"But as the slightest sketch, if justly trac'd, / Is by ill-colouring but the more disgrac'd, / So by false learning is good sense defac'd."
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for W. Lewis
Date
w. c. 1709, 1711
Metaphor
"But as the slightest sketch, if justly trac'd, / Is by ill-colouring but the more disgrac'd, / So by false learning is good sense defac'd."
Metaphor in Context
Yet if we look more closely, we shall find
Most have the seeds of judgment in their mind:
Nature affords at least a glimm'ring light;
The lines, tho' touch'd but faintly, are drawn right.
But as the slightest sketch, if justly trac'd,
Is by ill-colouring but the more disgrac'd,
So by false learning is good sense defac'd:
Some are bewilder'd in the maze of schools,
And some made coxcombs Nature meant but fools.
In search of wit these lose their common sense,
And then turn Critics in their own defence:
Each burns alike, who can, or cannot write,
Or with a Rival's, or an Eunuch's spite.
All fools have still an itching to deride,
And fain would be upon the laughing side.
If Mævius scribble in Apollo 's spight,
There are, who judge still worse than he can write.
(I, ll. 19-35)
Most have the seeds of judgment in their mind:
Nature affords at least a glimm'ring light;
The lines, tho' touch'd but faintly, are drawn right.
But as the slightest sketch, if justly trac'd,
Is by ill-colouring but the more disgrac'd,
So by false learning is good sense defac'd:
Some are bewilder'd in the maze of schools,
And some made coxcombs Nature meant but fools.
In search of wit these lose their common sense,
And then turn Critics in their own defence:
Each burns alike, who can, or cannot write,
Or with a Rival's, or an Eunuch's spite.
All fools have still an itching to deride,
And fain would be upon the laughing side.
If Mævius scribble in Apollo 's spight,
There are, who judge still worse than he can write.
(I, ll. 19-35)
Categories
Provenance
HDIS
Citation
Over 30 entries in ESTC. (1711, 1713, 1714, 1716, 1717, 1718, 1719, 1722, 1728, 1736, 1737, 1741, 1744, 1745, 1749, 1751, 1754, 1758, 1765, 1770, 1774, 1777, 1782, 1796).
An Essay on Criticism. (London: Printed for W. Lewis, 1711). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books><Link to 2nd edition in ECCO-TCP>
Originally searching through Stanford's HDIS installation of the Chadwyck-Healey database (which indexes a text from the 1736 Works. Some text drawn from ECCO-TCP edition.
An Essay on Criticism. (London: Printed for W. Lewis, 1711). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books><Link to 2nd edition in ECCO-TCP>
Originally searching through Stanford's HDIS installation of the Chadwyck-Healey database (which indexes a text from the 1736 Works. Some text drawn from ECCO-TCP edition.
Date of Entry
10/28/2003
Date of Review
01/28/2009
