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Analysis of Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 8, 2020 • ( 1 )

An Essay on Criticism (1711) was Pope’s first independent work, published anonymously through an obscure bookseller [12–13]. Its implicit claim to authority is not based on a lifetime’s creative work or a prestigious commission but, riskily, on the skill and argument of the poem alone. It offers a sort of master-class not only in doing criticism but in being a critic:addressed to those – it could be anyone – who would rise above scandal,envy, politics and pride to true judgement, it leads the reader through a qualifying course. At the end, one does not become a professional critic –the association with hired writing would have been a contaminating one for Pope – but an educated judge of important critical matters.

But, of the two, less dang’rous is th’ Offence, To tire our Patience, than mislead our Sense: Some few in that, but Numbers err in this, Ten Censure wrong for one who Writes amiss; A Fool might once himself alone expose, Now One in Verse makes many more in Prose.

The simple opposition we began with develops into a more complex suggestion that more unqualified people are likely to set up for critic than for poet, and that such a proliferation is serious. Pope’s typographically-emphasised oppositions between poetry and criticism, verse and prose,patience and sense, develop through the passage into a wider account of the problem than first proposed: the even-handed balance of the couplets extends beyond a simple contrast. Nonetheless, though Pope’s oppositions divide, they also keep within a single framework different categories of writing: Pope often seems to be addressing poets as much as critics. The critical function may well depend on a poetic function: this is after all an essay on criticism delivered in verse, and thus acting also as poetry and offering itself for criticism. Its blurring of categories which might otherwise be seen as fundamentally distinct, and its often slippery transitions from area to area, are part of the poem’s comprehensive,educative character.

Literary Criticism of Alexander Pope

Addison, who considered the poem ‘a Master-piece’, declared that its tone was conversational and its lack of order was not problematic: ‘The Observations follow one another like those in Horace’s Art of Poetry, without that Methodical Regularity which would have been requisite in a Prose Author’ (Barnard 1973: 78). Pope, however, decided during the revision of the work for the 1736 Works to divide the poem into three sections, with numbered sub-sections summarizing each segment of argument. This impluse towards order is itself illustrative of tensions between creative and critical faculties, an apparent casualness of expression being given rigour by a prose skeleton. The three sections are not equally balanced, but offer something like the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis of logical argumentation – something which exceeds the positive-negative opposition suggested by the couplet format. The first section (1–200) establishes the basic possibilities for critical judgement;the second (201–559) elaborates the factors which hinder such judgement;and the third (560–744) celebrates the elements which make up true critical behaviour.

Part One seems to begin by setting poetic genius and critical taste against each other, while at the same time limiting the operation of teaching to those ‘who have written well ’ ( EC, 11–18). The poem immediately stakes an implicit claim for the poet to be included in the category of those who can ‘write well’ by providing a flamboyant example of poetic skill in the increasingly satiric portrayal of the process by which failed writers become critics: ‘Each burns alike, who can, or cannot write,/Or with a Rival’s, or an Eunuch ’s spite’ ( EC, 29–30). At the bottom of the heap are ‘half-learn’d Witlings, num’rous in our Isle’, pictured as insects in an early example of Pope’s favourite image of teeming, writerly promiscuity (36–45). Pope then turns his attention back to the reader,conspicuously differentiated from this satiric extreme: ‘ you who seek to give and merit Fame’ (the combination of giving and meriting reputation again links criticism with creativity). The would-be critic, thus selected, is advised to criticise himself first of all, examining his limits and talents and keeping to the bounds of what he knows (46-67); this leads him to the most major of Pope’s abstract quantities within the poem (and within his thought in general): Nature.

First follow NATURE, and your Judgment frame By her just Standard, which is still the same: Unerring Nature, still divinely bright, One clear, unchang’d, and Universal Light, Life, Force, and Beauty, must to all impart, At once the Source, and End, and Te s t of Art.

( EC, 68–73)

Dennis complained that Pope should have specified ‘what he means by Nature, and what it is to write or to judge according to Nature’ ( TE I: 219),and modern analyses have the burden of Romantic deifications of Nature to discard: Pope’s Nature is certainly not some pantheistic, powerful nurturer, located outside social settings, as it would be for Wordsworth,though like the later poets Pope always characterises Nature as female,something to be quested for by male poets [172]. Nature would include all aspects of the created world, including the non-human, physical world, but the advice on following Nature immediately follows the advice to study one’s own internal ‘Nature’, and thus means something like an instinctively-recognised principle of ordering, derived from the original,timeless, cosmic ordering of God (the language of the lines implicitly aligns Nature with God; those that follow explicitly align it with the soul). Art should be derived from Nature, should seek to replicate Nature, and can be tested against the unaltering standard of Nature, which thus includes Reason and Truth as reflections of the mind of the original poet-creator, God.

In a fallen universe, however, apprehension of Nature requires assistance: internal gifts alone do not suffice.

Some, to whom Heav’n in Wit has been profuse, Want as much more, to turn it to its use; For Wit and Judgment often are at strife, Tho’ meant each other’s Aid, like Man and Wife.

( EC, 80–03)

Wit, the second of Pope’s abstract qualities, is here seamlessly conjoined with the discussion of Nature: for Pope, Wit means not merely quick verbal humour but something almost as important as Nature – a power of invention and perception not very different from what we would mean by intelligence or imagination. Early critics again seized on the first version of these lines (which Pope eventually altered to the reading given here) as evidence of Pope’s inability to make proper distinctions: he seems to suggest that a supply of Wit sometimes needs more Wit to manage it, and then goes on to replace this conundrum with a more familiar opposition between Wit (invention) and Judgment (correction). But Pope stood by the essential point that Wit itself could be a form of Judgment and insisted that though the marriage between these qualities might be strained, no divorce was possible.

