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
kings government divine
The Right Divine of Kings to govern wrong.
honest fame let-me
Unblemish'd let me live or die unknown; Oh, grant an honest fame, or grant me none!
men insult swearing
And each blasphemer quite escape the rod, Because the insult's not on man, but God?
heart gay joy
Let Joy or Ease, let Affluence or Content, And the gay Conscience of a life well spent, Calm ev'ry thought, inspirit ev'ry grace, Glow in thy heart, and smile upon thy face.
men he-man lost
Nor in the critic let the man be lost.
book men clothes
To buy books as some do who make no use of them, only because they were published by an eminent printer, is much as if a man should buy clothes that did not fit him, only because they were made by some famous tailor.
wise fate law
Mark what unvary'd laws preserve each state, Laws wise as Nature, and as fixed as Fate.
men goal wheels
So man, who here seems principal alone, Perhaps acts second to some sphere unknown Touches some wheel, or verges to some goal; 'Tis but a part we see, and not a whole.
divine form humans
No more was seen the human form divine.
instruments ill mischief
When to mischief mortals bend their will, how soon they find it instruments of ill.
care riches taste
Tis strange the miser should his cares employTo gain those riches he can ne'er enjoy;Is it less strange the prodigal should wasteHis wealth to purchase what he ne'er can taste?
sides moderation states
He knows to live who keeps the middle state, and neither leans on this side nor on that.
music complaining strain
In a sadly pleasing strain, let the warbling lute complain.
music church doctrine
As some to Church repair, not for the doctrine, but the music there.