The Rape of the Lock and Other Major Writings

by Alexander Pope

  21. Rufa: Red-haired, conventionally thought to indicate sexual appetite.

  22. spark: See ‘Rape of the Lock’, I, 73n.

  24. Sappho: Greek poet; but any unchaste female poet, and usually referring to Pope’s enemy Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. dirty smock: Lady Mary was known for slovenly dress.

  26. masked: Masked ball.

  31. Calista: Guilty heroine in The Fair Penitent by Nicholas Rowe. nice: ‘delicate; scrupulously and minutely cautious’ (Dictionary).

  32. Simplicius: Any simpleton.

  33. tip the wink: Wink knowingly.

  37. Papillia: Butterfly (from papilio).

  38–40. charming … odious: Both were common descriptors in ladies’ speech at the time. the fair: The fair lady.

  43. take: ‘to captivate with pleasure; to delight; to engage’ (Johnson’s Dictionary).

  45. Calypso: Sea-nymph who bewitches Odysseus and keeps him on her island for seven years (Odyssey, VI).

  53. Narcissa: i.e. a female Narcissus, in love with herself.

  54. wash: A cosmetic preparation.

  56. paid a tradesman … stare: i.e. she usually buys on credit and neglects to pay, but on one occasion she did pay a tradesman, for the pleasure of seeing him stare in astonishment.

  57. trim: ‘dress; gear; ornaments’ (Dictionary).

  61. pique: ‘to offend; to irritate’ (Dictionary, citing this line). affect: ‘to aim at; to endeavour after’ (Dictionary). Despite treating people badly, Narcissa wants to have a good name.

  63. Taylor: Jeremy Taylor, seventeenth-century author of the widely read Holy Living and Holy Dying. Book of Martyrs: John Foxe’s sixteenth-century compilation of stories of Protestants who died for their faith.

  64. his Grace: A duke is so addressed. Chartres: See ‘Essay on Man’, IV, 130n.

  70. punk: Whore.

  71. frank: ‘not restrained; licentious’ (Dictionary).

  78. Tall-boy: An awkward lover in The Jovial Crew by Richard Brome; see also ‘Dunciad’, I, 146n. Charles: Stock name for a footman.

  79. Helluo: Glutton (Latin).

  80. hautgout: High taste (French): food so strongly flavoured (and detected as such by the nose) as to be almost spoiled.

  85. address: Manner, deportment.

  92. Lucretia’s dagger: After being raped by the son of the Roman king Tarquin, Lucretia (in English, Lucrece) stabbed herself to death. Rosamonda’s bowl: Rosamond Clifford, mistress of Henry II, committed suicide by poison.

  101. Simo: An old man in Terence’s comedy Andrea.

  103. owns: Acknowledges.

  110. ratafie: Or ratafia, apricot brandy.

  111. anodyne: Painkiller.

  115. Atossa: Ancient Persian princess, but hinting at Katherine, Duchess of Buckinghamshire, illegitimate daughter of James II.

  119. painting: Describing accurately.

  130. be well: Be on good terms with her.

  140. temple: Country estates were often embellished with ‘temples’ in the classical style.

  148. wants an heir: Lacks a legal heir; evidently Atossa’s husband knows that he is not the father of her children.

  149–50. To heirs unknown … to the poor: Adjusting these lines in his 1751 edition of Pope’s Works, Warburton said that they reflect a principle that Pope ‘never loses sight of … which teaches that Providence is incessantly turning the evils arising from the follies and vices of men to general good’.

  155. equal: Flat, uniform. knack: Trick.

  156. Chameleons … black: They change colour so readily that it would be impossible to depict them in black and white.

  159. part: Quality, ability.

  170. chintz: See ‘I Cobham’, 248n. mohair: ‘thread or stuff made of camels’ or other hair’ (Dictionary, citing this line).

  182. varnished out: Made to shine, as if with varnish.

  183–4. THE SAME … crown and ball: Queen Elizabeth’s motto was semper eadem, ‘always the same’, whereas a modern queen is ‘the same’ only inasmuch as painters routinely depict her with the royal attributes of a crown and orb.

  191. exactest: Most perfect.

  193. Queensberry: The Duchess of Queensberry, a famous beauty, yet admirably modest (thus, ‘there’s no compelling’ her to strip).

  194. Helen: Helen of Troy, ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’. (Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, V, i, 92).

