Alexander pope had many enjoyable quotes about life as well as literature in general about life. The English poet Alexander Pope is regarded as one of the finest poets and satirists of the mid-seventeenth to mid-eighteenth century English literature period He has a very key influence on English today. Alexander Pope was born on May 21, 1688, in London, England, to Alexander and Edith Pope. His Roman Catholic father was a linen merchant. His family moved out of London and settled in Benfield in Windsor Forest around 1700. He educated himself through extensive studying and reading, especially poetry. Education came through self study and through readying much poetry and other literature. For those interrested in reading his works they are available below from a third party source for download. Here is the list of what is available as well as the link.
Some very common woks by pope are as follows:
The Rape of the Lock - 162 KB 1714: mock-heroic satire)
Essay on Man - 200 KB (1732-4: poetical defense of deism)
Essay on Criticism - 175 KB (1711: outlines contemporary critical tastes and standards)
6 x 9 format of The Rape of the Lock, Essay on Man, and An Essay on Criticism - 206 KB
The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope: Volume One - 846 KB
The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope: Volume Two - 1.01 MB
The Odyssey of Homer Translated by Alexander Pope - 731 KB
The Iliad of Homer Translated by Alexander Pope - 1.37 MB
The above list of downloadable options are available at:
http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/pope.htm
Pope spoke about life in the only way he know how: generating literature with satire and mockery in general. Despite his writings or his peculiar reputation, Pope was generous and kind to others around him. Pope often mocked others in his books which may have come from the fact that he was ridiculed by others regarding his looks. People had to wear a strong brace made of canvas throughout his life due to his arched back. He was very ill as a child and that lead to some unusual development on his body...perhaps even disfigurement. He was especially underserved in the height department. He had headaches all of the time and seemed to have no way to be rid of them. In life Alexander Pope seemed to have the temperament and assuming nature of an adult. Because of this he got people's attention. It was one of those whose attention he gather that decided to give pope his first hope (no pun intended) and the rest is history as we say.
We'll now go through each of his works in more detail along with a general timeline of his doings. Here are some more quote worth items for
1711- Essay on Criticism: He was hoping to make on the literary world
1712- The Rape in the Lock: This is what made him famous. A funny little take on life where many quotes about life actually come from.
1712- Messiah: an imitation of Virgil. Pope also had several quotes about Geoffrey Chaucer.
1716- I am quoting other sources here but at this point Pope settled back at Chiswick as a result of an alteration to the land tax law for Roman Catholics.
1720- Translation of Homer- this is marked as one of his most astounding achievements. If you're an English speaker and have read through this text then you have Pope to either thank or hate for making that available to you in its present form.
1720- Pope finally reaches financial success which allowed him to be as free as he wanted with his quotes about life or with his other literary decisions.
1726 and 1727 Johathan Swift and Pole wrote three volumes of poetry. In fact Popes renewed involvement with Jonathan Swift gave him extra motivation for Pople's Poem known as "Dullness.
With Popes quotes about life, we can see how he viewed life in general. But besides his own works he also did much in the way Pop. When translating the odyssey, Pope worked with two other translators. William Broome and Elija Fenton together translated half of the work but since pope was now famous it was his name that sold the book. This of course resulted in Pope receiving the majority of the profits.
When it came time to translate Homer Pope only did so for the money. He didn't complete his translation of Homer's Iliad until 1720 and so we can see how much time actually went into such a large volume. Pope realized that writing wasn't just about life and getting people to see things your way. It sometimes boiled down to simply doing what was needed in order to get food on the table. Before that he was earning from his Father's Annuities but that was not longer providing as much as it used to. It is funny that the one item that he may have been least excited about is the one that may have wound up giving him the most glory of all.
Obviously Pope was not very well liked. He was attacked privately and in public. multiple pamphlets were written degrading his character. They called him on his religion. They called him on his politics. They called him on his very person. This may have been hard on him and could very easily have served to destroy him. However by 1719 Pope had enough clout that we was free to live nearly anywere please. Since his father was already dead at this point he ultimately decided tin to move back to his home place of
Pope also engaged in poetic imitations and translations. His Messiah (1712) was an imitation of Virgil (70–19 B. C. E. ). He also did a version of Geoffrey Chaucer's (1342–1400) poetry in the English of Pope's day. But it was Pope's versions of Homer (c. 700 B. C. E. ) that were his greatest achievement as a translator.
Pope undertook the translation of Homer's Iliad because he needed money. The interest earned from his father's annuities (money from investments) had dropped sharply. The translation occupied him until 1720. It was a great financial success, making Pope independent of the customary forms of literary patronage (support from wealthy people), and it was highly praised by critics.
From the time parts of Iliad began to appear, Pope became the victim of numerous pamphlet attacks on his person, politics, and religion. In 1716 an increased land tax on Roman Catholics forced the Popes to sell their place at Binfield and to settle at Chiswick. The next year Pope's father died, and in 1719 the poet's increased wealth enabled him to move with his mother to Twickenham.
Of all the people to quote, Alexander Pope stands out as one of my favorites. Whether there are quotes about life, quotes about love, or even simply excepts from literary translatios that he's done, his brilliance is felt through his words.
