Epigram. An epigram is a short, often witty, saying. Pope’s couplets are famous not only for their poetic excellence, but for the wit and insight they contain. In this respect, they have philosophical as well as literary value.
Couplet. A couplet is a pair of rhyming lines that expresses a complete thought. The form that Pope mastered is the heroic couplet, the lines of which are in iambic pentameter. As you read, notice that the rhyme, like the rhythm, or sound of the words, is often very simple.
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Pope wrote his Essay on Criticism when he was only twenty-one years old and published it a few years later, in 1711. The poem, excerpts of which appear on the following pages, wittily presents critical precepts derived from Greek and Latin authorities. It is written in Pope’s favorite meter, ten-syllable iambic pentameter. An iamb is a poetic foot with one weakly stressed syllable and one strongly stressed syllable, as in the word alone. A pentameter line has five feet. Paired lines of rhymed iambic pentameter such as those used in this poem are known as heroic couplets.
The couplets included here demonstrate Pope’s special ability to capture perceptive insights in a few words that please the ear and enlighten the mind. So appealing are these excerpts that they have gained the status of proverbs used commonly by English speakers around the globe, often by people who do not know their source.
Think of a short saying or piece of folk wisdom familiar to you. Explain its meaning and give examples of a few situations to which it applies.
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