FIRST PERIOD OF POPE'S LITERARY CAREER 21
CHAPTER III.
POPE'S HOMER 61
CHAPTER IV.
POPE AT TWICKENHAM 81
CHAPTER V.
THE WAR WITH THE DUNCES 111
CHAPTER VI.
CORRESPONDENCE 137
CHAPTER VII.
THE ESSAY ON MAN 159
CHAPTER VIII.
EPISTLES AND SATIRES 181
CHAPTER IX.
THE END 206
POPE.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY YEARS.
The father of Alexander Pope was a London merchant, a devout Catholic,
and not improbably a convert to Catholicism. His mother was one of
seventeen children of William Turner, of York; one of her sisters was
the wife of Cooper, the well-known portrait-painter. Mrs. Cooper was the
poet's godmother; she died when he was five years old, leaving to her
sister, Mrs. Pope, a "grinding-stone and muller," and their mother's
"picture in limning;" and to her nephew, the little Alexander, all her
"books, pictures, and medals set in gold or otherwise."
In after-life the poet made some progress in acquiring the art of
painting; and the bequest suggests the possibility that the precocious
child had already given some indications of artistic taste. Affectionate
eyes were certainly on the watch for any symptoms of developing talent.
Pope was born on May 21st, 1688--the _annus mirabilis_ which introduced
a new political era in England, and was fatal to the hopes of ardent
Catholics.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25