: Rabbis.

  332. parts: Abilities.

  343. stood: Withstood.

  349. The blow unfelt: There was a false claim that Pope had been assaulted in 1728.

  351. trash: ‘profane Psalms, court poems, and many libelous things in his name, printed by Curll, etc.’ (Pope’s note).

  353. the pictured shape: Caricaturists mocked Pope’s deformity by picturing him as an ape.

  355. friend in exile: Bishop Atterbury, to whom Pope remained loyal when he was accused of conspiring to restore the Stuart monarchy and then exiled to France. See also ‘Dunciad’, IV, 22n.

  356. still: ‘always; ever; continually’ (Dictionary).

  363. Japhet: Japhet Crook: See ‘III Bathurst’, 86n.

  365. Knight of the post: Someone paid to give false evidence. of the shire: Member of Parliament elected to represent a county.

  367. lose his own: In flagrant cases the pillory could be accompanied by cutting off the offender’s ears.

  369. bit: Tricked, cheated.

  371. friend to his distress: When Dennis fell into poverty, Pope helped to organize a theatrical benefit performance for him.

  375. Three thousand suns: i.e. more than ten years, with an allusion to ‘Let not the sun go down upon your wrath’ (Ephesians 4:26). Welsted’s lie: Leonard Welsted, a minor poet and translator, who frequently attacked Pope; in a long footnote Pope detailed some of his lies.

  378–9. Budgell … will: Another critic of Pope, suspected of having forged a will in his own favour; see also ‘Donne’, 51n.

  380. two Curlls: i.e. Edmund Curll and Hervey.

  383. fool: ‘Whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire’ (Matthew 5:22).

  391. Bestia: Roman consul who accepted bribes, possibly alluding to the Duke of Marlborough.

  396. suits: Lawsuits.

  397. oath: Catholics who refused to take an oath of loyalty lost various rights; for Pope’s father to have sworn the oath would have been ‘a lie’.

  405. Who sprung … than I: Imitated from the final line of Horace, Satire, I, iii.

  410. lenient: ‘softening, mitigating’ (Dictionary).

  412. Explore: Find by searching for.

  415. preserve my friend: As Pope knew, Arbuthnot’s illness was terminal; he died soon after the poem was published.

  417. served a queen: Arbuthnot had been Queen Anne’s physician.

  [Imitations of Horace]

  During the 1730s Pope became increasingly interested in a genre that had been popular ever since the previous century, the free adaptation of classical poems to modern British circumstances, with the original Latin text printed on facing pages (as it is in vol. IV of the Twickenham edition) for the enjoyment of readers who could appreciate the substitution of modern parallels for ancient names and events. The parallels are frequently ironic, above all in ‘To Augustus’, Pope’s imitation of Satire, II, i, in which the dull and philistine George II – christened, by happy coincidence, George Augustus – is implicitly contrasted with the great emperor Augustus to whom the Horatian original was addressed. In these poems Pope extended the conversational style and topical allusiveness of ‘An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’, and developed a unique blend of plain speaking, satiric innuendo, and social commentary.

  In all, Pope imitated four of the eighteen Satires of Horace and five of the twenty-two Epistles. In actuality, the two categories are not really very different, since satire in the classical context derived from the word satura, a mixed dish or medley, and did not need to be full of ridicule and invective throughout. Modern editions usually print these poems in order of publication, interspersed with other poems from the same period, but there is no real reaso
n to do so, since the two satires given here came out within a year of each other in 1733–4, and the three epistles likewise in 1737–8.

  In addition to the conversational poems, Pope imitated two of Horace’s Odes, with results that perhaps show that the lyric mode was less suited to his gifts. Ode, IV, i, first published in 1737, follows the Horatian original quite closely; IV, ix, is a fragment published after his death, and is much looser and imitates only four of the original thirteen stanzas (1–3, 7). Pope’s lengthy titles (e.g. ‘The First Satire of the Second Book of Horace’) have been shortened (Satire, II, i).

  Satire, II, i

  Dedication: Mr Fortescue: William Fortescue held the high judiciary post of Master of the Rolls, and Pope often consulted him on legal matters; in this dialogue he is the Friend (Fr.), while Pope or Poet is P.

  3. Peter: Peter Walter: See ‘III Bathurst’, 20n.; also 40, 89 and note below. complaisant: ‘civil; desirous to please’ (Dictionary).

  4. Chartres: See ‘Essay on Man’, IV, 130n.

  6. Lord Fanny: Lord John Hervey: see ‘Arbuthnot’, Advertisement note and 149 and note.

  15. for your: i.e. to save your.

