A Dialogue.

POPE.
Since my old friend is grown so great,
As to be Minister of State,
I'm told, but 'tis not true, I hope,
That Craggs will be ashamed of Pope.

CRAGGS.
Alas! if I am such a creature,
To grow the worse for growing greater;
Why, faith, in spite of all my brags,
'Tis Pope must be ashamed of Craggs.

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope was an English poet, best known for his satirical verse, including 'The Rape of the Lock' and 'The Dunciad'. He is the second-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations after Shakespeare. Pope was one of the greatest English poets and the foremost poet of the early 18th century. He also translated Homer. Despite suffering from numerous health problems, Pope made a significant impact on English literature and is remembered for his sharp wit and mastery of the heroic couplet.

Alexander Pope

Epitaph I. On Charles Earl Of Dorset, In The Church Of Withyam, In Sussex.

Alexander Pope, Simple Poetry

The Riddle Of The World

Alexander Pope, Simple Poetry

The Fable Of Dryope - Ovid's Metamorphoses Book 9, (v - 324-393)

Alexander Pope, Simple Poetry

Satires And Epistles Of Horace Imitated. - Satire I. To Mr Fortescue.[121]

Alexander Pope, Simple Poetry

English

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Epistle To James Craggs, Esq., Secretary Of State.

A soul as full of worth, as void of pride,
Which nothing seeks to show, or needs to hide,
Which nor to guilt nor fear its caution owes,
And boasts a warmth that from no passion flows.
A face untaught to feign; a judging eye,
That darts severe upon a rising lie,
And strikes a blush through frontless flattery.
All this thou wert; and being this before,
Know, kings and fortune cannot make thee more.
Then scorn to gain a friend by servile ways,
Nor wish to lose a foe these virtues raise;
But candid, free, sincere, as you began,
Proceed--a minister, but still a man.
Be not (exalted to whate'er degree)
Ashamed of any friend, not even of me:
The patriot's plain, but untrod path pursue;
If not, 'tis I must be ashamed of you.

Alexander Pope

Epigram.

A Bishop, by his neighbours hated,
Has cause to wish himself translated:
But why should Hough desire translation,
Loved and esteem'd by all the nation?
Yet, if it be the old man's case,
I'll lay my life I know the place:
'Tis where God sent some that adore Him,
And whither Enoch went before him.

Alexander Pope

Book I. Epistle VII.

IMITATED IN THE MANNER OF DR SWIFT.

'Tis true, my lord, I gave my word,
I would be with you, June the third;
Changed it to August, and (in short)
Have kept it--as you do at court.
You humour me when I am sick,
Why not when I am splenetic?
In town, what objects could I meet?
The shops shut up in every street,
And funerals blackening all the doors,
And yet more melancholy whores:
And what a dust in every place!
And a thin court that wants your face,
And fevers raging up and down,
And W---- and H---- both in town!

'The dog-days are no more the case.'
'Tis true, but winter comes apace:
Then southward let your bard retire,
Hold out some months 'twixt sun and fire,
And you shall see, the first warm weather,
Me and the butterflies toge...

Alexander Pope

Moral Essays. Epistle V. To Mr Addison.

OCCASIONED BY HIS DIALOGUES ON MEDALS.^[54]

See the wild waste of all-devouring years!
How Rome her own sad sepulchre appears,
With nodding arches, broken temples spread!
The very tombs now vanish'd, like their dead!
Imperial wonders raised on nations spoil'd
Where mix'd with slaves the groaning martyr toil'd:
Huge theatres, that now unpeopled woods,
Now drain'd a distant country of her floods:
Fanes, which admiring gods with pride survey,
Statues of men, scarce less alive than they!
Some felt the silent stroke of mouldering age,
Some hostile fury, some religious rage,
Barbarian blindness, Christian zeal conspire,
And Papal piety, and Gothic fire.
Perhaps, by its own ruins saved from flame,
Some buried marble half-preserves a name;
That na...

Alexander Pope

The Pope And The Net

What, he on whom our voices unanimously ran,
Made Pope at our last Conclave? Full low his life began:
His father earned the daily bread as just a fisherman.

So much the more his boy minds book, gives proof of mother-wit,
Becomes first Deacon, and then Priest, then Bishop: see him sit
No less than Cardinal erelong, while no one cries Unfit!

But some one smirks, some other smiles, jogs elbow and nods head:
Each winks at each: I-faith, a rise! Saint Peters net, instead
Of sword and keys, is come in vogue! You think he blushes red?

Not he, of humble holy heart! Unworthy me! he sighs:
From fishers drudge to Churchs prince, it is indeed a rise:
So, heres my way to keep the fact forever in my eyes!

And straightway in his palace-hall, where commonly i...

Robert Browning

To Pope Julius II.

Signor, se vero è.


My Lord! if ever ancient saw spake sooth,
        Hear this which saith: Who can, doth never will.
        Lo! thou hast lent thine ear to fables still,
        Rewarding those who hate the name of truth.
I am thy drudge and have been from my youth--
        Thine, like the rays which the sun's circle fill;
        Yet of my dear time's waste thou think'st no ill:
        The more I toil, the less I move thy ruth.
Once 'twas my hope to raise me by thy height;
        But 'tis the balance and the powerful sword
        Of Justice, not false Echo, that we need.
Heaven, as it seems, plants virtue in despite
        Here on the earth, if this be our reward--
        To seek for fruit on trees too dry to breed.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni