Horace, but perfectly adapted to the requirements of his own
defence in 1733 (ll. 55–70). And when Horace later points
out that the great and the good were not afraid to unwind in
the presence of the satirist (his phrase ‘discincti ludere’ (l. 73),
to play disrobed, is a wrestling metaphor suggesting bouts of
verbal wit) while their simple dish of herbs was on the boil,
Pope changes the imagery to suit the refinement and dignity
of life at Twickenham in the famous couplet:
There St John mingles with my friendly bowl
The feast of reason and the flow of soul.
(ll. 127–8)However much he may vary the sentiments and images of
Horace, and change his manner and tone, Pope remains loyal
to the living essence of Horatian philosophy. In a celebrated
passage in The Art of Poetry Horace claimed to be fulfilling
the function of a whetstone in sharpening awareness of the
poet’s office and duty. Wisdom is the fount of good writing,
and the Socratic writings can furnish the poet’s material (ll.
304–10). In his satires and epistles Horace is characteristically
Socratic, challenging the reader to philosophic self-
examination and to fruitful thought about the true goods of
life. Horace, like Socrates, has no formal system to impart—
he reserves an eclectic’s independence—and in his quest for
self-knowledge his irony works upon himself. In pursuit of
equanimity and philosophic calm, otium, he sets himself
against all that in the business of urban living denies this,
negotium, cultivating an independent reliance upon inner
resources. Though his withdrawal often takes the form of
active praise of the simpler country life he could lead away
from Rome on his Sabine farm, he is neither reclusive nor
ascetic, and speaks as vir urbanus, a man of the world, yet
not inured to the world’s values. The famous injuction nil
admirari (Epistle I, vi, 1)
Not to admire is all the art I know,
To make men happy and to keep them so
(Pope’s translation)is at root a call to reject the allure of riches, position, and
power, the pursuit of which brings anxiety and restlessness. In