  18. Lettuce: Believed to inhibit sexual desire. cowslip wine: A soporific. probatum est: ‘it has been proved’ (i.e. tested and shown to be an effective remedy).

  19. Celsus: Roman medical writer, used here as a name for any physician.

  20. Hartshorn: Drug made from the antlers of deer (harts).

  21. Caesar: Ironic term for George II (but in Horace’s original, a genuine compliment to the Emperor Augustus).

  22. bays: The laurel crown of poetic excellence; hence, the title of the Poet Laureate.

  23. Sir Richard: Blackmore: see ‘Essay on Criticism’, 463n.

  24. Brunswick: George II was a descendant of the House of Brunswick in Germany.

  27–8. Budgell … falling horse: Eustace Budgell, author of a poem celebrating a battle in which the king’s horse was shot from under him; see also ‘Donne’, 51n.

  30. Carolina: Queen Caroline, or possibly her daughter of the same name.

  31. Amelia: Another royal daughter. the Nine: The Muses.

  33. nicer: More discriminating.

  34. twice a year: See ‘Arbuthnot’, 222n.

  37. Cibber: See ‘Arbuthnot’, 97n.

  38. blaspheme quadrille: Speak disparagingly of the fashionable card game.

  42. Timon … Balaam: Satirized in ‘IV Burlington’, 99 and note, and ‘III Bathurst’, 342 and note. A hundred of them ‘smart’ because they fear that the satire is directed at them personally.

  44. Bond: See ‘III Bathurst’, 100 and note: Harpax: Also in ‘III Bathurst’, 91 and note.

  46. Scarsdale: The Earl of Scarsdale, a well-known toper. Darty: Charles Dartineuf, an epicure.

  47. Ridotta: A frivolous society lady (from Italian ridotto, a public entertainment with music and dancing).

  48. lustres: Glass pendants attached to chandeliers, ‘doubling’ because Ridotta is intoxicated and seeing double.

  49. Fox: Stephen Fox, a Member of Parliament (called ‘the senate’ by analogy with Rome). Hockley Hole: (Also known as Hockley-in-the-Hole), site of bear-baiting, gambling, and other crude entertainments.

  52. Shippen: William Shippen, Tory leader distinguished for his honesty and frankness. Montaigne: Michel de Montaigne chose provincial retirement as a refuge from the religious wars of his day; see also ‘I Cobham’, 87n.

  60. the next: i.e. the next age.

  66. Erasmus: See ‘Essay on Criticism’, 693n.; he was noted for taking a middle road (‘moderation’ (67)) in the controversies of the day.

  70. tilt: Like a jousting knight with a lance.

  71. Hectors: ‘hector: a bully; a blustering, turbulent, pervicacious, noisy fellow’ (Dictionary).

  72. supercargoes: ‘supercargo: an officer in the ship whose business is to manage the trade’. sharpers: ‘sharper: a tricking fellow; a petty thief; a rascal’ (Dictionary, citing both of these). directors: Heads of speculative investment companies, such as the notorious South Sea Company.

  73. Save but our army: The advisability of maintaining a standing army was much debated; it was widely regarded as expensive and as a threat to liberty. See also ‘Dunciad’, I, 316n.

  75. Fleury: André de Fleury, adviser to Louis XV of France, committed to a policy of peace.

  80. burden: Refrain.

  81. Delia: Possibly George II’s mistress, Mary Howard.

  82. Page: Sir Francis Page, a judge notorious for brutality and insulting language; see also ‘Dunciad’, IV, 30n.

  83. Sappho: See ‘II A Lady’, 24n.

  84. Poxed: Infected with venereal disease (with a sarcastic glance at Lady Mary’s campaign to promote inoculation against smallpox).

  88. pug: Pet name for a dog.

  89. Walters: The plural brings out the pun on drinking water.

  92. or well or ill at court: Whether or not well regarded at court.

  97. darkened room: In a madhouse.

  98. whitened wall: In a jail, where the prisoner lacks pen and paper but can scratch on the wall with a meat skewer.

  99. durance: Imprisonment. Bedlam: Bethlehem Hospital for the insane. the Mint: An area south of the Thames that was a refuge for debtors. See also ‘Arbuthnot’, 4 and 13.

  100. Lee: Nathaniel Lee, Restoration playwright who was committed to Bethlehem Hospital. Budgell: He went mad and drowned himself.

  103. Plums: See ‘III Bathurst’, 122n. Shylock: See ‘I Cobham’, 55n.

  104. club their testers: Contribute their sixpences.

