I cannot remember why but this week somewhere the name of Alexander Pope caught my attention and thus he is the next discovery on my list.
This week I will give you some context into the man as I rather feel I have been neglecting that important process.
Born in 1688, Pope was a part of a Catholic family, which was based in London until anti-Catholic legislation persuaded them to move to Berkshire. Alexander was self-educated, due to the fact that his religion barred him from attending schools etc.
I am rather astonished to read that this poem was written when the poet was aged merely twelve. I chose it prior to that knowledge and so will now read it in a slightly different light, perhaps. Or just with further awe.
The year that he wrote this poem was also the year in which he was diagnosed with a disease which would render him a hunchback of only four and a half feet.
I suppose then that is all the context needed to cover this poem. It does give a much more bitter note to the term, as if he knew his future was to be tinted by his deformities for the rest of his life.
Ode on Solitude
Happy the man, whose wish and care
This week I will give you some context into the man as I rather feel I have been neglecting that important process.
Born in 1688, Pope was a part of a Catholic family, which was based in London until anti-Catholic legislation persuaded them to move to Berkshire. Alexander was self-educated, due to the fact that his religion barred him from attending schools etc.
I am rather astonished to read that this poem was written when the poet was aged merely twelve. I chose it prior to that knowledge and so will now read it in a slightly different light, perhaps. Or just with further awe.
The year that he wrote this poem was also the year in which he was diagnosed with a disease which would render him a hunchback of only four and a half feet.
I suppose then that is all the context needed to cover this poem. It does give a much more bitter note to the term, as if he knew his future was to be tinted by his deformities for the rest of his life.
Ode on Solitude
Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.
Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.
Blest, who can unconcernedly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,
Sound sleep by night; study and ease,
Together mixed; sweet recreation;
And innocence, which most does please,
With meditation.
Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.
As I am participating in a course on Wordsworth at the moment, I find it apt to mention his 'Preface to the Lyrical Ballads' as well as his poem 'Michael', among others. Wordsworth, a century after Pope, thought poetry should reflect the voice of the ordinary person and highlight the fact that emotions did not belong only to the nobility. To me, this poem of Pope's inclines towards these points before Wordsworth even got there. All at the age of twelve, apparently.
The reader would first come to this poem, due to its title, probably in rather a lonely mood themselves, or at least expecting a sombre poem. Pope surprises the reader by fronting the first line with the complement 'happy', which sets any later negative statements in a more positive light, as in the subordinate clause 'a few paternal acres bound' and the last stanza as a whole.
The technique of not repeating the main verb from clause to clause makes the poem shorter and therefore more simple. The trees 'yield' both shade and fire and 'milk', 'bread' and 'attire' are all indirect objects of the verb 'supply'. This mimics the simplicity of the life to which the poet aspires.
It is interesting that the poet describes the farmer (note how we are never given a title of the 'man') to have both 'study and ease'. The perception of the time was that those who worked the land were not educated and did not 'study' but Pope is claiming that they have a certain type of knowledge to learn. He does not say what though, only that it brings on 'meditation', implying that these country-folk are capable of higher thought and reflection.
Perhaps the knowledge of his disposition put thoughts about death into the young poet's mind. This would explain the final note about where he will 'lie' appearing peaceful, regardless of the solitary nature. The prefix 'un-' is used in a tricolon takes three participles ('-seen', '-known' and '-lamented') which are usually desirable after death and makes them sound very negative. However, this purposely contrasts to the overall positive message of the poem. The iussive subjunctive in 'let me' gives an urgency, as if death is to be greeted. The poet speaks of an almost taboo subject in conversational speech with contentment and almost excitement; 'steal' is etymologically related to 'stealth', giving connotations of an exciting escape by night to somewhere forbidden for whatever reason.
I find it both a solemn and an uplifting poem, the former for knowing the poet's context, the latter for the message it gives to other people. In an age dependent upon class structure, at least a few people could see that being at the top was not the be-all and end-all (isn't that a nice phrase, when one thinks about it?).
As I am participating in a course on Wordsworth at the moment, I find it apt to mention his 'Preface to the Lyrical Ballads' as well as his poem 'Michael', among others. Wordsworth, a century after Pope, thought poetry should reflect the voice of the ordinary person and highlight the fact that emotions did not belong only to the nobility. To me, this poem of Pope's inclines towards these points before Wordsworth even got there. All at the age of twelve, apparently.
The reader would first come to this poem, due to its title, probably in rather a lonely mood themselves, or at least expecting a sombre poem. Pope surprises the reader by fronting the first line with the complement 'happy', which sets any later negative statements in a more positive light, as in the subordinate clause 'a few paternal acres bound' and the last stanza as a whole.
The technique of not repeating the main verb from clause to clause makes the poem shorter and therefore more simple. The trees 'yield' both shade and fire and 'milk', 'bread' and 'attire' are all indirect objects of the verb 'supply'. This mimics the simplicity of the life to which the poet aspires.
It is interesting that the poet describes the farmer (note how we are never given a title of the 'man') to have both 'study and ease'. The perception of the time was that those who worked the land were not educated and did not 'study' but Pope is claiming that they have a certain type of knowledge to learn. He does not say what though, only that it brings on 'meditation', implying that these country-folk are capable of higher thought and reflection.
Perhaps the knowledge of his disposition put thoughts about death into the young poet's mind. This would explain the final note about where he will 'lie' appearing peaceful, regardless of the solitary nature. The prefix 'un-' is used in a tricolon takes three participles ('-seen', '-known' and '-lamented') which are usually desirable after death and makes them sound very negative. However, this purposely contrasts to the overall positive message of the poem. The iussive subjunctive in 'let me' gives an urgency, as if death is to be greeted. The poet speaks of an almost taboo subject in conversational speech with contentment and almost excitement; 'steal' is etymologically related to 'stealth', giving connotations of an exciting escape by night to somewhere forbidden for whatever reason.
I find it both a solemn and an uplifting poem, the former for knowing the poet's context, the latter for the message it gives to other people. In an age dependent upon class structure, at least a few people could see that being at the top was not the be-all and end-all (isn't that a nice phrase, when one thinks about it?).
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