Nonetheless, some external prop to Wit was necessary, and Pope finds this in those ‘RULES’ of criticism derived from Nature:

Those RULES of old discover’d, not devis’d, Are Nature still, but Nature Methodiz’d; Nature, like Liberty , is but restrain’d By the same Laws which first herself ordain’d.

( EC, 88–91)

Nature, as Godlike principle of order, is ‘discover’d’ to operate according to certain principles stated in critical treatises such as Aristotle’s Poetics or Horace’s Ars Poetica (or Pope’s Essay on Criticism ). In the golden age of Greece (92–103), Criticism identified these Rules of Nature in early poetry and taught their use to aspiring poets. Pope contrasts this with the activities of critics in the modern world, where often criticism is actively hostile to poetry, or has become an end in itself (114–17). Right judgement must separate itself out from such blind alleys by reading Homer: ‘ You then whose Judgment the right Course would steer’ ( EC, 118) can see yourself in the fable of ‘young Maro ’ (Virgil), who is pictured discovering to his amazement the perfect original equivalence between Homer, Nature, and the Rules (130–40). Virgil the poet becomes a sort of critical commentary on the original source poet of Western literature,Homer. With assurance bordering consciously on hyperbole, Pope can instruct us: ‘Learn hence for Ancient Rules a just Esteem;/To copy Nature is to copy Them ’ ( EC, 139–40).

Despite the potential for neat conclusion here, Pope has a rider to offer,and again it is one which could be addressed to poet or critic: ‘Some Beauties yet, no Precepts can declare,/For there’s a Happiness as well as Care ’ ( EC, 141–2). As well as the prescriptions of Aristotelian poetics,Pope draws on the ancient treatise ascribed to Longinus and known as On the Sublime [12]. Celebrating imaginative ‘flights’ rather than representation of nature, Longinus figures in Pope’s poem as a sort of paradox:

Great Wits sometimes may gloriously offend, And rise to Faults true Criticks dare not mend; From vulgar Bounds with brave Disorder part, And snatch a Grace beyond the Reach of Art, Which, without passing thro’ the Judgment , gains The Heart, and all its End at once attains.

( EC, 152–7)

This occasional imaginative rapture, not predictable by rule, is an important concession, emphasised by careful typographic signalling of its paradoxical nature (‘ gloriously offend ’, and so on); but it is itself countered by the caution that ‘The Critick’ may ‘put his Laws in force’ if such licence is unjustifiably used. Pope here seems to align the ‘you’ in the audience with poet rather than critic, and in the final lines of the first section it is the classical ‘ Bards Triumphant ’ who remain unassailably immortal, leavingPope to pray for ‘some Spark of your Coelestial Fire’ ( EC, 195) to inspire his own efforts (as ‘The last, the meanest of your Sons’, EC, 196) to instruct criticism through poetry.

Following this ringing prayer for the possibility of reestablishing a critical art based on poetry, Part II (200-559) elaborates all the human psychological causes which inhibit such a project: pride, envy,sectarianism, a love of some favourite device at the expense of overall design. The ideal critic will reflect the creative mind, and will seek to understand the whole work rather than concentrate on minute infractions of critical laws:

A perfect Judge will read each Work of Wit With the same Spirit that its Author writ, Survey the Whole, nor seek slight Faults to find, Where Nature moves, and Rapture warms the Mind;

( EC, 233–6)

Most critics (and poets) err by having a fatal predisposition towards some partial aspect of poetry: ornament, conceit, style, or metre, which they use as an inflexible test of far more subtle creations. Pope aims for akind of poetry which is recognisable and accessible in its entirety:

True Wit is Nature to Advantage drest, What oft was Thought, but ne’er so well Exprest, Something, whose Truth convinc’d at Sight we find, That gives us back the Image of our Mind:

( EC, 296–300)

This is not to say that style alone will do, as Pope immediately makesplain (305–6): the music of poetry, the ornament of its ‘numbers’ or rhythm, is only worth having because ‘The Sound must seem an Eccho to the Sense ’ ( EC, 365). Pope performs and illustrates a series of poetic clichés – the use of open vowels, monosyllabic lines, and cheap rhymes:

Tho’ oft the Ear the open Vowels tire … ( EC , 345) And ten low Words oft creep in one dull Line … ( EC , 347) Where-e’er you find the cooling Western Breeze, In the next Line, it whispers thro’ the Trees … ( EC, 350–1)

These gaffes are contrasted with more positive kinds of imitative effect:

Soft is the Strain when Zephyr gently blows, And the smooth Stream in smoother Numbers flows; But when loud Surges lash the sounding Shore, The hoarse, rough Verse shou’d like the Torrent roar.

( EC, 366–9)

Again, this functions both as poetic instance and as critical test, working examples for both classes of writer.

After a long series of satiric vignettes of false critics, who merely parrot the popular opinion, or change their minds all the time, or flatter aristocratic versifiers, or criticise poets rather than poetry (384-473), Pope again switches attention to educated readers, encouraging (or cajoling)them towards staunchly independent and generous judgment within what is described as an increasingly fraught cultural context, threatened with decay and critical warfare (474–525). But, acknowledging that even‘Noble minds’ will have some ‘Dregs … of Spleen and sow’r Disdain’ ( EC ,526–7), Pope advises the critic to ‘Discharge that Rage on more ProvokingCrimes,/Nor fear a Dearth in these Flagitious Times’ (EC, 528–9): obscenity and blasphemy are unpardonable and offer a kind of lightning conductor for critics to purify their own wit against some demonised object of scorn.

