An Essay on Criticism

by Alexander Pope

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Genres: Poetry, Classics, Nonfiction, Essays, Philosophy, 18th Century, Literary Criticism

36 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1711

About the author

People best remember The Rape of the Lock (1712) and The Dunciad (1728), satirical mock-epic poems of English writer Alexander Pope.

Ariel, a sylph, guards the heroine of The Rape of the Lock of Alexander Pope.


People generally regard Pope as the greatest of the 18th century and know his verse and his translation of Homer. After William Shakespeare and Alfred Tennyson, he ranks as third most frequently quoted in the language. Pope mastered the heroic couplet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexand...

Reviews

[J.G. Keely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes, I grow the silly delusion that I might have the potential to be a writer. As a curative, I read this, Lycidas, and Hours of Idleness; then I recall that not only am I not a writer, I am old.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahem. It's kind of awkward, trying to review a great poem about reviewing. I have to reread everything I type and examine it for Pope's fiercely lambasted Follies. I believe I shall confine my comments to this:

-This is as true now as it was 301 years ago, when it was published. (It both pleases and pains me to see that nothing has really changed since then. It's like moving to a new school--the names come and go, but the faces remain the same.)

-I wish we still wrote and talked like this. Why does modern language seem so inadequate in comparison?

-I unfortunately observed that I am guilty of unjust criticism in several of my reviews. I am going to go over them and update them (eventually) to reflect my penitence and desire to be a better critic.

Favorite lines

2nd stanza, last lines:
Authors are partial to their Wit, 'tis true,
But are not Criticks to their Judgment too?
Guilty on both counts.

4th stanza, lines 3 and 4:
Some neither can for Wits nor Criticks pass,
As heavy Mules are neither Horse nor Ass.

12th stanza, beginning with line 3:
Musick resembles Poetry, in each
Are nameless Graces which no Methods teach,
And which a Master-Hand alone can reach...
Great Wits sometimes may gloriously offend,
And rise to Faults true Criticks dare not mend;
From vulgar Bounds with brave Disorder part,
And snatch a Grace beyond the Reach of Art,
Which, without passing thro' the Judgment, gains
The Heart and all its End at once attains...
But tho' the Ancients thus their Rules invade,
(As Kings dispense with Laws Themselves have made)
Moderns, beware! Or if you must offend
Against the Precept, ne'er transgress its End...

13th stanza, lines 3-6:
Some Figures monstrous and mis-shap'd appear,
Consider'd singly, or beheld too near,
Which, but proportion'd to their Light, or Place,
Due Distance reconciles to Form and Grace.

14th stanza, lines 15-18:

Oh may some Spark of your Celestial Fire
The last, the meanest of your Sons inspire,
(That on weak Wings, from far, pursues your Flights;
Glows while he reads, but trembles as he writes)

15th stanza, beginning with line 5:

For as in Bodies, thus in Souls, we find
What wants in Blood and Spirits, swelled with Wind...
Trust not yourself; but your defects to know,
Make use of ev'ry friend--and ev'ry Foe.

16th stanza, first lines:
A little Learning is a dang'rous Thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow Draughts intoxicate the Brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.

17th stanza, lines 13 and 14:
'Tis not a lip, or Eye, we Beauty call,
But the joint Force and full Result of all.

18th stanza, first lines:
Whoever thinks a faultless Piece to see,
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be.
In ev'ry Work regard the Writer's End,
Since none can compass more than they intend.

21st stanza, lines 9-12:
True Wit is Nature to Advantage drest,
What oft was Thought, but n'er so well Exprest,
Something, whose Truth convinc'd at Sight we find,
That gives us back the Image of our Mind...

22nd stanza, lines 5-6:
Words are like Leaves; and where they most abound,
Much Fruit of Sense beneath is rarely found.

24th stanza, lines 3-4:
(Thus Wit, like Faith by each Man is apply'd
To one small Sect, and All are damn'd beside.)

29th stanza, lines 1-4 and 15-18:
Some valuing those of their own, Side or Mind,
Still make themselves the measure of Mankind;
Fondly we think we honour Merit then,
When we but praise Our selves in Other Men...
Envy will Merit as its Shade pursue,
But like a Shadow, proves the Substance true;
For envy'd Wit, like Sol Eclips'd, makes known
Th' opposing Body's Grossness, not its own.

