Alexander
Pope - An Essay on Man
Augustan Age
The English Augustan poets were at the zenith
of their fame when Lyrical Ballads published by Cottle appeared in 1816. It gradually
changed the literary taste and critical norms. During the days of the Augustan
age every young man was sure to read Pope, Swift, Addison and Dr. Johnson as
they read Virgil, Cicero and Horace. Writers of this period considered a poet
as a craftsman whose native genius could best express itself only through
diligence and industry. They considered ‘reason’ as the guiding principle.
The
poets of the Augustan period were primarily neoclassicists who cherished the classical
values, with a genuine admiration for the literature of Greece and Rome
especially the Latin verse of the period of Augustus thus gaining the title
“Augustan” for their age. Theirs was not a blind imitation but they believed in
the rules of composition as illustrated in the classical poetry. The poets of
this period faithfully imbibed the high moral seriousness of the Romans in
order to assert the importance of the social and cultural significance of
poetry.
The
nineteenth century revaluation of Augustan poetry regarded the Elizabethan age
as the ‘golden age’ of English poetry and Pope’s period as ‘silver age.’ This
general opinion of the supremacy of the Elizabethans does not mean that the
Augustan period was inferior. Critics used the achievements of Dryden, Pope,
and Johnson as a norm to judge even the contributions of the Romantic period.
Though Dryden and Pope are grouped under the same label they stand apart in
their uniqueness. Dryden is noted for his scholarship and his vast knowledge
from the field of science. While Dryden studied general nature Pope
concentrated on the manners and nature of mankind. Both are remembered for
their complementary contributions to the literary output of the Augustan age.
If the flights of Dryden therefore are higher, Pope continues longer on the
wind. If of Dryden’s fire the blaze is brighter, of Pope’s the heat is more
regular and constant. Dryden surpasses expectation, and Pope never falls below
it. Dryden is read with frequent astonishment, and Pope with perpetual delight.
It
is generally agreed that Dryden’s poetry had “bounding vigour and negligent
ease” which appealed to those with romantic taste whereas Pope’s verse had
discipline and a complicated richness catering to those with conservative
interests. Augustan critics defend Pope against those who dared to question the
profundity of the power of ‘Reason’ declaring that those who are fond of “the obscure”
in poetry cannot appreciate the “deep thinking” of the darling man Pope,
because he always expresses himself with such admirable clearness.’ Indeed, none
can ignore the influence that Dryden and Pope had on not only the poets of the
Romantic age but also of the nineteenth century poets. A close study of the
early verse of Walter Scott goes to prove that they are reminiscent of Pope,
“in diction, imagery and movement…” Even Wordsworth allowed his verse to be influenced
by Pope’s heroic couplets. Some of his poems display the balanced and
antithetical style of Pope’s heroic couplet and also faithfully imitate the
didactic and moralizing interests found in Pope’s Essay on Man. Byron and
Crabbe are considered as the last descendants of the Augustan age of English
poetry.
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