If the first parts of An Essay on Criticism outline a positive classical past and troubled modern present, Part III seeks some sort of resolved position whereby the virtues of one age can be maintained during the squabbles of the other. The opening seeks to instill the correct behaviour in the critic –not merely rules for written criticism, but, so to speak, for enacted criticism, a sort of ‘ Good Breeding ’ (EC, 576) which politely enforces without seeming to enforce:

LEARN then what MORALS Criticks ought to show, For ’tis but half a Judge’s Task , to Know. ’Tis not enough, Taste, Judgment, Learning, join; In all you speak, let Truth and Candor shine … Be silent always when you doubt your Sense; And speak, tho’ sure , with seeming Diffidence …Men must be taught as if you taught them not; And Things unknown propos’d as Things forgot:

( EC , 560–3, 566–7, 574–5)

This ideally-poised man of social grace cannot be universally successful: some poets, as some critics, are incorrigible and it is part of Pope’s education of the poet-critic to leave them well alone. Synthesis, if that is being offered in this final part, does not consist of gathering all writers into one tidy fold but in a careful discrimination of true wit from irredeemable ‘dulness’ (584–630).

Thereafter, Pope has two things to say. One is to set a challenge to contemporary culture by asking ‘where’s the Man’ who can unite all necessary humane and intellectual qualifications for the critic ( EC, 631–42), and be a sort of walking oxymoron, ‘Modestly bold, and humanly severe’ in his judgements. The other is to insinuate an answer. Pope offers deft characterisations of critics from Aristotle to Pope who achieve the necessary independence from extreme positions: Aristotle’s primary treatise is likened to an imaginative voyage into the land of Homer which becomes the source of legislative power; Horace is the poetic model for friendly conversational advice; Quintilian is a useful store of ‘the justest Rules, and clearest Method join’d’; Longinus is inspired by the Muses,who ‘bless their Critick with a Poet’s Fire’ ( EC, 676). These pairs include and encapsulate all the precepts recommended in the body of the poem. But the empire of good sense, Pope reminds us, fell apart after the fall of Rome,leaving nothing but monkish superstition, until the scholar Erasmus,always Pope’s model of an ecumenical humanist, reformed continental scholarship (693-696). Renaissance Italy shows a revival of arts, including criticism; France, ‘a Nation born to serve’ ( EC , 713) fossilised critical and poetic practice into unbending rules; Britain, on the other hand, ‘ Foreign Laws despis’d,/And kept unconquer’d, and unciviliz’d’ ( EC, 715–16) – a deftly ironic modulation of what appears to be a patriotic celebration intosomething more muted. Pope does however cite two earlier verse essays (by John Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire, and Wentworth Dillon, Earl of Roscommon) [13] before paying tribute to his own early critical mentor, William Walsh, who had died in 1708 [9]. Sheffield and Dillon were both poets who wrote criticism in verse, but Walsh was not a poet; in becoming the nearest modern embodiment of the ideal critic, his ‘poetic’ aspect becomes Pope himself, depicted as a mixture of moderated qualities which reminds us of the earlier ‘Where’s the man’ passage: he is quite possibly here,

Careless of Censure , nor too fond of Fame, Still pleas’d to praise, yet not afraid to blame, Averse alike to Flatter , or Offend, Not free from Faults, nor yet too vain to mend.

( EC , 741–44)

It is a kind of leading from the front, or tuition by example, as recommended and practised by the poem. From an apparently secondary,even negative, position (writing on criticism, which the poem sees as secondary to poetry), the poem ends up founding criticism on poetry, and deriving poetry from the (ideal) critic.

Early criticism celebrated the way the poem seemed to master and exemplify its own stated ideals, just as Pope had said of Longinus that he ‘Is himself that great Sublime he draws’ ( EC, 680). It is a poem profuse with images, comparisons and similes. Johnson thought the longest example,that simile comparing student’s progress in learning with a traveller’s journey in Alps was ‘perhaps the best that English poetry can shew’: ‘The simile of the Alps has no useless parts, yet affords a striking picture by itself: it makes the foregoing position better understood, and enables it to take faster hold on the attention; it assists the apprehension, and elevates the fancy’ (Johnson 1905: 229–30). Many of the abstract precepts aremade visible in this way: private judgment is like one’s reliance on one’s(slightly unreliable) watch (9– 10); wit and judgment are like man and wife(82–3); critics are like pharmacists trying to be doctors (108–11). Much ofthe imagery is military or political, indicating something of the social role(as legislator in the universal empire of poetry) the critic is expected toadopt; we are also reminded of the decay of empires, and the potentialdecay of cultures (there is something of The Dunciad in the poem). Muchof it is religious, as with the most famous phrases from the poem (‘For Fools rush in where angels fear to tread’; ‘To err is human, to forgive, divine’), indicating the level of seriousness which Pope accords the matterof poetry. Much of it is sexual: creativity is a kind of manliness, wooing Nature, or the Muse, to ‘generate’ poetic issue, and false criticism, likeobscenity, derives from a kind of inner ‘impotence’. Patterns of suchimagery can be harnessed to ‘organic’ readings of the poem’s wholeness. But part of the life of the poem, underlying its surface statements andmetaphors, is its continual shifts of focus, its reminders of that which liesoutside the tidying power of couplets, its continual reinvention of the ‘you’opposed to the ‘they’ of false criticism, its progressive displacement of theopposition you thought you were looking at with another one whichrequires your attention.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Atkins, G. Douglas (1986): Quests of Difference: Reading Pope’s Poems (Lexing-ton: Kentucky State University Press) Barnard, John, ed. (1973): Pope: The Critical Heritage (London and Boston:Routledge and Kegan Paul) Bateson, F.W. and Joukovsky, N.A., eds, (1971): Alexander Pope: A Critical Anthology (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books) Brower, Reuben (1959): Alexander Pope: The Poetry of Allusion (Oxford: Clarendon Press) Brown, Laura (1985): Alexander Pope (Oxford: Basil Blackwell) Davis, Herbert ed. (1966): Pope: Poetical Works (Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress Dixon, Peter, ed. (1972): Alexander Pope (London: G. Bell and Sons) Empson, William (1950): ‘Wit in the Essay on Criticism ’, Hudson Review, 2: 559–77 Erskine-Hill, Howard and Smith, Anne, eds (1979): The Art of Alexander Pope (London: Vision Press) Erskine-Hill, Howard (1982): ‘Alexander Pope: The Political Poet in his Time’, Eighteenth-Century Studies, 15: 123–148 Fairer, David (1984): Pope’s Imagination (Manchester: Manchester University Press) Fairer, David, ed. (1990): Pope: New Contexts (Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf) Morris, David B. (1984): Alexander Pope: The Genius of Sense (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press) Nuttall, A.D. (1984): Pope’s ‘ Essay on Man’ (London: George Allen and Unwin) Rideout, Tania (1992): ‘The Reasoning Eye: Alexander Pope’s Typographic Vi-sion in the Essay on Man’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 55:249–62 Rogers, Pat (1993a): Alexander Pope (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Rogers, Pat (1993b): Essay s on Pope (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) Savage, Roger (1988) ‘Antiquity as Nature: Pope’s Fable of “Young Maro”’, in An Essay on Criticism, in Nicholson (1988), 83–116 Schmitz, R. M. (1962): Pope’s Essay on Criticism 1709: A Study of the BodleianMS Text, with Facsimiles, Transcripts and Variants (St Louis: Washington University Press) Warren, Austin (1929): Alexander Pope as Critic and Humanist (Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press) Woodman, Thomas (1989): Politeness and Poetry in the Age of Pope (Rutherford,New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press)

