Alexander Pope: Selected Poetry and Prose

1 Aeaean Circe, a minor deity, lives on Aeaea, the
floating isle, a mythical place but identified with one
of the Lipari islands north of Sicily.
60 Pramnian wines proverbial for their excellence.
99 falchion sword.
119 Hermes The messenger of the gods, his emblem is his
wand.
154 Moly a mythical plant.
251 dishonest dishonourable.
304 Cyclops In the previous book Ulysses had narrated his
adventure with the Cyclops, Polyphemus, a one-eyed
giant who had imprisoned them in his cave and fed
off Ulysses’ men until the hero had been able to
devise their escape. Eurylochus’ understandable view
is that Ulysses’ curiosity had killed his companions.
370 realms of darkness Ulysses’ next adventure is to visit
Hades where dwell the spirits of the dead to meet the
prophet Tiresias who will tell him his future.

from the PREFACE TO THE WORKS OF

SHAKESPEARE

4 Egyptian strainers The ancient lives of Homer record

that he had travelled in Egypt and so imbibed the

wisdom of Egyptian civilization.

60 Gothic architecture Compare An Essay on Criticism

(lines 242–52) where Pope uses the classical figure of

the well-proportioned dome (of St Peter’s basilica in

Rome) to express the effect of beauty.

TO MRS M.B. ON HER BIRTHDAY

Written for Martha Blount, to whom he dedicated the ‘Epistle
to a lady’, for her birthday, 15 June 1723, and subsequently
revised.

EPITAPH. ON MRS CORBETT, WHO DIED

OF A CANCER IN HER BREAST

In St Margaret’s, Westminster.