RE: “Answer to Discussion question on Pope”

Hi Bridget –

I like your insight about the comical and ironic nature of Pope’s Essay. I enjoyed lines 344-57 when he is describing a dull church hymn, particularly his descriptions of the predictable, boring rhymes [351-55]:

Shakespeare in Alexander Pope’s Essay

About the Essay written in verse – I kept noticing references to Shakespeare probably because I had just read Johnson’s “Preface to Shakespeare.” To me, the most obvious indication is in lines 189-194:

Criticism in Alexander Pope’s Verse

In An Essay on Criticism, Alexander Pope’s main thesis is to describe criticism, chiefly by comparing it to other forms of writing, particularly poetry, and by frequently citing literature, classical mythology, and world history. Specifically, the Broadview edition is separated into three parts;