| Product Summary | | Format: Paperback | | ISBN: 9781419179808 | | Publisher: Kessinger Publishing | | Publish Date: 4/10/2007 | | Buy.com Sku: 39947296 | | Item#: BEU3CW | | Dimensions (in Inches) 9H x 7.25L x 0.5T | | Pages: 212 |
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| | | Fairest of mortals, thou distinguish'd care Of thousand bright Inhabitants of Air! If e'er one vision touch.'d thy infant thought, Of all the Nurse and all the Priest have taught.
| Author Bio| Alexander Pope | | The son of a prosperous London merchant, Pope as a child contracted tuberculosis of the spine, which deformed him and stunted his growth. Poor health made formal schooling impossible, but Pope, growing up in the rural splendor of his father's country estate in Windsor Forest, read widely and developed a lifelong love not only of books but of nature and gardening. Encouraged by his father to write poetry, he published his first work, "An Essay on Criticism", when he was 23., which gained him the attention of prominent critics and writers. This was followed a few years later by "The Rape of the Lock", his witty mock-heroic satire. As his reputation grew, Pope became part of the literary scene in London, frequenting coffeehouses with his friends and lavishly entertaining the leading wits of the day at his villa on the Thames, purchased with the profits from his translations of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey". With Swift and Gay, Pope founded the Scriblerus Club to promote the writing of satire and oppose narrow pedantry in science and the arts. Because of his satirical gifts, Pope was constantly embroiled in literary feuds with his enemies, who also attacked him for his religion (Pope was a Roman Catholic during the reign of the staunchly Protestant Queen Anne) and his deformity. His revenge was always deadly on target, and often vicious, culminating in "The Dunciad", his brilliant 1728 attack on the corrupt state of literature--specifically the work of his detractors. As a Catholic, Pope could not obtain patronage, and he was one of the first writers to support himself solely through his work. He was only in his 50s when he died; in spite of his sharp tongue and sharper pen, he was known for his loyalty to his friends and his kind heart, and he was greatly mourned. |
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