33rd stanza, lines 1-4 and last lines:
But if in Noble Minds some Dregs remain,
Not yet purg'd off, of Spleen and sow'r Disdain,
Discharge that Rage on more Provoking Crimes,
Nor fear a Dearth in these Flagitious Times...
Yet shun their Fault, who, Scandalously nice,
Will needs mistake an Author into Vice;
All seems Infected that th'Infected spy,
As all looks yellow to the Jaundic'd Eye.
Spot on, Mr. Pope!
link

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Essay on Criticism, written in 1709 and published in 1711, was the first bona fide confirmation of Pope's great qualities. It contains principles of literary taste and technique in keeping with the classical rules of Aristotle and others.

It is divided into three sections dealing with: --

(a) The necessity of studying the principles of taste and of improving our judgment by studying the ancients and holding them in elevated regard;

(b) The causes that encumber judging correctly (for instance, the habit of looking at a part instead of at the whole); and

(c) The functions of the critic, and the way in which he should discharge them.

On Pope's life this poem had two instantaneous effects: it led to a lifelong quarrel with John Dennis, and to a succinct friendship with Addison, who praised the poem.

Addendum 2025:

To analyze:

1) Neoclassical Ideals: Pope's essay exemplifies the neoclassical principles of order, reason, and observance to classical models. He asserts on the importance of understanding nature, not as disordered wasteland, but as a system governed by rational principles. This aligns with the Enlightenment's accent on logic and universal truths.

2) Equilibrium Between Rules and Genius: A central theme is the tension between severe adherence to rules and the freedom of artistic expression. Pope advocates for a middle ground, where rules guide rather than constrain creativity.

3) Critique of Critics: Pope critiques not only bad poetry but also poor criticism. He highlights the moral and intellectual responsibilities of critics, warning against conceit, shallowness, and the abuse of authority.

4) Didactic Tone: The essay serves as both a critique and a guide, offering advice to aspiring poets and critics. Pope's use of heroic couplets underlines the didactic tone, with its rhythmic clarity and logical structure.

5) Timeless Relevance: Despite being written in the 18th century, many of Pope's observations about criticism remain relevant. His insights on meekness, well-adjusted judgment, and the interplay of rules and genius continue to resonate in fashionable discussions of art and literature.

[andreea. · Rating 3 out of 5]

.

[Lane Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

how prescient was Pope?
did he foresee the heavy-handed and ultimately uninspired contemporary, po-mo approach to lit-crit?
indeed, Alexander Pope offers the most precise summation of post-modernism available:


"Such labored nothings
in so strange a style
amaze th' unlearned
and make the learned smile"

[Anisha Inkspill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had heard of this work by Pope before I read it. I’ve always assumed it to be a lengthy wordy lecture about something, though I wasn’t sure what it would be criticising. Instead, I discovered a lengthy poem mocking critics and bad poets. In places he doesn’t hold back the contempt he feels for either. I’m not sure how well this was received in his own time, I found the content entertaining and funny (though I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be), and as a poem I liked it. It’s about 30 odd pages and on Gutenberg there’s an intro and notes.

The poem starts with:

'Tis hard to say if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in judging ill,
But of the two less dangerous is the offense
To tire our patience than mislead our sense
Some few in that but numbers err in this,
Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss,
A fool might once himself alone expose,
Now one in verse makes many more in prose.

And later:

Thus critics of less judgment than caprice,
Curious, not knowing, not exact, but nice,
Form short ideas, and offend in arts
(As most in manners) by a love to parts.
Some to conceit alone their taste confine,
And glittering thoughts struck out at every line;
Pleased with a work where nothing's just or fit;
One glaring chaos and wild heap of wit.
Poets, like painters, thus, unskilled to trace
The naked nature and the living grace,
With gold and jewels cover every part,
And hide with ornaments their want of art.

[Roya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I actually enjoyed it, probably because my real life is even crappier than an 18 century poem.

[Tommi · Rating 4 out of 5]

18th-century English literature (+ the Restoration) is somewhat of an anomaly. I’ve always considered it the dry spell in the canon, with relatively few works that I’ve managed to read cover to cover: the novels are gruesomely long (and, what’s worse, often epistolary), the poetry rigid and draws too much from the ancients, and the drama just outdated humor. To compensate and be less of an ignorant reader, I’ve gone back to my bookshelves, picked up the anthologies and paperbacks I read only cursorily for lit classes at uni, and read a few works in my own pace over the course of the last 6 months or so. Mostly I’ve been impressed, and Pope’s An Essay on Criticism belongs to the better works – a fine, funny, erudite explication of literary criticism, full of relevance for the modern critic of books:

Some judge of authors’ names, not works, and then
Nor praise nor blame the writings, but the men.

Pope’s iambic pentameter is relentless – one of the rigid features of the time, but here I think it achieves a pulse that carries the extended poem forward.