  198. Mah’met: ‘servant to the late king [George I], said to be the son of a Turkish Bassa’ (Pope’s note). Parson Hale: Stephen Hales, a neighbour whom Pope admired for generous conduct of his pastoral duties as well as for his medical research.

  205. nice: Subtle.

  210. sway: ‘power; rule; dominion’ (Dictionary).

  211. That: Love of pleasure.

  213. this: Love of sway.

  226. science: Study, discipline. Great: Persons in high places.

  232. Still: Always.

  239. As hags hold sabbaths: Witches’ sabbaths were midnight rituals at which the Devil would preside.

  240. Night: A weekly social event held at a fashionable lady’s house.

  247. fop: ‘a man of small understanding and much ostentation; a pretender; a man fond of show, dress, and flutter; an impertinent’. sot: ‘a blockhead; a dull ignorant stupid fellow; a dolt; a wretch stupefied by drinking’ (both from Dictionary).

  249. friend: Martha Blount.

  251. Ring: Fashionable carriage drive in Hyde Park.

  256. declines: Like the moon setting, a good woman will sink gently to the grave.

  257. temper: ‘calmness of mind; moderation’ (Dictionary).

  259. a sister’s charms: Martha Blount’s sister Teresa was considered more attractive.

  261. till a husband cools: i.e. rather than quarrelling, she waits to speak until his anger has subsided.

  263. by submitting sways: Exerts indirect power while apparently yielding.

  264. has her humour: Succeeds in getting her way.

  266. tickets: Lottery tickets. codille: The loser in the card game ombre (see ‘Rape of the Lock’, III, 27 and 92 and notes).

  267. spleen: See ‘Rape of the Lock’, IV, 16n. vapour: See ‘Rape of the Lock’, IV, 18n. smallpox: See ‘Rape of the Lock’, V, 20n.

  268. though china fall: Cf. ‘Rape of the Lock’, III, 159–60.

  272. Its last best work: Eve was created after Adam.

  274. Your … our: Women’s and men’s.

  282. Toasts: See ‘Rape of the Lock’, IV, 109n.

  283. I forget the year: Pope pretends not to remember how old Martha is (they were both 47 in 1735).

  284. sphere: The world; pronounced ‘sphare’.

  285. Ascendant: Astrologically dominant at the time of a person’s birth.

  288. buys … a tyrant: Marriages were arranged by families; lacking a rich dowry, Martha has been spared a disagreeable marriage based on money.

  289–90. The gen’rous god … mines: Phoebus, god of poetry (‘wit’) and of the sun, was thought to ‘ripen’ underground minerals with his heat.

  Epistle III

  To Allen Lord Bathurst

  Dedication: Lord Bathurst, one of twelve peers created in 1712 by Queen Anne to secure a Tory majority in the House of Lords, was a close friend and correspondent of Pope, who helped design the landscaping of Bathurst’s estate at Cirencester in Gloucestershire.

  1. doctors: Learned men.

  2. casuists: ‘casuist: one that studies and settles cases of conscience’ (Dictionary, citing this line).

  3. Momus: God of ridicule.

  12. its sire the sun: See ‘II A Lady’, 289n.

  17. owning: Acknowledging.

  18. th’ Elect: Persons destined to eternal salvation.

  20. Ward: John Ward, convicted of forgery, expelled from the House of Commons and sentenced to the pillory. Waters: Peter Walter, unscrupulous attorney and usurer; also 123 below; see also Horace, Satire, II, i, 3. Chartres: See ‘Essay on Man’, IV, 130n.

&nbs
p; 21. wants: Lacks. commodious: Convenient, useful.

  34. saps: Undermines.

  36. guinea: Gold coin, worth twenty-one shillings.

  37. back stairs: i.e. the bribe is being delivered surreptitiously.

  38. Old Cato: Cato the Elder, incorruptible Roman patriot.

  39. paper-credit: Pope was among those deeply suspicious of transactions and profits that existed entirely on paper. supply: Reinforcement.

  41. imped: Enlarged, e.g. by grafting new feathers into a bird’s wing to improve its flight.

  45. Sibyl: Roman prophetess who wrote her predictions on leaves, which the wind might blow away.

  53. confound: Intoxicate.

  54. water all the Quorum: Bribe the Justices of the Peace with liquor.

  58. levee: Morning assembly.

  60. in kind: As in ‘payment in kind’, actual possessions (jars, oxen) rather than money.

