The english poet Alexander Pope, considered one of the greatest of the eighteenth century, was born in London on May 22, 1688. The son of a wealthy Catholic merchant, the young Pope he studied privately as regular schools were forbidden to him due to his religion. Pope suffered from bone tuberculosis and excessive study would still compromise his health, which manifested itself in a delay in his development, so much so that he would only reach a height of 1.37 m, in his adult age.
Elegant proof of youth are his poems “Pastoral“(Pastorals, 1709). Contemporary poem”Windsor Forest“(Windsor Forest, 1713). Didactic poem is”An Essay on Criticism“(Essay on critism, 1711) in which he codifies the literary rules that he uses as an example in”The stolen curl“(The rape of the lock, 1712). In this poem he skillfully condenses the aesthetic precepts of Rococo art, giving a satirical, elegant but indulgent representation of an ephemeral and gallant world.
Pope He is recognized as the dominant poetic figure, spokesperson and attentive critic of the time, whose lines came from the prevalence of the intellect over the imagination and the enunciation of canons of moral and aesthetic judgment as the only valid ones. The tone of his speeches usually varies from irony to mocking solemnity, from tender humor to impalpable melancholy. The same verbal mastery can be found in the translation of “Homers“, marked by lyrical greatness.
Pastoral (1709)
An Essay on Criticism (1711)
The Stolen Curl (1712)
Windsor Forest (1713)
From Eloisa to Abelard (1717)
Elegy in memory of an unfortunate lady (1717)
The Dunciada (1728)
Essay on Man (1734)
The Prologue to the Satires (1735)