Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
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. Whatever Nature Has In Worth Denied, She Gives In Large Recruits Of Needful Pride. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

THE BEST POPE VOLUME ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!
First off, WHY THE HELL IS THIS THE FIRST REVIEW ON SUCH A VOLUME AS IMPRESSIVE AS THIS!?!?!? Alexander Pope was definatley in the top five of greatest English poets (Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Wordsworth) and to read his works is like sipping a glass of fine wine, wearing a cool powdered wig, lying back on a sofa listening to Handel. Pope was the coolest hepcat in the hood. He was so great, an age was named after him in 18th century English literature-THE AGE OF POPE (1712-1744)-roughly

But, getting to the point, this is a very comprehensive volume of Pope's prime work. Of course, it's Signet-the best reasonably priced books you can buy. Not only does this great volume contain the complete 5 canto version of The Rape of the Lock (1712-1717), the Essay on Man (1734), Essay on Criticism (1711), The Dunciad (1728) and many more of his brilliant verse satire, the finest of the Neoclassical period (1660-1784). ... Read more

Book Description
Alexander Pope was the greatest poet of his age and the dominant influence on eighteenth-century British poetry. His large oeuvre, written over a thirty-year period, encompasses satires, odes and political verse and reflects the sexual, moral and cultural issues of the world around him, often in brilliant lines and phrases which have become part of our language today. This is the first overview to analyse the full range of Pope's work and to set it in its historical and cultural context. Specially commissioned essays by leading scholars explore all of Pope's major works, including the sexual politics of The Rape of the Lock, the philosophical enquiries of An Essay on Man and the Moral Essays, and the mock-heroic of The Dunciad in its various forms. This volume will be indispensable not only for students and scholars of Pope's work, but also for all those interested in the Augustan age. ... Read more

Book Description
Often termed the first truly professional poet in England, Pope had an acute awareness of the traditions he inherited and a clear vision of where he stood in literary history. In this representative selection of Pope's most important work, Pat Rogers presents all the major poems and a
characteristic sample of his prose, including satires, pamphlets, and periodical writing. Pope's criticism is represented by the influential preface to his edition of Shakespeare, and the personal side of his work is illustrated by his wide-ranging correspondence and short passages from his
conversations with Joseph Spence. With a fine introduction, substantial annotation, and full biographical appendix, this volume presents texts chronologically, setting them properly within Pope's career. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A hero-poet gets his due at last
Alexander Pope fought many obstacles during his lifetime--tuberculosis of the bone that deformed his spine, hack writers who were jealous of him, a corrupt government--and through it all created some of the greatest poetry of the 18th century.But changing poetic fashions and a self-righteousness among his commentators impaired his reputation.Maynard Mack remedies such trends in the first biography this century covering Pope's whole life.The writing sparkles, the facts are fully documented, and there is something of the detail that helps the reader feel he or she "knows" Pope by the end.We catch something of the courage that it took for Pope to rise from physical and political disabilities that would have crippled lesser individuals, to speak for reason and liberty in the face of enemies like Sir Robert Walpole, an utterly unethical individual who was the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.We also sense the pathos of things that Pope could not transcend: for example, his inability to find romantic intimacy due to his physical deformity.Prof. Mack has crafted a remarkable and informative book that should interest both the scholar and the casual reader ... Read more

Book Description
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) is regarded as the most important poet of the early eighteenth century. An invalid from infancy, Pope devoted his energies towards literature and achieved remarkable success with his first published work at the age of 21. A succession of brilliant poems followed, including An Essay on Criticism (1711), Windsor Forest (1713), and his masterpiece The Rape of the Lock (1712). A second period of great poetry was begun in 1728 with the appearance of the first Dunciad. All these works, which exhibit Pope's astonishing human insight, his wide sympathies, and powers of social observation (displayed to greatest effect in his talent for satire), feature in this selection. In his introduction - an eloquent defence of Pope's poetic practice - Pat Rogers argues that we must abandon our Romantic conception of poetry as a record of fleeting and subjective states if we are to understand Pope fully. Instead, we must see him as an accomplished practitioner of the poetry of ideas and of satirical reflection on human society. This collection is chosen from the Oxford Authors critical edition of Pope's major works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Step aside Byron, Dryden, and Shelley
Step aside Byron, Dryden, and Shelley Words are not enough to describe the great pope, I have read the works of many poets but none come close to Pope. Practically self educated he puts words in such a way and with such wit, that you often feel and say "That is so true, so beautifully described"........ take a minute and contemplate on the below. A great Master
1. Some in search of wisdom, lose their common sense and then turn critics in their own defense.
2. Men deal with their life as children with their play, who first misuse then cast their toys away.
3. Launch not beyond your depth but be discreet , and mark the point were sense and dulness meet.
4. A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong which is but saying, in other words that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.

Consult the Genius of the Place
When I first started reading this collection, I thought that eighteenth century poetry was dry and inferior to later forms of literature, especially when compared with the innovations of the twentieth century. After delving deeply into some of Pope's major poems, I realized how wrong I was. Pope's wit was astounding, and he was a true poetic genius in his ability to capture concepts and arguments in beautifully rendered images and metaphors. His abilities are best summarized in these famous lines from his "Essay on Criticism": "True wit is nature to advantage dressed, / What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed."

I was often surprised by Pope's ability to articulate ideas that had occurred to me, but I was never able to articulate myself. It is a testament to Pope's insight into the human condition that his lines still ring true three hundred years since their first appearance. The subtle, complex ideas found in his poetry will expand your thoughts in ways you never though possible, especially if you have never experienced poetry from this period before.

For me, some of the highlights from this collection are "The Rape of the Lock", a beautifully detailed mock-epic steeped in the material culture of the eighteenth century; "Windsor Forest", a topographical poem that encodes and critiques the history of England in a description of its landscape; "Epistle to Burlington", a stinging criticism of "false taste"; and "Eloisa to Abelard", an emotionally wrenching letter of tragic medieval romance. For those interested in the writing and critiquing of literature (admittedly, not everyone), the brilliant "Essay on Criticism" will be the standout piece here, with its vast complexities and beautiful imagery. Furthermore, the detailed notes in the back of this edition should fill you in on any historical or literary references that will assist in your interpretation of the poems.

This edition is an amazing introduction to the poetry of one of the greatest writers in the English language, and a good first step into a fascinating period of literature. Don't be afraid! Read this book!

YevtushenkoSelected Poems
This was concurrently, my introduction to Russian poetry and the poetry of Yevgeny Yevtushenko back in my early 20's. The simple prose style of the translations was appealing to a 20 year old. But since then, many of the poems have become touchstones for my own receeding youth and my Slavic family heritage. The lengthy opening poem, "Zima Junction", tells of Yevteshenko's own youthful days growing up in a small town in Siberia. The final poem, "People", affirms the spirituality of life without a single reference to religion. "Encounter" describes a chance encounter of Yevtushenko with Hemingway in Copenhagen. ("It was the very image of Hemingway. Later I heard that it wasHemingway.") "Babiy Yar" is perhaps, the most famous poem in the collection. It describes the slaughter of Russian Jews by the Nazis and the collusion of the antisemite Soviet regime. The last few lines of this poem are some of the most moving I have ever read.
"No Jewish blood runs among my blood,
but I am as bitterly and hardily hated by every anti-semite as if I were a Jew. By thisI am a Russian." ... Read more