Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Popewas an 18th-century English poet. He is best known for his satirical verse, as well as for his translation of Homer. Famous for his use of the heroic couplet, he is the second-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth21 May 1688
firsts merit dignity
Be thou the first true merit to befriend, his praise is lost who stays till all commend.
rivers vanity life-is-like
The vanity of human life is like a river, constantly passing away, and yet constantly coming on.
father beer soul
Is there a parson much bemused in beer, a maudlin poetess, a rhyming peer, a clerk foredoom'd his father's soul to cross, who pens a stanza when he should engross?
waiting vengeance
On wrongs swift vengeance waits.
echoes sound seems
The sound must seem an echo to the sense.
motivation lying excuse
An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie; for an excuse is a lie guarded.
hair draws tresses
Beauty draws us with a single hair.
design sublime genius
Genius creates, and taste preserves. Taste is the good sense of genius; without taste, genius is only sublime folly.
knowledge writing fruit
Words are like Leaves; and where they most abound, Much Fruit of Sense beneath is rarely found.
dog praying highness
I am his Highness' dog at Kew; Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?
daughter nature light
Aurora now, fair daughter of the dawn, Sprinkled with rosy light the dewy lawn.
life air wings
Love, free as air, at sight of human ties, Spreads his light wings, and in a moment flies.
death losing-friends lost-friendship
Good God! how often are we to die before we go quite off this stage? In every friend we lose a part of ourselves, and the best part.
eggs cooking vulgar
The vulgar boil, the learned roast, an egg.