Here, he parodies cheap poetry by adapting his lines to fit the content:

And ten low words oft creep in one dull line:
While they ring round the same unvaried chimes,
With sure returns of still expected rhymes;
Where’er you find “the cooling western breeze,”
In the next line, it “whispers through the trees”;
If crystal streams “with pleasing murmurs creep,”
The reader’s threatened (not in vain) with “sleep”;
Then, at the last and only couplet fraught
With some unmeaning thing they call a thought,
A needless Alexandrine ends the song
That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.

Ultimately, Pope calls for a balanced critique of literature, not being too harsh but not too admiring either. I was surprised by his leniency:

Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see,
Thinks what ne’er was, nor is, nor e’er shall be.
In every work regard the writer’s end,
Since none can compass more than they intend;
And if the means be just, the conduct true,
Applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due.

So, applauses to you, Pope – this isn’t perfect and it didn’t amaze me, but it surely entertained and gave food for thought, a fine interim read between some bulkier 21st-century novels.

[☀️Mehraveh · Rating 5 out of 5]

"An Essay on Criticism" remains a dazzling testament to the power of wit, wisdom, and poetic mastery. Five stars simply don't seem enough to capture its brilliance. This work isn't just a poem; it's a meticulously crafted guide to understanding and appreciating art, a timeless exploration of the delicate balance between genius and judgment.

[Ostrava · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say much about it right now, but it is cool and has some nice quotes here and there. I'll say it's pretty damn good!

[Dave J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an illuminating and humorous poetic guide on how one should go about critiquing and reflecting on their own writing. I often found myself grinning while reading this due to how Pope--with his polished heroic couplets--deftly spears the heart of many issues that plague all manner of writers; the brevity and quick wit of which is stunningly apt and makes for a good laugh.

Pope here is mainly concerned with caution and moderation; don't be too lenient, but don't be too harsh. He lambasts critics that focus too much on one aspect of a work and tear it down while neglecting the sum of its parts, or critics that overly praise a work on account of an author's established reputation. Pope also points out that when you write, make sure there is substance to what you're saying, and be wary of your creative boundaries, as this stanza highlights:

"But you who seek to give and merit fame,
And justly bear a critic's noble name,
Be sure yourself and your own reach to know
How far your genius taste and learning go.
Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet
And mark that point where sense and dullness meet."

I've certainly been guilty of trying to write beyond my limits, and also of judging certain works too harshly based on one part of the whole thing. Though it can be painful to acknowledge mistakes, Pope encourages us with the famous line, "To err is human; to forgive, divine", and implores people to, "...with pleasure, own your errors past,/ And make each day a critique on the last."

Although it's a struggle to critique your own actions each day, the general principles and timelessness of these lines ring true. It's a refreshing read, especially nowadays. There is also a good deal of criticism on contrarianism and hypocrisy, which part of this stanza in Part II shows:

"The vulgar thus through imitation err;
As oft the learned by being singular.
So much they scorn the crowd that if the throng
By chance go right they purposely go wrong:
So schismatics the plain believers quit,
And are but damned for having too much wit.
Some praise at morning what they blame at night,
But always think the last opinion right.
A muse by these is like a mistress used,
This hour she's idolized, the next abused;
While their weak heads, like towns unfortified,
'Twixt sense and nonsense daily change their side.
Ask them the cause, they're wiser still they say;
And still to-morrow's wiser than to-day.
We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow;
Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so."

But my favorite few lines are these in which Pope eloquently explains "true expression":

"But true expression, like the unchanging sun,
Clears and improves whate'er it shines upon;
It gilds all objects, but it alters none."

Pope never lets his lines go on for too long; he says precisely what he means to say, and in short fashion. The language flows and often contains powerful imagery, doubling in effect. Another similarly impactful part is when Pope talks about how there is always something new to conquer; always something grander just beyond the horizon. It's funny to think how even though Pope's work sits at such a creative height, Pope himself thought the same of great writers that had written prior to his own time.

On many levels, this work is a masterful example of poetry, 18th century writing and criticism. From the cadence to the robust creative expression, Pope so effortlessly writes about serious topics and yet still finds time to crack some jokes along the way. It's just too damn good.

"The learn'd reflect on what before they knew:
Careless of censure, nor too fond of fame,
Still pleas'd to praise, yet not afraid to blame,
Averse alike to flatter, or offend,
Not free from faults, nor yet too vain to mend."

[Emad · Rating 4 out of 5]

So you want to be a critic? Read this book as your premier steps.

[Abubakar Mehdi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is even more delightful than The Rape Of The Lock. It has the nuanced satire on the critics that foolishly reject and criticize every innovative endeavor by a poet. So here is a little chastisement for those lost soul.
The poem has some excellent couplets and few very quotable verses that would make any conversation immaculately charming and eloquent.

