An Essay on Criticism
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1711
- Form
- Lyric poetry
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 35 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Major WorksOxford World's Classics, 2008Pat Rogers's selection, which gives all three poems Adler names with notes, in one volume.
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A poem of 744 lines in heroic couplets, published anonymously when Pope was twenty-three, on how to judge poetry and the faults of critics. Part one argues that good criticism follows nature and the rules the ancients drew from her; part two lists the causes of bad judgement, pride, imperfect learning, love of parts rather than the whole, and fashion, with examples of sound echoing sense; part three describes the ideal critic and gives a short history of criticism from Aristotle to Boileau. It is the source of a little learning is a dangerous thing, to err is human, to forgive divine, and fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns An Essay on Criticism are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
