Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1882 — Pope Not a Good Hater. [ARTICLE]

Pope Not a Good Hater.

Pope was not what Johnson called a good hater, for his hatred was often unmanly; but, like Dryden, he always succeeds best in satiPe when a strong personal feeling prompts his verse. A n intense glow of emotion animates his finest poetry. It is seen in the noble praise he bestows upon his friends, and more strongly still in his tremendous assault upon the men of letters and the Grub street hacks whom he chose to treat as his enemies. In nine case 8 out of ten the provocation came in the first instance from the poet, but his indignation, however unreasonable, was not feigned. He really felt what he said, or lie could not have said it so well. When, on the other hand, he utters virtuous platitudes in prose, it is easy to see that they mean nothing. The insincerity of his correspondence contrasts strongly with the eager and venomous sincerity with which he attacks his foes inverse.- The Athenaeum.