[Skylar Burris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a man that can make good sense and aim beautiful barbs in perfect, rhymed couplets.

[Maryam Bayat · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A little learning is a dangerous thing”
“Some praise at morning what they blame at night;
But always think the last opinion right.”

[Joyce Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cow. Alexander Pope has so many mic-drop moments in this essay. This feels especially important now, in a culture where everyone is a critic and can so publicly proclaim their opinions.

There is so much to mine here, I’d love to spend more time to study and reflect some day. For now, just dropping some of my favorite quotes:

—

‘Tis hard to say if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in judging ill,
But of the two less dangerous is the offense
To tire our patience than mislead our sense.

—

The generous critic fanned the poet’s fire,
And taught the world with reason to admire.
Then criticism the muse’s handmade proved,
To dress her charms, and make her more beloved.

—

Some beauties yet no precepts can declare,
For there’s a happiness as well as care.
Music resembles poetry—in each
Are nameless graces which no methods teach,
And which a master hand alone can reach
If, where the rules not far enough extend
(Since rules were made but to promote their end),
Some lucky license answer to the full
The intent proposed that license is a rule.

—

A little learning is a dangerous thing
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.

—

So pleased at first the towering Alps we try,
Mount o’er the vale’s and seem to tread the sky,
The eternal snows appear already passed
And the first clouds and mountains seem the last.
But those attained we tremble to survey
The growing labors of the lengthened way
The increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes,
Hills peep o’er hills and Alps on Alps arise!

(the last line above is quoted in “Anne of Green Gables” which is what led me to read this essay!)

—

Some to conceit alone their taste confine,
And glittering thoughts struck out at every line,
Pleased with a work where nothing’s just or fit,
One glaring chaos and wild heap of wit.
Poets, like painters, thus, unskilled to trace
The naked nature and the living grace,
With gold and jewels cover every part,
And hide with oranaments their want of art.
True wit is nature to advantage dressed;
What oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed;
Something, whose truth convinced at sight we find
That gives us back the image of our mind.

—

In the bright muse though thousand charms conspire,
Her voice is all these tuneful fools admire,
Who haunt Parnassus but to please their ear,
Not mend their minds, as some to church repair,
Not for the doctrine but the music there

—

True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learned to dance.

—

At every trifle scorn to take offense,
That always shows great pride, or little sense

—

Some valuing those of their own side or mind,
Still make themselves the measure of mankind:
Fondly we think we honor merit then,
When we but praise ourselves in other men.

—

The learned reflect on what before they knew
Careless of censure, nor too fond of fame,
Still pleased to praise, yet not afraid to blame,
Averse alike to flatter, or offend,
Not free from faults, nor yet too vain to mend.

—



On another note…..reading this made me think and reflect a lot about taylor swift and the LOASG album, which released last week…..

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This essay is a poem, i.e. heroic couplets in iambic pentameter, to be precise. It advises both poets and critics of some of the mistakes made in their respective pursuits (though at the outset he warns that bad criticism is a bigger sin than bad poetry.) To critics, Pope advises against nit-picking, as well as failure to recognize the tradeoffs inherent in poetry – i.e. sometimes the better sounding line is grammatically strained, or the wittier line may be less musical. To poets, he lays out a range of insights from stylistic to psychological, and it is an essay both about improving the product of writing as well as improving the relations between writers and critics.

Those unfamiliar with the essay will still be aware of a few of its lines, these include: “A little learning is a dang’rous thing;” “To err is human, to forgive, divine.” “For fools rush in where angels fear to tread” and anyone who’s learned to write iambic pentameter (and the sins, thereof) will remember: “And ten low words oft creep in one dull line.”

But those everyday aphorisms are by no means the full extent of this essay’s wise words and its clever phrasing. My favorite couplets of the poem include:

“Some neither can for wits nor critics pass, // As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass.”

“Trust not yourself, but your defects to know, // Make use of ev’ry friend – and ev’ry foe.”

“For works may have more wit than does ‘em good, // As bodies perish through excess of blood.”

“Words are like leaves; and where they most abound, // Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.”

“True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, // As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance.”

“Some praise at morning what they blame at night; // But always think the last opinion right.”

“Unhappy wit, like most mistaken things, // Atones not for that envy which it brings.”

“All seems infected that th’ infected spy, // As all looks yellow to the jaundic’d eye.”

“’Tis best sometimes your censure to restrain; // And charitably let the dull be vain:”

I delighted in this poem. It’s full of food-for-thought, and reads remarkably well for a piece from the year 1711.