  62. Worldly: Hinting at ‘Wortley’, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s husband. crying coals: Like a coal-seller calling out his wares. ‘Some misers of great wealth, proprietors of the coal mines, had entered at this time into an association to keep up coals to an extravagant price, whereby the poor were reduced almost to starve’ (Pope’s note); i.e. freeze to death.

  63. mien so mazed: Countenance so perplexed.

  65. Colepepper: Sir William Colepepper, who lost his fortune gambling.

  66. sent it to the dogs: Squandered it all.

  67. His Grace: Any duke. game: Gamble. White’s: Well-known gambling club.

  69. ancient games: Greek athletic contests, whose prizes were fine horses (‘coursers’), vases, and female slaves (70).

  71. Uxorio: A doting husband. the stakes he sweep: He wins the jackpot.

  73. Adonis: Venus’ lover; hence, a young man vain of his good looks.

  74. St James’s: The principal royal residence in London; see also 388n.

  76. quadrille: Fashionable card game, which the game of financial speculation is in effect replacing.

  82. Turner: Richard Turner, a merchant who lost a fortune through unwise investment.

  84. Wharton: See ‘I Cobham’, 179n.

  85. Hopkins: John Hopkins, ‘whose rapacity obtained him the name of Vulture Hopkins; he lived worthless, but died worth three hundred thousand pounds’ (Pope’s note); also 291.

  86. Japhet: Japhet Crook, a convicted forger, mutilated as punishment for an outrageous crime; he forged a will in his own favour by which he hoped to inherit several thousand pounds.

  87. Hippia: The name suggests ‘hypochondria’ (familiarly called ‘the hips’), a melancholy or depressive mental condition.

  88. Fulvia: Licentious Roman lady.

  89. Narses: Eunuch who served under the emperor Justinian I (the name incorporates ‘arse’).

  90. plastered: Attached like a medicinal bandage.

  91. Harpax: Robber (Greek).

  94. spite of Shylock’s wife: i.e. the miser’s wife would prefer to be a widow, after Merchant of Venice (see ‘I Cobham’, 55n.).

  96. a cat: ‘a famous Duchess of Richmond in her last will left considerable legacies and annuities to her cats’ (Pope’s note).

  100. Bond: Denis Bond expelled from the House of Commons for swindling, who profited at the expense of the poor.

  101. Sir Gilbert: Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Lord Mayor of London and a founder of the Bank of England, regarded as the richest commoner in England.

  103. Blunt: Sir John Blunt, director of the South Sea Company and promoter of the frenzy of speculation that led to the South Sea Bubble crash in 1720 that bankrupted its many investors; see also 145n., 150n.

  107. pelf: Riches.

  108. hate … himself: Parodying the Golden Rule: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ (Mark 12:31, repeated in other Gospels).

  111. own: Admit.

  118. when it sold so dear: ‘in the extravagance and luxury of the South Sea year, the price of a haunch of venison was from three to five pounds’ (Pope’s note). A labourer could live for a year on not much more than £5.

  120. Phryne: Rich Greek courtesan, and probably referring to Walpole’s mistress Molly Skerrit. excise: Tax on commodities, a highly controversial income-producing measure of Walpole’s.

  121. Sappho: See ‘II A Lady’, 24n.

  122. plum: ‘in the cant of the City, the sum of one hundred thousand pounds’ (Dictionary, citing this line); if acquired in an official post, presumably done by dishonest means.

  126. Didius: ‘a Roman lawyer, so rich as to purchase the Empire when it was set to sale’ (Pope’s note).

  127. crown of Poland: The Polish throne was elective, and when it fell vacant the Polish nobility who served as electors could be bribed by would-be monarchs; see also 128–32n.

  128–32. Gage … mines: Joseph Gage offered three million pounds for the crown of Poland, but was refused, after which he married Lady Mary Herbert (‘Maria’) and purchased rights to the gold mines of Asturia in Spain.

  131. joins: Pronounced to rhyme with ‘mines’.

  136. ministers: Cabinet members.

  139. Statesman: Here, a member of the Walpole government. Patriot: The term preferred by members of the opposition, who regarded themselves as above ordinary politics.

  140. butler: i.e. the peeress’s butler has got rich through financial speculation. box: Good seat in the theatre.

  141. job: Profit from a government appointment. bite: Trick, deceive.

  142. pack cards: Stack the deck. half a crown: Two shillings and sixpence, a trivial sum.