An Essay on Criticism Summary & Analysis by Alexander Pope

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
Poetic Devices
Vocabulary & References
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
Line-by-Line Explanations

Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Criticism" seeks to lay down rules of good taste in poetry criticism, and in poetry itself. Structured as an essay in rhyming verse, it offers advice to the aspiring critic while satirizing amateurish criticism and poetry. The famous passage beginning "A little learning is a dangerous thing" advises would-be critics to learn their field in depth, warning that the arts demand much longer and more arduous study than beginners expect. The passage can also be read as a warning against shallow learning in general. Published in 1711, when Alexander Pope was just 23, the "Essay" brought its author fame and notoriety while he was still a young poet himself.

Read the full text of “From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing”

The Full Text of “From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing”

1 A little learning is a dangerous thing;

2 Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

3 There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

4 And drinking largely sobers us again.

5 Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts,

6 In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts,

7 While from the bounded level of our mind,

8 Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind,

9 But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise

10 New, distant scenes of endless science rise!

11 So pleased at first, the towering Alps we try,

12 Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky;

13 The eternal snows appear already past,

14 And the first clouds and mountains seem the last;

15 But those attained, we tremble to survey

16 The growing labours of the lengthened way,

17 The increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes,

18 Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!

“From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing” Summary

“from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing” themes.

Shallow Learning vs. Deep Understanding

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing”

A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again.

Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts, In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts, While from the bounded level of our mind, Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind,

But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise New, distant scenes of endless science rise!

Lines 11-14

So pleased at first, the towering Alps we try, Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky; The eternal snows appear already past, And the first clouds and mountains seem the last;

Lines 15-18

But those attained, we tremble to survey The growing labours of the lengthened way, The increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes, Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!

“From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing” Symbols

The Mountains/Alps

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“From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Alliteration.

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Extended Metaphor

“from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

A little learning
Pierian spring
Bounded level
Short views
The lengthened way
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “From An Essay on Criticism: A little learning is a dangerous thing”

Rhyme scheme, “from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing” speaker, “from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing” setting, literary and historical context of “from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing”, more “from an essay on criticism: a little learning is a dangerous thing” resources, external resources.

The Poem Aloud — Listen to an audiobook of Pope's "Essay on Criticism" (the "A little learning" passage starts at 12:57).

The Poet's Life — Read a biography of Alexander Pope at the Poetry Foundation.

"Alexander Pope: Rediscovering a Genius" — Watch a BBC documentary on Alexander Pope.

More on Pope's Life — A summary of Pope's life and work at Poets.org.

Pope at the British Library — More resources and articles on the poet.

LitCharts on Other Poems by Alexander Pope

Ode on Solitude

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Alexander Pope

An essay on criticism: part 1.

Si quid novisti rectius istis, Candidus imperti; si non, his utere mecum [If you have come to know any precept more correct than these, share it with me, brilliant one; if not, use these with me] (Horace, Epistle I.6.67)

#Couplet #Epistle

Other works by Alexander Pope...

Thou art my God, sole object of m… Not for the hope of endless joys a… Nor for the fear of endless pains… Which they who love thee not must… For me, and such as me, thou deign…

High on a gorgeous seat, that far… Henley’s gilt tub, or Flecknoe’s… Or that where on her Curlls the p… All—bounteous, fragrant grains and… Great Cibber sate: the proud Parn…

Flutt’ring spread thy purple Pini… Gentle Cupid, o’er my Heart; I a Slave in thy Dominions; Nature must give Way to Art. II.

But anxious cares the pensive nymp… And secret passions labour’d in he… Not youthful kings in battle seiz’… Not scornful virgins who their cha… Not ardent lovers robb’d of all th…

Thy forests, Windsor! and thy gre… At once the Monarch’s and the Mus… Invite my lays. Be present, sylva… Unlock your springs, and open all… Granville commands; your aid O Mu…

But our Great Turks in wit must r… And ill can bear a Brother on the… II Wit is like faith by such warm Fo… Who to be saved by one, must damn…

With no poetic ardour fir’d I press the bed where Wilmot lay; That here he lov’d, or here expir’… Begets no numbers grave or gay. Beneath thy roof, Argyle, are bre…

While you, great patron of mankind… The balanc’d world, and open all t… Your country, chief, in arms abroa… At home, with morals, arts, and la… How shall the Muse, from such a m…

Of Manners gentle, of Affections… In Wit, a Man; Simplicity, a Chi… With native Humour temp’ring virt… Form’d to delight at once and lash… Above Temptation, in a low Estate…

Ye Lords and Commons, Men of Wit… And Pleasure about Town; Read this ere you translate one B… Of Books of high Renown. Beware of Latin Authors all!

