Writing style of Alexander Pope:-

Alexander Pope is the third most quoted writer next to William Shakespeare and Alfred, Lord
Tennyson, according to the “Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.” One of England’s most celebrated
poets, Pope lived and wrote in the late 17th and 18th centuries. He was and remains widely
respected for his viewpoints on poetry and morality, and many of the distinct characteristics of
his poetry relate to the connection he perceived between these two topics.

● Heroic Couplets
In his earlier poetry such as “An Essay on Criticism,” Pope deployed the heroic couplet. A heroic
couplet is a poetic form in which two lines written in iambic pentameter end with perfect rhymes.
For example, the opening line of “An Essay on Criticism” reads, “'Tis hard to say, if greater Want
of Skill / Appear in Writing or Judging ill.” Though the heroic couplet had been a poetic form
since Chaucer wrote, Pope’s use of it in his poetry was relatively original in his day. Heroic
couplets add a sing-songy quality to some of his poetry.

● Morality and Virtue

In poems such as “An Essay on Criticism” and “Dunciad,” Pope explores issues around morality,
virtue and poetry, some of his favorite topics. In these poems, Pope makes strong cases for the
connection between authoring poems and being a moral and virtuous person. He believed that
the qualities that make a good poet and literary critic are the same qualities that make a good
person: thoughtfulness, carefulness and strong faith. Pope fully systematized his thoughts on
poetry and virtue in his later work “An Essay on Man.” In this poem, Pope argues that humans
must accept their position in nature as being between angels and beasts, and that only if they
do so are they able to lead virtuous lives.

● Critical of Other Poets

Given his lofty opinions on poetry, poets and morality, Pope did not have a very high opinion of
many of his contemporary poets. Poems such as “Essay on Criticism,” “Dunciad,” and “Essay
on Man” all harangue lesser poets whom Pope considers to be inferior to him. In “Dunciad,” he
refers to these inferior poets as “hacks,” “scribblers” and “dunces.” Needless to say, though he
was widely respected for his contributions to poetry and moral philosophy, Pope was not
profoundly popular in poetry circles.

● Satire and Imitation

Another feature of several of Pope’s poems, including his famous mock-epic poem “The Rape of
the Lock,” is his careful imitation of other poetic styles and his development of satire. In “The
Rape of the Lock,” Pope imitates epic poems in an effort to satirize high society in 18th-century
England. Similarly, in a late poem “Imitations of Horace,” Pope imitates an epic about Horace to
satirically criticize England’s monarch George II.

● Pseudo Classicist
The true classicism is meant to be a combination of poetic ardor and excellence of form. In
Pope the true poetic ardor and energy is absent but he is exceedingly careful about the
technique of form and style. When we look at the contents of Pope's poetry we do not find
anything worthwhile. Satire, didactic poetry, and a flimsy mock-heroic poem---are all his poetic
achievements. They are mere products of intellect, and artificially constructed; they do not
reproduce true classical spirit. Hence it is not correct to describe Pope as a true classicist.
(Milton, with his poetic impulse and perfection of form, is a true classicist.) The classicism of
Pope is the shadow of classicism; it is false or pseudo-classicism.

● Intellectual Poetry
Pope's poetry was of his age, and it reflected in full measure the spirit of the age. It is intellectual
and its appeal is to the mind rather than to the heart. It is full of wit and epigram, the brilliancy of
which is unsurpassed. Pope is next to Shakespeare, in contributing quotable lines of verse,
which are remarkable for their pregnancy, neatness and brevity.

● The Rape of the Lock as a Social Satire

This poem shows Pope's genius for satirical poetry which exposes in a witty manner the follies
and absurdities of the high society of the times. All the recognized weapons of satire have been
employed by Pope in a most effective manner. The principal targets of satire in this poem are
aristocratic ladies and gentlemen of Pope's day. Ladies who learns to roll their eyes and to blush
in a coquettish manner. Pope ridicules the fickleness and superficiality of the ladies by referring
to their hearts as moving toy-shops and their varying vanities.

● A Poet of Wit and Fancy

Pope's subjects of poetry in which he excelled are of the satirical and mock-heroic kind. He is
the unchallenged master of artificial poetry, a poetry dealing with artificial life, and in this sphere,
'The Rape of the Lock' stands unmatched. Among the great English poets who had preceded
Pope, Chaucer was the painter of actual life, Spenser of imaginative life, Shakespeare of ideal
life, and Milton of moral and spiritual life.
It remained for Pope to give rhythmical utterance to artificial life, and he was eminently fitted for
this task because he was gifted with the power of intellectual expression and perfect propriety of
phrase.

It is true that Pope had not much to express, he had hardly any original thing to say, his
thoughts are mostly borrowed or common place, but what gives distinction to his poetry is its
lucid expression, His aim was to set the gems, not to create them. Lessing said, "Pope's great
merit lay in what we call the mechanic of poetry."

● Pope, a Classic in Prose

Mathew Arnold has called Pope as 'classic in prose'. It looks like a paradox, since Pope was a
poet and not a prose-writer. What Arnold means to say is that Pope's poetic style has all those
qualities which gave distinction to prose i.e. lucidity, balance, imagination, warmth, wit,
clearness and logic etc. but is wanting in that moving and transporting quality which is the
hall-mark of true poetry. Lowell said, ‘Measured by any high standard of imagination, he will be
found wanting; tried by any test of wit, he is unrivalled’.
 ● Some Limitations
Pope's poetry is not only superficial but is limited in its range. Firstly, it is the poetry of society in
the city, as in The Rape of the Lock-- a poetry of satire and a philosophic poetry, which is dry
and has no warmth of experience behind it. Pope said, "The proper study of mankind is man".
But it was mankind as seen only in the small society of London. Stopford Brooke rightly
remarks, ‘The vast range of humanity beyond London was left without sympathy, as if it did not
exist. This was not only insular, it was insolent’.

So far as Pope's versification is concerned it was limited to the heroic couplet. Though he
handled this measure with masterly skill, it shows mechanical skill rather than genuine art.