  144. France revenged: For the recent victories of British armies under Queen Anne, and in the fourteenth century under Edward III.

  145. court-badge: Honours conferred at Court. scriv’ner: Moneylender (the profession in which Blunt got his start).

  146. City: The financial and commercial centre in London, known as ‘the City’.

  150. buy both sides: Before its crash, the South Sea Company, of which Blunt was a principal director, obtained political favours from both Whig and Tory politicians.

  159–62. ‘’Tis Heav’n … gen’ral use’: Adapted from ‘Essay on Man’, II, 165–6, 205–6.

  163. keep … bestow: Hoard, or give.

  171. Mammon: Biblical term for riches, personified in Paradise Lost as ‘the least erected spirit that fell / From Heav’n’ (I, 679–80).

  173. spare: ‘to live frugally’ (Dictionary).

  175. country: Region of countryside.

  180. grot: See ‘Eloisa to Abelard’, 20n.

  181. nettles … cresses: Cotta dines on nettles and watercress that grow as weeds on his own property.

  182. board: Table.

  183. pulse: Peas and beans.

  186. take … Providence: Provide charity, rather than leaving it to Providence to take care of the poor.

  187. Chartreux: Mother house in France of the Carthusian order, noted for strict discipline.

  189. tabor: Drum.

  196. eat: Pronounced ‘ate’.

  197. marked: Remarked, observed.

  203. hecatombs: Sacrifice of a hundred animals (Greek).

  204. deep divine: Profound clergyman, implying a bottomless capacity for drink.

  206. in his country’s cause: Inasmuch as each libation is preceded by a toast to King George and liberty (207).

  208. that great House: The House of Hanover, which came to the throne after Queen Anne’s death, and was regarded by Tories as an alien (because Germanic) imposition on Britain.

  209. woods recede: The ancient forests are cut down for sale. seat: Country seat, estate.

  210. sylvans: Forest dwellers or spirits. fleet: The timber is sold to the Royal Navy.

  211. our valiant bands: Soldiers.

  213. To town: To London.

  214. train-bands: City militia. burns a pope: Takes part in anti-Catholic revelry that includes burning an effigy of the pope.

  216. spoils: i.e. of war.

  224. magnificence: ‘grandeur of appeara
nce; splendour’ (Dictionary).

  228. mad good-nature: Conviviality and generosity when indulged in excess.

  230. ease, or emulate: By charitable action, relieve Heaven of a part of its responsibility toward the needy, or at any rate imitate Heaven.

  232. Mend … grace: Make up for the unequal distribution of benefits by Fortune, and thereby justify the benevolence of divine grace.

  233. but life diffused: i.e. wealth gives life when it is shared.

  234. poison heals: Certain substances that would be poisonous in large quantity are medicinal in controlled doses.

  235. ambergris: Strong-smelling substance used in making perfume.

  237. Who starves by nobles: Who is caused to starve by nobles?

  242. gamester: Gambler with dice. play’r: Card player.

  243. yours: Bathurst’s. Oxford: Edward Harley, second Earl of Oxford, who left the Harleian Library to Oxford University.

  246. the golden Mean: See ‘Windsor Forest’, 251n.; all of Pope’s examples are intended to recommend it.

  250. the MAN of ROSS: ‘The person here celebrated, who with a small estate actually performed all these good works, and whose true name was almost lost (partly by the title of the “Man of Ross” given him by way of eminence, and partly by being buried without so much as an inscription) was called Mr John Kyrle. He died in the year 1724, aged 90, and lies interred in the chancel of the church of Ross in Herefordshire’ (Pope’s note).

  251. Vaga: Latin name for the River Wye, on which lies the town of Ross; the larger River Severn (252) is not far away.

  258. swain: Rural labourer.

  265. alms-house: ‘a house devoted to the reception and support of the poor’ (Dictionary, citing this line). state: Ostentation.

  267. portioned maids: Young women whom Kyrle furnished with dowries that made it possible for them to marry.

  271. variance: Disagreement leading to legal action.

  273. quacks: ‘quack: a vain boastful pretender to physic; one who proclaims his own medical abilities in public places’ (Dictionary, citing this line).

  274. vile attorneys: Lawyers of the most unscrupulous kind, who hoped to profit by a lawsuit.

  280. five hundred pounds: A comfortable income, but far from a fortune; Pope privately admitted that to encourage generosity, he exaggerated the extent of Kyrle’s good works.

  282. little stars: Emblems of knighthood.