What beck’ning ghost, along the mo… Invites my steps, and points to yo… 'Tis she!—but why that bleeding bo… Why dimly gleams the visionary swo… Oh ever beauteous, ever friendly!…

She said, and for her lost Calant… When the fair Consort of her son… 'Since you a servant’s ravish’d fo… And kindly sigh for sorrows not yo… Let me (if tears and grief permit)…

Nothing so true as what you once l… “Most Women have no Characters at… Matter too soft a lasting mark to… And best distinguish’d by black, b… How many pictures of one nymph we…

While Celia’s Tears make sorrow b… Proud Grief sits swelling in her… The Sun, next those the fairest l… Thus from the Ocean first did ris… And thus thro’ Mists we see the S…

Come gentle Air! th’ AEolian she… While Procris panted in the secre… Come, gentle Air, the fairer Deli… While at her feet her swain expiri… Lo the glad gales o’er all her bea…

An Essay on Criticism: Part 1

Pope, alexander (1688 - 1744).

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AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM.

Alexander pope..

This eminent English poet was born in London, May 21, 1688. His parents were Roman Catholics, and to this faith the poet adhered, thus debarring himself from public office and employment. His father, a linen merchant, having saved a moderate competency, withdrew from business, and settled on a small estate he had purchased in Windsor Forest. He died at Chiswick, in 1717. His son shortly afterwards took a long lease of a house and five acres of land at Twickenham, on the banks of the Thames, whither he retired with his widowed mother, to whom he was tenderly attached and where he resided till death, cultivating his little domain with exquisite taste and skill, and embellishing it with a grotto, temple, wilderness, and other adjuncts poetical and picturesque. In this famous villa Pope was visited by the most celebrated wits, statesmen and beauties of the day, himself being the most popular and successful poet of his age. His early years were spent at Binfield, within the range of the Royal Forest. He received some education at little Catholic schools, but was his own instructor after his twelfth year. He never was a profound or accurate scholar, but he read Latin poets with ease and delight, and acquired some Greek, French, and Italian. He was a poet almost from infancy, he "lisped in numbers," and when a mere youth surpassed all his contemporaries in metrical harmony and correctness. His pastorals and some translations appeared in 1709, but were written three or four years earlier. These were followed by the Essay on Criticism , 1711; Rape of the Lock (when completed, the most graceful, airy, and imaginative of his works), 1712-1714; Windsor Forest , 1713; Temple of Fame , 1715. In a collection of his works printed in 1717 he included the Epistle of Eloisa and Elegy on an Unfortunate Lady , two poems inimitable for pathetic beauty and finished melodious versification.

From 1715 till 1726 Pope was chiefly engaged on his translations of the Iliad and Odyssey , which, though wanting in time Homeric simplicity, naturalness, and grandeur, are splendid poems. In 1728-29 he published his greatest satire—the Dunciad , an attack on all poetasters and pretended wits, and on all other persons against whom the sensitive poet had conceived any enmity. In 1737 he gave to the world a volume of his Literary Correspondence , containing some pleasant gossip and observations, with choice passages of description but it appears that the correspondence was manufactured for publication not composed of actual letters addressed to the parties whose names are given, and the collection was introduced to the public by means of an elaborate stratagem on the part of the scheming poet. Between the years 1731 and 1739 he issued a series of poetical essays moral and philosophical, with satires and imitations of Horace, all admirable for sense, wit, spirit and brilliancy of these delightful productions, the most celebrated is the Essay on Man to which Bolingbroke is believed to have contributed the spurious philosophy and false sentiment, but its merit consists in detached passages, descriptions, and pictures. A fourth book to the Dunciad , containing many beautiful and striking lines and a general revision of his works, closed the poet's literary cares and toils. He died on the 30th of May, 1744, and was buried in the church at Twickenham.

Pope was of very diminutive stature and deformed from his birth. His physical infirmity, susceptible temperament, and incessant study rendered his life one long disease. He was, as his friend Lord Chesterfield said, "the most irritable of all the genus irritabile vatum , offended with trifles and never forgetting or forgiving them." His literary stratagems, disguises, assertions, denials, and (we must add) misrepresentations would fill volumes. Yet when no disturbing jealousy vanity, or rivalry intervened was generous and affectionate, and he had a manly, independent spirit. As a poet he was deficient in originality and creative power, and thus was inferior to his prototype, Dryden, but as a literary artist, and brilliant declaimer satirist and moralizer in verse he is still unrivaled. He is the English Horace, and will as surely descend with honors to the latest posterity.

AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM,

Written in the year 1709.

[The title, An Essay on Criticism hardly indicates all that is included in the poem. It would have been impossible to give a full and exact idea of the art of poetical criticism without entering into the consideration of the art of poetry. Accordingly Pope has interwoven the precepts of both throughout the poem which might more properly have been styled an essay on the Art of Criticism and of Poetry.]

'Tis hard to say if greater want of skill Appear in writing or in judging ill, But of the two less dangerous is the offense To tire our patience than mislead our sense Some few in that but numbers err in this, Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss, A fool might once himself alone expose, Now one in verse makes many more in prose.

'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none Go just alike, yet each believes his own In poets as true genius is but rare True taste as seldom is the critic share Both must alike from Heaven derive their light, These born to judge as well as those to write Let such teach others who themselves excel, And censure freely, who have written well Authors are partial to their wit, 'tis true [ 17 ] But are not critics to their judgment too?