  106. Brand the bold front: Brand the forehead, as was sometimes done to criminals.

  107. gamester: Gambler. car: Carriage.

  108. star: Emblem of knighthood.

  111. Boileau: He did not hesitate to satirize court figures even though the autocratic Louis XIV had appointed him royal historiographer; see also ‘Essay on Criticism’, 714 and note.

  113. pimp and friar: In Dryden’s play The Spanish Friar, which satirizes priests; Pope claims that it gave no offence to the crypto-Catholic Charles II and his openly Catholic brother James II (114), under both of whom Dryden was Poet Laureate (but James did ban the play).

  116. Unplaced, unpensioned: As a Catholic, Pope could not hold an official post or receive (as other writers often did) a government pension.

  117. gen’rous: ‘noble of mind; magnanimous; open of heart’ (Dictionary).

  121. TO VIRTUE … FRIEND: Directly translated from Horace’s original, Uni aequus virtuti atque ejus amicis.

  124. grotto: See ‘Eloisa to Abelard’, 20n.

  127. St John: Henry St John (pronounced ‘Sinjin’), Lord Bolingbroke, ‘out of place’ (126) ever since the fall of the Oxford–Bolingbroke ministry in 1714. bowl: ‘a vessel to hold liquids, rather wide than deep; distinguished from a cup, which is rather deep than wide’ (Dictionary).

  129. he, whose lightning: The Earl of Peterborough, victor in battle in Spain three decades earlier.

  130. quincunx: Four trees planted in a square around a fifth, ‘when viewed by an angle of the square or parallelogram, presents equal or parallel alleys’ (Dictionary).

  133. own: Acknowledge.

  136. heats: Quarrels.

  137. who want: Those who are in want.

  140. mob: ‘(contracted from mobile, Latin) the crowd; a tumultuous rout’ (Dictionary).

  142. my counsel: Fortescue, in his capacity as lawyer.

  145. Richard: Richard III, in whose reign a poet was hanged for satirizing the king and his counselors.

  147–8. quart … Eliz.: Legal abbreviations for laws passed during the reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I.

  153. Sir Robert: Walpole, the prime minister, who is imagined as tolerant of Pope’s writings.

  Satire, II, ii

  Dedication: Mr Bethel: Hugh Bethel: See ‘Essay on Man’, IV, 126n.

  8. mantling: Foaming, sparkling.

  9. schools:
Of academic philosophy.

  13. strolled: ‘stroll: to wander; to ramble; to rove’ (Dictionary, citing this line).

  16. meat: Food in general.

  17. doubt: Suspect. curious: ‘difficult to please; solicitous of perfection’ (Dictionary).

  19. hens of Guinea: Small guinea fowl were considered delicacies.

  20. Except: Unless.

  23. turbots: Fish that could weigh as much as forty pounds.

  25. Oldfield: Identified by Pope’s executor Warburton as ‘an eminent glutton’. harpy: Rapacious mythical monster.

  31. treat: Feast.

  37–8. robin-redbreast … martin: Birds that were thought to bring bad luck if killed, but apparently were now (‘of late’) being eaten out of sheer perversity.

  39. beccaficos: Small birds much prized in Italy. dear: Expensive.

  42. Bedford Head: Notable eating-house.

  45. pother: ‘bustle; tumult; flutter’ (Dictionary, citing this line).

  49. Avidien or his wife: The name, implying a miser, comes from the Horatian original; Pope had in mind Edward Montagu and his wife Lady Mary.

  51. presented: Given them as presents.

  56. their son: The Montagus’ ne’er-do-well son was a traveller, but didn’t drown; the implication is that they would not have been sorry if he had.

  61. knows to: Knows how to.

  64–5. Albutius … Naevius: Names from the Horatian original.

  72. intestine: Civil war, with a pun on bodily intestines.

  75. worshipful: Honorific title for magistrates and aldermen.

  76. City: The eastern section of London known by this name, centre of finance and commerce.

  78. clay: The material body.

  80. divines: Clergymen.

  84. coming: Forthcoming.

  85. exceed, some holy time: Permit ourselves some excess on (religious) holidays.

  88. And more: i.e. and even more.

  89. cordial: A medicine that stimulates the heart.

  94. ween: Think (archaic in Pope’s time).

  98. coxcomb-pies: Evidently pies filled with the actual rooster combs. coxcomb: See ‘Essay on Criticism’, 27n.

  101. ’faith: Short for ‘in faith’. Lord Fanny: Lord John Hervey: see ‘Arbuthnot’, Advertisement note and 149 and note.