[Wendy Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extremely relatable poem, and yet I could never express myself in such eloquent fashion.

I've been contemplating silence in a very new way recently and these words ring true:
"Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found."
"...Be silent always when you doubt your sense;
And speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence:
...But you, with pleasure own your errors past,
And make each day a critic on the last."

On constructive criticism:
"Those best can bear reproof, who merit praise."

My thoughts (expressed in Pope's brilliant terms) against ad hominem modern social justice:
"Some judge of authors' names, not works, and then
Nor praise nor blame the writings, but the men."
"...Some valuing those of their own side or mind,
Still make themselves the measure of mankind:"

His advice on how to read an author:
"A perfect judge will read each work of wit
With the same spirit that its author writ:"
(***so much for postmodern interpretation***)

Another favorite section:
"Avoid extremes; and shun the fault of such
Who still are pleased too little or too much.
At every trifle scorn to take offense:
That always shows great pride, or little sense."

The way Pope speaks about Pride in part II easily convicts me. It's a definite warning against being sententious:
"A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers again."
"..The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read,
With loads of learned lumber in his head.
With his own tongue still edifies his ears,
And always listening to himself appears."

This portion reminded me of the biography on Bonhoeffer I've recently read:
"Great wit sometimes may gloriously offend,
And rise to faults true critics dare not mend;
But though the ancients thus their rules invade
(As kings dispense with laws themselves have made)
Moderns, beware! or if you must offend
Against the precept, ne'er transgress its end;
Let it be seldom, and compelled by need;
And have at least their precedent to plead.
The critic else proceeds without remorse,
Seizes your fame, and puts his law in force."

[Freya Abbas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not expecting to like this so much but it was actually quite entertaining to read and pretty much sums up Augustan/neoclassical aesthetic taste. There were many references to classical writers and it was clear how much Pope admired them. He says that universal truths can be found in the work of great classical authors. "Nature and Homer were, he found, the same" (135). I also really liked the writing style of closed heroic couplets as the rhymes made this a lot more fun to read and it's also impressive that he was able to use this form instead of writing in prose.

[Travis Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stock full of the great lines you didn’t know were all in a single poem. How about, “To err is human, to forgive, divine,” or better yet, “Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.” But my favorite: “A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pieran spring.” As much an essay on criticism of the arts as it is on learning and the epistemic humility essential to true wisdom. Humor and insights are rarely this chummy, but boy how the poetry makes me tap my reading brakes.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Literary criticism... the "genre?" that could be expressed in five pages but is drawn out a ridiculous amount. Overall this one wasn't too bad, the poetry was fun and each sentence rhymed with each other. I enjoyed the way this was made and the points he made were good but again I think it didn't need to be so long but it was good for what it was

[Varis Kumar Kalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: So this is what I understood out if it, presented as Tldr;

Good critics translate the art for laymen and help artist improve. Bad critics give negative reviews if they don't agree with the art and try to highlight negatives of art.

Rules were made by critics to judge art, not for artists to follow while expressing themselves.

Great civilizations rise when artists are allowed freedom to express and are helped by good critics. They fall when any Tom, Dick and Harry can become a critic and starts shackling the artistic freedom. Eg, Rome's cycle of rise and fall 🤔

I'll be the first to criticize my overly simple review. This review doesn't do any justice to the beautiful metaphors and similes employed by the poet to weave his narrative and drive the point.

[Stanislaw Baranski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really hard to read for non native speaker.

I went through it seeking wider context of this golden thought

"""
Men must be taught as if you taught them not, And things unknown proposed as things forgot.

"""

But found not

[Lovmelovmycats Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pope published this masterpiece at age 23. I should read more of him, his later stuff- I'd like to see if/how his ideas of human nature evolved.

[Jitendra Kotai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no words to criticize an essay on criticism. Alexander Pope wrote this one 300 years ago and it is so relevant even today.
Verses like
A little Learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring— lines 215-216

To Err is Humane; to Forgive, Divine.[8]
— line 525

The phrase "fools rush in where angels fear to tread" from Part III (line 625
are such great lines to learn from and adapt to our daily lives. Indeed pure gold.

[Tanya Donato]

✨n a t u r e ✨

[daisy cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

my review on the ultimate review poem is that it should’ve been a page long max

[Nathanael Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

basically a compilation of comments i can imagine my lit teachers writing in my essays (taking down notes...)

[Xena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great pleasure reading this out loud while listening to classical music in the background.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily one of the most quoted poems ever written. It’s like a Bartlett's greatest hits. And then there are dozens of lesser known lines that are equally quotable. Written around 1709 when the poet was 21, it’s worth reading again and again not only for the eloquence but the sage advice as well.