Yet if we look more closely we shall find Most have the seeds of judgment in their mind Nature affords at least a glimmering light The lines though touched but faintly are drawn right, But as the slightest sketch if justly traced Is by ill coloring but the more disgraced So by false learning is good sense defaced Some are bewildered in the maze of schools [ 26 ] And some made coxcombs nature meant but fools In search of wit these lose their common sense And then turn critics in their own defense 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 Maevius scribble in Apollo's spite [ 34 ] There are who judge still worse than he can write.

Some have at first for wits then poets passed Turned critics next and proved plain fools at last Some neither can for wits nor critics pass As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass. Those half-learned witlings, numerous in our isle, As half-formed insects on the banks of Nile Unfinished things one knows not what to call Their generation is so equivocal To tell them would a hundred tongues require, Or one vain wits that might a hundred tire.

But you who seek to give and merit fame, And justly bear a critic's noble name, Be sure yourself and your own reach to know How far your genius taste and learning go. Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet And mark that point where sense and dullness meet.

Nature to all things fixed the limits fit And wisely curbed proud man's pretending wit. As on the land while here the ocean gains. In other parts it leaves wide sandy plains Thus in the soul while memory prevails, The solid power of understanding fails Where beams of warm imagination play, The memory's soft figures melt away One science only will one genius fit, So vast is art, so narrow human wit Not only bounded to peculiar arts, But oft in those confined to single parts Like kings, we lose the conquests gained before, By vain ambition still to make them more Each might his several province well command, Would all but stoop to what they understand.

First follow nature and your judgment frame By her just standard, which is still the same. Unerring nature still divinely bright, One clear, unchanged and universal light, Life force and beauty, must to all impart, At once the source and end and test of art Art from that fund each just supply provides, Works without show and without pomp presides In some fair body thus the informing soul With spirits feeds, with vigor fills the whole, Each motion guides and every nerve sustains, Itself unseen, but in the effects remains. Some, to whom Heaven in wit has been profuse, [ 80 ] Want as much more, to turn it to its use; For wit and judgment often are at strife, Though meant each other's aid, like man and wife. 'Tis more to guide, than spur the muse's steed, Restrain his fury, than provoke his speed, The winged courser, like a generous horse, [ 86 ] Shows most true mettle when you check his course.

Those rules, of old discovered, not devised, Are nature still, but nature methodized; Nature, like liberty, is but restrained By the same laws which first herself ordained.

Hear how learned Greece her useful rules indites, When to repress and when indulge our flights. High on Parnassus' top her sons she showed, [ 94 ] And pointed out those arduous paths they trod; Held from afar, aloft, the immortal prize, And urged the rest by equal steps to rise. [ 97 ] Just precepts thus from great examples given, She drew from them what they derived from Heaven. The generous critic fanned the poet's fire, And taught the world with reason to admire. Then criticism the muse's handmaid proved, To dress her charms, and make her more beloved: But following wits from that intention strayed Who could not win the mistress, wooed the maid Against the poets their own arms they turned Sure to hate most the men from whom they learned So modern pothecaries taught the art By doctors bills to play the doctor's part. Bold in the practice of mistaken rules Prescribe, apply, and call their masters fools. Some on the leaves of ancient authors prey, Nor time nor moths e'er spoil so much as they. Some dryly plain, without invention's aid, Write dull receipts how poems may be made These leave the sense their learning to display, And those explain the meaning quite away.

You then, whose judgment the right course would steer, Know well each ancient's proper character, His fable subject scope in every page, Religion, country, genius of his age Without all these at once before your eyes, Cavil you may, but never criticise. Be Homers works your study and delight, Read them by day and meditate by night, Thence form your judgment thence your maxims bring And trace the muses upward to their spring. Still with itself compared, his text peruse, And let your comment be the Mantuan Muse. [ 129 ]

When first young Maro in his boundless mind, [ 130 ] A work to outlast immortal Rome designed, Perhaps he seemed above the critic's law And but from nature's fountain scorned to draw But when to examine every part he came Nature and Homer were he found the same Convinced, amazed, he checks the bold design And rules as strict his labored work confine As if the Stagirite o'erlooked each line [ 138 ] Learn hence for ancient rules a just esteem, To copy nature is to copy them.

Some beauties yet no precepts can declare, For there's a happiness as well as care. Music resembles poetry—in each Are nameless graces which no methods teach, And which a master hand alone can reach If, where the rules not far enough extend (Since rules were made but to promote their end), Some lucky license answer to the full The intent proposed that license is a rule. Thus Pegasus a nearer way to take May boldly deviate from the common track Great wits sometimes may gloriously offend, And rise to faults true critics dare not mend, From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part, And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art, Which without passing through the judgment gains The heart and all its end at once attains. In prospects, thus, some objects please our eyes, Which out of nature's common order rise, The shapeless rock or hanging precipice. But though the ancients thus their rules invade (As kings dispense with laws themselves have made), Moderns beware! or if you must offend Against the precept, ne'er transgress its end, Let it be seldom, and compelled by need, And have, at least, their precedent to plead. The critic else proceeds without remorse, Seizes your fame, and puts his laws in force.

I know there are, to whose presumptuous thoughts Those freer beauties, even in them, seem faults Some figures monstrous and misshaped appear, Considered singly, or beheld too near, Which, but proportioned to their light, or place, Due distance reconciles to form and grace. A prudent chief not always must display His powers in equal ranks and fair array, But with the occasion and the place comply. Conceal his force, nay, seem sometimes to fly. Those oft are stratagems which errors seem, Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream. [ 180 ]

Still green with bays each ancient altar stands, Above the reach of sacrilegious hands, Secure from flames, from envy's fiercer rage, [ 183 ] Destructive war, and all-involving age. See, from each clime the learned their incense bring; Hear, in all tongues consenting Paeans ring! In praise so just let every voice be joined, And fill the general chorus of mankind. Hail! bards triumphant! born in happier days; Immortal heirs of universal praise! Whose honors with increase of ages grow, As streams roll down, enlarging as they flow; Nations unborn your mighty names shall sound, [ 193 ] And worlds applaud that must not yet be found! Oh may some spark of your celestial fire, The last, the meanest of your sons inspire, (That, on weak wings, from far pursues your flights, Glows while he reads, but trembles as he writes), To teach vain wits a science little known, To admire superior sense, and doubt their own!

