The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-19

nv htoase 70 hbcihfu ana f@iokS W 'ho
Memory Of an Unfortunate Lady" The artistic
sincerity Of the latter piece is not stakcd
on It's trithfuncss 70 fact. which Ia very
uncertain In all this Pope was but Nor.
vousiy shaping bygono sentiment 10 tho
now fashionable couplct and It's accumulated
forms Of rhetoric Tho Essay on Criticism pub
lishcd In iii. sums UP the critical ideas plat.
tudcs which had boon floating about since 1860
II ropbraHcs tho conceptions previously formu-
lated OF re-expressed by Boileau, Of universal
nature as revealed by the antique, and Of false
style as corrected by the saDio classical standard.
what Pope omits TO mention Is bis own personal
procedure In the face OF antiquity, his passion for
bringing classic masterpieces under alien forms.
His real standard OF comparison was not that Of
the Greeks and Romans but his own age and his
own talent
How much Of Homer departs when Homer Is
put into onnsonantsl language written in the
discontinuous rhymcd couplet how he loses his sim
plidty. which 10 the flower Of an elaborate breed.
Ing. like the manners Of kings; how his noble pas.
SION. ever fed BY direct contact with man and tho
visible elementary world Is sophisticated In Popos
version; how he Is bcegarcd Of the great epic style
BY having 70 pass under the yoke Of tho Augustan
rcforms how Pope. 10 reproduce Homer. uses
false style that was almost new 10 his own audi
encc all this was nrst exposed not by the cigl,-
tocnth century combatans who were too close 10
Pops 70 Judge him, but In tho campaign under
taken BY Wordsworth and Colcridge Mr. Elton
Ia ono Of thoso who think that Pope cared more for
Homer than his practice shows What a smooth
and noble poem he substituted, despite his pow.
crty In Greek and his lack Of the physical basis
necessary for feeling Homer duly. has never BEN
entirely ignored Popc's Homer" has some epic
qualities. 70 Wit sorority and vowelled case: in
Ia IA - -
something Of the same pleasure as tho original
The ''lliad."h should be remembered, was done
single handed: tn" odyss'v. with Bronze and Fen.
ton for humble and mn,rcatod partners by tho
whole work Pope 20, money. fame, freedom. and
at last, emancipation from the manner in which
he wrote II Mr. Elton regards tho Essay on
Man" the main thc~es Of which have been detected
in notes OF Bolingbroke as moro than the chief
literary coinage OF an incohoront deism. with tho
assures In the thought bal -plastorcd over Among
oil EngliAh abstract poems Il remains supreme
for liz changefulncss Its concentration and the
fullnoss Of is rhetorical energy Tho list of
foundations into most literary tongues and Of
tho applications and limitations that IL provoked.
bospoak something universal in its appeal 10 9
timo Tho limitations OF Horace" are pronounced
Popo's most consummato compositions. wherein
his power Of expression reached It's goal. Eyon
q
vailed by following the subtle. waving lines Of
tho psdesfrts srmo. which he used TO give his
mature opinions on life. letters, friends. enemies
and him elt
Our author thinks that two opposing instincts
encouraged Pope 10 write Ono was the impulse
N the exposition Of abstract natter this function
he conducted with remarkable skill, because Of
10 great rooeptivcnesa Tho same quality, how
cvor. h,ndcrod him from really making his own tho
IDEAS that he sosod 10 that the pleasure which
wo take in his poctcal handling Of ideas Ia at
last Of q low kind In the second place the crav-
ing for nnturalism bcset him; while as yet ideal
SIN was dominant around him so far as most
poetry was concerned. his mind was positive de-
Jailed and documentary: ho could catch a scene,
Or the flying humors Of conversation. and FIX them
IN durable bursts that seem TO be efTortless There
IS tho stuff Of the nineteenth century observer in
The lines on Villierss doatbbed. in those on tho
dame with her cold coffee stranded in her country
house; these arc brilliant examples OF tho power
hat produced the verse OF Swift and the dcscrip-
lions in Mol Flandera Tho finish, however.
that Pope spends on detail. whether concrete or
abstract, Is here accounted less TO his glory than
his planning instinct, which extended alike to
insign. proportion. particulars and graccs
Herein he 10 the prince Of English classcism; Il
9 impossible 70 compare even THE Dunciad" With
he endless dragging "Hudibras" It's true that
Pope only clothed In vcrse unpoe,icai thought,
md that, in the secondary forms Of burlcsduc.
'atire and epistlo In epic or tragedy his thoughts
would show pale and shrunkcn. He was an artist
however. and knew what forms il was possible
or him 70 perfect His own form. therefore ap.
proaebes the ANTIQUE In 40 far as II escapes the
ndcnnita Il must, at tho Same time be con.
cdcd that Popo's respect for controlling design
n n ksd hv hta al
compelled him to -think In flashes and without !
cal sequence The Same Limitation encouraged
,is tendency 70 mako points: for his points. no
ound ready 10 b improved still further tho |
netricai unit tho socalled heroic couplet Pope's
otter 70 Cromwell OF Nov rs, 1910. partially seta
orth his reforms In this heroic metre. In which no
'uDt not only his translation OF Homer. but his I
ourtoen thousand. and odd orginal verse; The
hief Of his reforms are: The def uSe of hiatus:
he disuso Of do and did and other amateur 1
xpletivos and Of monosyllabic lines unless
Tery artfully managed the varying Of rhyme
no spahng OF Aloxandrinos and tho shifting OF
The break. which, normally. he placed between ,
no fourth and sixth places 1rplots he made |
css and less use Of. This programme, however.
oes not explain tho truo basis Of his me,rical
hangc which was the isolation Of the individual /
ouplets In senss, grammar and sound Tn eren
70 denied himself tho later freedoms In which
)rydon had INDUCED. The proportion Of lines
nd ooupiets that arc closed at the end Ia much
increased In Popcs later works. tho couple,s como
o DO strung rather than changed. and the total
nifty 10 produced without overflow or "enjando-
mont and by the eject Of tho whole metrica para
'raph In It's proconccivcd harmony. Within this
aw, Pope worked: bo subtlized the incidents Of
uoss TO degree hitherto unknown; doubling,
ropping or inverting for every imagina eHec,
4 balance. accumulation and climax. His alito-
alton 10 FREQ and always cunning For rhymod
ak. portraiture Of character burlesquo invectivo
nd pathetic TRADE no found wi hin ,ho llmi Q
which no had chosen the infahe meditation
ltcr his translation Of Homer, his verse was ncyor
irod novor morciy mipsnap. or iigging: Il never
overtod 70 tho older ruggedncsa II reacted on
lis tempor and rhetoric, which became associated
nth II and with II ruled Q whole generation OF
'octry.
We must refer tho reader to the book itself for
Vbat tho author has TO say about tho secondary
'htors Of EnElands Augustan Age among
Vhom Bolingbroko Prior Gay Arbuthnol
wyeherlcy vanbrugh and Farquhar
nay DO particularly mentioned NJ WI