Pope, when he first
came to town and followed Wycherley about like a dog, had tried to
assume the airs of a rake. The same tone is adopted in many of his
earlier letters. At Binfield he became demure, correct, and respectful
to the religious scruples of his parents. In his visits to London and
Bath he is little better than one of the wicked. In a copy of verses
(not too decent) written in 1715, as a "Farewell to London," he gives us
to understand that he has been hearing the chimes at midnight, and knows
where the bona-robas dwell. He is forced to leave his jovial friends and
his worrying publishers "for Homer (damn him!) calls." He is, so he
assures us,
Still idle, with a busy air
Deep whimsies to contrive;
The gayest valetudinaire,
Most thinking rake alive.
And he takes a sad leave of London pleasures.
Luxurious lobster nights, farewell,
For sober, studious days!
And Burlington's delicious meal
For salads, tarts, and pease.
Writing from Bath a little earlier, to Teresa and Martha Blount, he
employs the same jaunty strain. "Every one," he says, "values Mr. Pope,
but every one for a different reason. One for his adherence to the
Catholic faith, another for his neglect of Popish superstition; one for
his good behaviour, another for his whimsicalities; Mr. Titcomb for his
pretty atheistical jests; Mr. Caryll for his moral and Christian
sentences; Mrs. Teresa for his reflections on Mrs. Patty; Mrs.
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