A Concordance to the Works of Alexander Pope, Volume 1Edwin Abbott, Edwin Abbott Abbott |
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Common terms and phrases
air R.L. Balaam Bavius Behold bless blest blush breast breath bright charms Court crown'd cry'd Cynthus Dæmon divine Dulness DUNCIAD E.M. iv e'er eternal ev'n ev'ry eyes fair fame fate flames flow'rs fool gen'rous give glory Goddess Gods gold grace groves head hear heart Heav'n honour I.H. ii Kings Knave laws learn'd learned live Lord lov'd M.E. iii mankind mind Muse Nature Nature's ne'er never numbers nymph o'er once Parnassian Passion plain pleas'd Poets pow'r praise pray'r pride proud Queen R.L. iii R.L. iv rage rhyme rise roll round sacred Sappho sense shade shine sighs sing skies smiles soft soul spleen Sylphs tears Thalestris thee thine things thou thro trembling Truth Twas verse viii Virtue whate'er wings WV.F youth
Popular passages
Page xi - Tis not enough no harshness gives offence, The sound must seem an echo to the sense : Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows ; But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar: When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, The line too labours, and the words move slow : Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main.
Page ix - We are descended of ancient families, and kept up our dignity and honour many years, till the jack-sprat THAT supplanted us. How often have we found ourselves slighted by the clergy in their pulpits, and the lawyers at the bar? Nay, how often have we heard, in one of the most polite and august assemblies in the universe, to our great mortification, these words, " That THAT that noble lord urged; ' which if one of us had justice done, would have sounded nobler thus, " that WHICH that noble lord urged.
Page iv - But most by numbers judge a poet's song, And smooth or rough with them is right or wrong . In the bright Muse though thousand charms conspire, Her voice is all these tuneful fools admire...
Page iv - People seek for what they call wit, on all subjects, and in all places ; not considering that nature loves truth so well, that it hardly ever admits of flourishing : Conceit is to nature what paint is to beauty ; it is not only needless, but impairs what it would improve.
Page xi - It is not enough that nothing offends the Ear, but a good Poet will adapt the very Sounds, as well as Words, to the things he treats of. So that there is (if one may express it so) a Style of Sound.
Page viii - THAT your petitioners, being in a forlorn and destitute condition, know not to whom we should apply ourselves for relief, because there is hardly any man alive who hath not injured. us. Nay, we speak it with sorrow, even you yourself, whom we should suspect of such a practice the last of all mankind, can hardly acquit yourself of having given us some cause of complaint. We are descended of ancient families, and kept up our dignity and honour many...
Page xii - whispers through the trees': If crystal streams 'with pleasing murmurs creep,' The reader's threaten'd (not in vain) with
Page xi - Now I fancy that to preserve an exact harmony and variety none of these pauses should be continued above three lines together without the interposition of another; else it will be apt to weary the ear with one continued tone; at least it does mine.
Page xii - The Hiatus which has the worst effect, is when one word ends with the same vowel that begins the following ; and next to this, those vowels whose sounds come nearest to each other, are most to be avoided. O, A, or U, will bear a more full and graceful sound than E, I, or Y.
Page xi - Every nice ear must (I believe) have observed that in any smooth English verse of ten syllables there is naturally a pause either at the fourth, fifth, or sixth syllable, as, for example, Waller: At the fifth: Where'er thy Navy | | spreads her canvas wings.