I will not, for the fear of boring you to death, relay all of my many favorite bits from this work, but there were some that I thought worth sharing.
Below are a few excerpts from Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism written in 3 parts over the course of 1709-1711. He offers his advice on strengths and failings of critics and poetry, but the piece is infused with glorious statements and applicable life lessons fit for anyone. So good.
Here are a few!
"Be sure yourself and your own reach to know,
How far your genius, taste, and learning go;
Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet,
And mark that point where sense and dullness meet."
-Pope. Part I. Lines 48-51
"Like kings we lose the conquests gained before,
By vain ambition still to make them more."
-Pope. Part I. Lines 64-65
"For wit and judgment often are at strife"
-Pope. Part I. Line 82
"Great wits sometimes may gloriously offend,
And rise to faults true critics dare not mend;
From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art,
Which, without passing through the judgment, gains
The heart, and all its end at once attain."
-Pope. Part I. Lines 152-157
"Of all the causes which conspire to blind
Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind,
What the weak head with strongest bias rules,
Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools."
-Pope. Part II. Lines 201-204
"The power of music all our hearts allow."
-Pope. Part II. Line 382
"Some ne'er advance a judgment of their own,
But catch the spreading notion of the town;
They reason and conclude by precedent,
And own stale nonsense which they ne'er invent."
-Pope. Part II. Lines 408-411
"We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow;
Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so."
-Pope. Part II. Lines 433-434
"To what base ends, and by what abject ways,
Are mortals urged through sacred lust of praise!
Ah, ne'er so dire a thirst of glory boast,
Nor in the critic let the man be lost!
Good nature and good sense must ever join;
To err is human, to forgive divine."
-Pope. Part II. Lines 520-525
"Be silent always when you doubt your sense;
And speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence"
-Pope. Part III. Lines 565-566
"But where's the man, who counsel can bestow,
Still pleased to teach, and yet not proud to know?
Unbiased, or by favor, or by spite:
Not dully prepossessed, nor blindly right;
Though learned, well-bred; and though well-bred, sincere;
Modestly bold, and humanly severe:
Who to a friend his faults can freely show,
And gladly praise the merit of a foe?
Blessed with a taste exact, yet unconfined;
A knowledge both of books and humankind;
Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride;
And love to praise, with reason on his side?"
-Pope. Part III. Lines 631-642
"An ardent judge, who, zealous in his trust,
With warmth gives sentence, yet is always just;
Whose own example strengthens all his laws,
And is himself that great sublime he draws."
-Pope. Part III. Lines 677-680
Jesus! Ahem... :)
"Be sure yourself and your own reach to know,
How far your genius, taste, and learning go;
Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet,
And mark that point where sense and dullness meet."
-Pope. Part I. Lines 48-51
"Like kings we lose the conquests gained before,
By vain ambition still to make them more."
-Pope. Part I. Lines 64-65
"For wit and judgment often are at strife"
-Pope. Part I. Line 82
"Great wits sometimes may gloriously offend,
And rise to faults true critics dare not mend;
From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art,
Which, without passing through the judgment, gains
The heart, and all its end at once attain."
-Pope. Part I. Lines 152-157
"Of all the causes which conspire to blind
Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind,
What the weak head with strongest bias rules,
Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools."
-Pope. Part II. Lines 201-204
"The power of music all our hearts allow."
-Pope. Part II. Line 382
"Some ne'er advance a judgment of their own,
But catch the spreading notion of the town;
They reason and conclude by precedent,
And own stale nonsense which they ne'er invent."
-Pope. Part II. Lines 408-411
"We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow;
Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so."
-Pope. Part II. Lines 433-434
"To what base ends, and by what abject ways,
Are mortals urged through sacred lust of praise!
Ah, ne'er so dire a thirst of glory boast,
Nor in the critic let the man be lost!
Good nature and good sense must ever join;
To err is human, to forgive divine."
-Pope. Part II. Lines 520-525
"Be silent always when you doubt your sense;
And speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence"
-Pope. Part III. Lines 565-566
"But where's the man, who counsel can bestow,
Still pleased to teach, and yet not proud to know?
Unbiased, or by favor, or by spite:
Not dully prepossessed, nor blindly right;
Though learned, well-bred; and though well-bred, sincere;
Modestly bold, and humanly severe:
Who to a friend his faults can freely show,
And gladly praise the merit of a foe?
Blessed with a taste exact, yet unconfined;
A knowledge both of books and humankind;
Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride;
And love to praise, with reason on his side?"
-Pope. Part III. Lines 631-642
"An ardent judge, who, zealous in his trust,
With warmth gives sentence, yet is always just;
Whose own example strengthens all his laws,
And is himself that great sublime he draws."
-Pope. Part III. Lines 677-680
Jesus! Ahem... :)
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| Alexander Pope by Michael Dahl Look at his little quil! :) |
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