Alexander Pope, Imitations of Horace

Ian Gordon (Anglia Ruskin University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1733 - 1738

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Adaptation
Poetry (any)

Resources

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In the five years between February 1733 and March 1738 Pope published eleven poems that he directly described as

Imitations of Horace

. In a sense, of course, he had imitated Horace all his life – the four

Ethic Epistles

( “Moral Essays”),

An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot

and the

Epilogue to the Satires: Dialogues I & II

were all deeply influenced by the Roman poet's example. Pope's admiration for Horace was explicit in as early a work as

An Essay on Criticism

, 1711:

Horace

still charms with graceful Negligence, And without Method talks us into Sense, Will like a Friend familiarly convey The truest Notion in the easiest way (653-6)

still charms with graceful Negligence, And without Method

talks

us into Sense, Will like a

Friend

familiarly convey The

truest Notion

in the

easiest way

…

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2308 words

Citation: Gordon, Ian. "Imitations of Horace". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4549, accessed 24 November 2024.]

Alexander Pope, Imitations of Horace

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