Evening star., 1928-02-20

Pope Ia . poet one should read with
pencil In hand, not for the purpose OF
making marginal notations. but simply
in order to be able to mark the lines
that make an especial appeal TO the
! reader.
While this is a profitable action with
most of the great poets, 1t becomes
peculiarly necessary while reading
| Alexander Pope because his work was of
the most uneven merit.
His collected works strike one as q
sort Of huge box Of candy, wherein good
and bad bonbons are mixed almost in
extricably, and this not in relation
merely to one poem with another, but
especially with regard to single lines
toward the whole
Only by undermining or otherwise
marking the good lines will the reader
come to real appreciation OF the power
Of this poet, who, although he lived long
ago. between the years of 1888 and
1744. perhaps more nearly caught the
spirit Of 1928 than any other classic
poet.
He achieved this everlasting moder-
nifty, not by reason Of his subject matter
alone. which had to do with that peren-
nial creature, man. but mostly because
of the striking, pungent quality OF his
sentences.
His style is like that OF many OF
Americas finest newspaper writer's. who
use a short, nervous, meaty sentence
packed with power. The day OF the
lengthy. winding sentence Is more or
less over. A survey of modern novels,
for instance, will show the large use OF
the short sentence. Sinclair Lewis Is
an example and there are many more.
The poems Of Pope will appeal to any
f~ hn fc 1t;j l.
ing to use pencil as he reads along.
Afterward he will discover that merely
by opening his book the best thoughts.
the most striking sentences of this new
old master will fairly Jump at him
from the pages as he turns them.
X
Pope is so uneven in quality that
no one will find the least difficulty in
separating the sheep from the goats,
the Quotable lines from the merely
ordinary ones. One cannot be great
in every line, any more than stage
artist is able to command applause at
every word he utters. Even If such a
thing were possible. 1t would not be
desirable, because the play would get
nowhere.
The curious thing-but perhaps not
curious, after all-is that practically
every one who reads Pope IN the
fashion recommended would under
line almost exactly the same lines.
Who. for instance. reading the
Epistles Ohe one to DR.. ArbuthnoD
would fail to underline the following:
LAS yet child. nor yet fool to fame,
I hsped in numbers, for the numbers
came"
Thus Pope described his taking to
poetry as child. declaring that he
"lisped in numbers" that his rhymes
simply tumbled into his head. from he
knew not where, and so came out on
paper at last.
Pope helped give rise to the popular
delusion, still in force. that the COM
position of poetry is done. not in a
rational manner, but by some divine
process. half frenzy. half foolishness.
Lampooning the horde OF imitation
poets which pestered him for opinions
as to their verse, Pope described them
thus:
Fire in each eye. and papers in each
hand.
They rave. recite, and madden round
the land"
It will be noticed here that this
true poet did not pay much respect TO
rules of grammar, but used words TO
suit himself, so long as he knew their
meaning was perfectly understood by
his readers.
Two more verses We find underlined
are:
you think this cruel' take it for a
rule,
No creature smarts 50 little as a foo" "