The Rape of the Lock and Other Poems Part 25

This fine simile is one of the best expressions in English verse of the modesty of the true scholar, due to his realization of the boundless extent of knowledge. It was such a feeling that led Sir Isaac Newton to say after all his wonderful discoveries,

"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seash.o.r.e and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier sh.e.l.l than ordinary whilst the great ocean of truth lay all the time undiscovered before me."

'244' peculiar parts:

individual parts.

'248 ev'n thine, O Rome:'

there are so many splendid churches in Rome that an inhabitant of this city would be less inclined than a stranger to wonder at the perfect proportions of any of them. But there are two, at least, the Pantheon and St. Peter's, which might justly evoke the admiration even of a Roman. It was probably of one of these that Pope was thinking.

'265'

What is the difference between "principles" and "notions" in this line?

'265 La Mancha's Knight:'

Don Quixote. The anecdote that follows is not taken from Cervantes'

novel, but from a continuation of it by an author calling himself Avellanada. The story is that Don Quixote once fell in with a scholar who had written a play about a persecuted queen of Bohemia. Her innocence in the original story was established by a combat in the lists, but this the poet proposed to omit as contrary to the rules of Aristotle. The Don, although professing great respect for Aristotle, insisted that the combat was the best part of the story and must be acted, even if a special theater had to be built for the purpose, or the play given in the open fields. Pope quotes this anecdote to show how some critics in spite of their professed acceptance of general rules are so prejudiced in favor of a minor point as to judge a whole work of art from one standpoint only.

'270 Dennis:'

John Dennis, a playwright and critic of Pope's time. Pope and he were engaged in frequent quarrels, but this first reference to him in Pope's works is distinctly complimentary. The line probably refers to some remarks by Dennis on the Grecian stage in his 'Impartial Critic', a pamphlet published in 1693.

'273 nice:'

discriminating; in l. 286 the meaning is "over-scrupulous, finicky."

'276 unities:'

according to the laws of dramatic composition generally accepted in Pope's day, a play must observe the unities of subject, place, and time.

That is, it must have one main theme, not a number of diverse stories, for its plot; all the scenes must be laid in one place, or as nearly so as possible; and the action must be begun and finished within the s.p.a.ce of twenty-four hours.

'286 Curious:'

fastidious, over-particular.

'288 by a love to parts:'

by too diligent attention to particular parts of a work of art, which hinders them from forming a true judgment of the work as a whole.

'289 Conceit:'

an uncommon or fantastic expression of thought. "Conceits" had been much sought after by the poets who wrote in the first half of the seventeenth century.

'297 True Wit:'

here opposed to the "conceit" of which Pope has been speaking. It is defined as a natural idea expressed in fit words.

'299 whose truth ... find:'

of whose truth we find ourselves at once convinced.

'308 take upon content:'

take for granted.

'311-317'

Show how Pope uses the simile of the "prismatic gla.s.s" to distinguish between "false eloquence" and "true expression."

'319 decent:'

becoming.

'328 Fungoso:'

a character in Ben Jonson's 'Every Man out of his Humour'. He is the son of a miserly farmer, and tries hard, though all in vain, to imitate the dress and manners of a fine gentleman.

'329 These sparks:'

these would-be dandies.

'337 Numbers:'

rhythm, meter.

'341 haunt Parna.s.sus:

read poetry.--ear:' note that in Pope's day this word rhymed with "repair" and "there."