Of all the causes which conspire to blind Man's erring judgment and misguide the mind, What the weak head with strongest bias rules, Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools. Whatever nature has in worth denied, She gives in large recruits of needful pride; For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind: Pride where wit fails steps in to our defense, And fills up all the mighty void of sense. If once right reason drives that cloud away, Truth breaks upon us with resistless day Trust not yourself, but your defects to know, Make use of every friend—and every foe.

A little learning is a dangerous thing Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring [ 216 ] There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again. Fired at first sight with what the muse imparts, In fearless youth we tempt the heights of arts While from the bounded level of our mind Short views we take nor see the lengths behind But more advanced behold with strange surprise, New distant scenes of endless science rise! So pleased at first the towering Alps we try, Mount o'er the vales and seem to tread the sky, The eternal snows appear already passed And the first clouds and mountains seem the last. But those attained we tremble to survey The growing labors of the lengthened way The increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes, Hills peep o'er hills and Alps on Alps arise!

A perfect judge will read each work of wit With the same spirit that its author writ Survey the whole nor seek slight faults to find Where nature moves and rapture warms the mind, Nor lose for that malignant dull delight The generous pleasure to be charmed with wit But in such lays as neither ebb nor flow, Correctly cold and regularly low That, shunning faults, one quiet tenor keep; We cannot blame indeed—but we may sleep. In wit, as nature, what affects our hearts Is not the exactness of peculiar parts, 'Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call, But the joint force and full result of all. Thus, when we view some well proportioned dome (The worlds just wonder, and even thine, O Rome!), [ 248 ] No single parts unequally surprise, All comes united to the admiring eyes; No monstrous height or breadth, or length, appear; The whole at once is bold, and regular.

Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see. Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be. In every work regard the writer's end, Since none can compass more than they intend; And if the means be just, the conduct true, Applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due. As men of breeding, sometimes men of wit, To avoid great errors, must the less commit: Neglect the rules each verbal critic lays, For not to know some trifles is a praise. Most critics, fond of some subservient art, Still make the whole depend upon a part: They talk of principles, but notions prize, And all to one loved folly sacrifice.

Once on a time La Mancha's knight, they say, [ 267 ] A certain bard encountering on the way, Discoursed in terms as just, with looks as sage, As e'er could Dennis, of the Grecian stage; [ 270 ] Concluding all were desperate sots and fools, Who durst depart from Aristotle's rules Our author, happy in a judge so nice, Produced his play, and begged the knight's advice; Made him observe the subject, and the plot, The manners, passions, unities, what not? All which, exact to rule, were brought about, Were but a combat in the lists left out "What! leave the combat out?" exclaims the knight. "Yes, or we must renounce the Stagirite." "Not so, by heaven!" (he answers in a rage) "Knights, squires, and steeds must enter on the stage." "So vast a throng the stage can ne'er contain." "Then build a new, or act it in a plain."

Thus critics of less judgment than caprice, Curious, not knowing, not exact, but nice, Form short ideas, and offend in arts (As most in manners) by a love to parts.

Some to conceit alone their taste confine, And glittering thoughts struck out at every line; Pleased with a work where nothing's just or fit; One glaring chaos and wild heap of wit. Poets, like painters, thus, unskilled to trace The naked nature and the living grace, With gold and jewels cover every part, And hide with ornaments their want of art. True wit is nature to advantage dressed; What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed; Something, whose truth convinced at sight we find That gives us back the image of our mind. As shades more sweetly recommend the light, So modest plainness sets off sprightly wit For works may have more wit than does them good, As bodies perish through excess of blood.

Others for language all their care express, And value books, as women men, for dress. Their praise is still—"the style is excellent," The sense they humbly take upon content [ 308 ] Words are like leaves, and where they most abound Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found. False eloquence, like the prismatic glass. [ 311 ] Its gaudy colors spreads on every place, The face of nature we no more survey. All glares alike without distinction gay: But true expression, like the unchanging sun, Clears and improves whate'er it shines upon; It gilds all objects, but it alters none. Expression is the dress of thought, and still Appears more decent, as more suitable, A vile conceit in pompous words expressed, Is like a clown in regal purple dressed For different styles with different subjects sort, As several garbs with country town and court Some by old words to fame have made pretense, Ancients in phrase, mere moderns in their sense; Such labored nothings, in so strange a style, Amaze the unlearned, and make the learned smile. Unlucky, as Fungoso in the play, [ 328 ] These sparks with awkward vanity display What the fine gentleman wore yesterday; And but so mimic ancient wits at best, As apes our grandsires in their doublets dressed. In words as fashions the same rule will hold, Alike fantastic if too new or old. Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside

But most by numbers judge a poet's song And smooth or rough, with them is right or wrong. In the bright muse though thousand charms conspire, Her voice is all these tuneful fools admire, Who haunt Parnassus but to please their ear, Not mend their minds, as some to church repair, Not for the doctrine but the music there These equal syllables alone require, Though oft the ear the open vowels tire; While expletives their feeble aid do join; And ten low words oft creep in one dull line, While they ring round the same unvaried chimes, With sure returns of still expected rhymes, Where'er you find "the cooling western breeze," In the next line it "whispers through the trees" If crystal streams "with pleasing murmurs creep" The reader's threatened (not in vain) with "sleep" Then, at the last and only couplet fraught With some unmeaning thing they call a thought, A needless Alexandrine ends the song [ 356 ] That, like a wounded snake drags its slow length along.

