An Essay on Criticism

Some have at first for wits, then poets pass’d,
Turn’d critics next, and prov’d plain fools at last;
Some neither can for wits nor critics pass,
As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass.
Those half-learn’d witlings, num’rous in our isle
As half-form’d insects on the banks of Nile;
Unfinish’d things, one knows not what to call,
Their generation’s so equivocal
:
To tell ’em, would a hundred tongues require,
Or one vain wit’s, that might a hundred tire.
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
Part
I
, Part
II
, Part
III

An Essay on Criticism (Representative Poetry Online)

I think it’s probably safe to guess what Alexander Pope would think of blogging. Bear in mind, though, that he was writing this at the ripe old age of 20.

View Comments

Share
Published by
Dennis G. Jerz

Recent Posts

No interior yet. Getting there. Gotta start somewhere. Low-poly background detail for a medieval theater project. #blender3d

No interior yet. Getting there. Gotta start somewhere. Low-poly background detail for a medieval theater…

8 mins ago

This is manageable. Far better than some semesters.

This is manageable. Far better than some semesters.

17 hours ago

Creating textures for background buildings in a medieval theater simulation project. I can always improve this later. #blender3d

Creating textures for background buildings in a medieval theater simulation project. I can always improve…

2 days ago

Yesterday my stack of unmarked assignments was about 120, so this is not bad.

Nothing in this stack is pressing, but they do include rough drafts of final papers,…

3 days ago

ai, ai, ai: critical thinking and literacy won’t save you

Here’s the underlying problem. We have an operating image of thought, an understanding of what…

3 days ago

Representing the Humanities at Accepted Students Day.

Representing the Humanities at Accepted Students Day.

6 days ago