AN EPISTLE TO DR ARBUTHNOT

SELECTIONS

APPENDIX

THE FIRST EDITION OF THE RAPE OF THE LOCK





* * * * *





INTRODUCTION


Perhaps no other great poet in English Literature has been so
differently judged at different times as Alexander Pope. Accepted almost
on his first appearance as one of the leading poets of the day, he
rapidly became recognized as the foremost man of letters of his age. He
held this position throughout his life, and for over half a century
after his death his works were considered not only as masterpieces, but
as the finest models of poetry. With the change of poetic temper that
occurred at the beginning of the nineteenth century Pope's fame was