Alexander Pope

One of the most well-known English writers of the early 18th century, Alexander Pope (21 May 1688-30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era. Pope, a proponent of Augustan literature, translated Homer and is most known for his satirical and discursive poetry, such as The Rape of the Lock, The Dunciad, and An Essay on Criticism. He is also noted for his work in the Augustan movement. Pope is the second most quoted author in The Oxford Dictionary of...See more

One of the most well-known English writers of the early 18th century, Alexander Pope (21 May 1688-30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era. Pope, a proponent of Augustan literature, translated Homer and is most known for his satirical and discursive poetry, such as The Rape of the Lock, The Dunciad, and An Essay on Criticism. He is also noted for his work in the Augustan movement. Pope is the second most quoted author in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations after Shakespeare, and several of his verses have become part of everyday speech. On May 21, 1688, during the Glorious Revolution's year, Alexander Pope was born in London. In London's Strand, his father Alexander Pope, who lived from 1646 to 1717, owned a prosperous linen business. His mother, Edith (1643-1733), was a York-born descendant of William Turner, Esquire. They were both Catholics. Samuel Cooper, a well-known miniature painter, was married to his mother's sister. A philosophical poem in heroic couplets called An Essay on Man was written between 1732 and 1734. The Pope intended it to serve as the focal point of a system of ethics that would be presented in poetic form. See less