Leave such to tune their own dull rhymes, and know What's roundly smooth or languishingly slow; And praise the easy vigor of a line, Where Denham's strength, and Waller's sweetness join. [ 361 ] True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learned to dance 'Tis not enough no harshness gives offense, The sound must seem an echo to the sense. Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, [ 366 ] And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows, But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar, When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, The line too labors, and the words move slow; Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main. [ 373 ] Hear how Timotheus' varied lays surprise, [ 374 ] And bid alternate passions fall and rise! While, at each change, the son of Libyan Jove [ 376 ] Now burns with glory, and then melts with love; Now his fierce eyes with sparkling fury glow, Now sighs steal out, and tears begin to flow: Persians and Greeks like turns of nature found, And the world's victor stood subdued by sound? [ 381 ] The power of music all our hearts allow, And what Timotheus was, is Dryden now.

Avoid extremes, and shun the fault of such, Who still are pleased too little or too much. At every trifle scorn to take offense, That always shows great pride, or little sense: Those heads, as stomachs, are not sure the best, Which nauseate all, and nothing can digest. Yet let not each gay turn thy rapture move; For fools admire, but men of sense approve: As things seem large which we through mist descry, Dullness is ever apt to magnify. [ 393 ]

Some foreign writers, some our own despise, The ancients only, or the moderns prize. Thus wit, like faith, by each man is applied To one small sect, and all are damned beside. Meanly they seek the blessing to confine, And force that sun but on a part to shine, Which not alone the southern wit sublimes, But ripens spirits in cold northern climes. Which from the first has shone on ages past, Enlights the present, and shall warm the last, Though each may feel increases and decays, And see now clearer and now darker days. Regard not then if wit be old or new, But blame the false, and value still the true.

Some ne'er advance a judgment of their own, But catch the spreading notion of the town, They reason and conclude by precedent, And own stale nonsense which they ne'er invent. Some judge of authors names not works, and then Nor praise nor blame the writing, but the men. Of all this servile herd the worst is he That in proud dullness joins with quality A constant critic at the great man's board, To fetch and carry nonsense for my lord What woful stuff this madrigal would be, In some starved hackney sonnetteer, or me! But let a lord once own the happy lines, How the wit brightens! how the style refines! Before his sacred name flies every fault, And each exalted stanza teems with thought!

The vulgar thus through imitation err; As oft the learned by being singular. So much they scorn the crowd that if the throng By chance go right they purposely go wrong: So schismatics the plain believers quit, And are but damned for having too much wit. Some praise at morning what they blame at night, But always think the last opinion right. A muse by these is like a mistress used, This hour she's idolized, the next abused; While their weak heads, like towns unfortified, 'Twixt sense and nonsense daily change their side. Ask them the cause, they're wiser still they say; And still to-morrow's wiser than to-day. We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow; Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so. Once school-divines this zealous isle o'erspread. Who knew most sentences was deepest read, [ 441 ] Faith, Gospel, all, seemed made to be disputed, And none had sense enough to be confuted: Scotists and Thomists now in peace remain, [ 444 ] Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Duck Lane. [ 445 ] If faith itself has different dresses worn, What wonder modes in wit should take their turn? Oft, leaving what is natural and fit, The current folly proves the ready wit; And authors think their reputation safe, Which lives as long as fools are pleased to laugh.

Some valuing those of their own side or mind, Still make themselves the measure of mankind: Fondly we think we honor merit then, When we but praise ourselves in other men. Parties in wit attend on those of state, And public faction doubles private hate. Pride, malice, folly against Dryden rose, In various shapes of parsons, critics, beaux; [ 459 ] But sense survived, when merry jests were past; For rising merit will buoy up at last. Might he return, and bless once more our eyes, New Blackmores and new Millbourns must arise: [ 463 ] Nay, should great Homer lift his awful head, Zoilus again would start up from the dead [ 465 ] Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue, But like a shadow, proves the substance true: For envied wit, like Sol eclipsed, makes known The opposing body's grossness, not its own. When first that sun too powerful beams displays, It draws up vapors which obscure its rays, But even those clouds at last adorn its way Reflect new glories and augment the day

Be thou the first true merit to befriend His praise is lost who stays till all commend Short is the date alas! of modern rhymes And 'tis but just to let them live betimes No longer now that golden age appears When patriarch wits survived a thousand years [ 479 ] Now length of fame (our second life) is lost And bare threescore is all even that can boast, Our sons their fathers failing language see And such as Chaucer is shall Dryden be So when the faithful pencil has designed Some bright idea of the master's mind Where a new world leaps out at his command And ready nature waits upon his hand When the ripe colors soften and unite And sweetly melt into just shade and light When mellowing years their full perfection give And each bold figure just begins to live The treacherous colors the fair art betray And all the bright creation fades away!

Unhappy wit, like most mistaken things Atones not for that envy which it brings In youth alone its empty praise we boast But soon the short lived vanity is lost. Like some fair flower the early spring supplies That gayly blooms but even in blooming dies What is this wit, which must our cares employ? The owner's wife that other men enjoy Then most our trouble still when most admired And still the more we give the more required Whose fame with pains we guard, but lose with ease, Sure some to vex, but never all to please, 'Tis what the vicious fear, the virtuous shun, By fools 'tis hated, and by knaves undone!

If wit so much from ignorance undergo, Ah! let not learning too commence its foe! Of old, those met rewards who could excel, And such were praised who but endeavored well: Though triumphs were to generals only due, Crowns were reserved to grace the soldiers too. Now they who reach Parnassus' lofty crown, Employ their pains to spurn some others down; And, while self-love each jealous writer rules, Contending wits become the sport of fools: But still the worst with most regret commend, For each ill author is as bad a friend To what base ends, and by what abject ways, Are mortals urged, through sacred lust of praise! Ah, ne'er so dire a thirst of glory boast, Nor in the critic let the man be lost Good-nature and good sense must ever join; To err is human, to forgive, divine.

But if in noble minds some dregs remain, Not yet purged off, of spleen and sour disdain; Discharge that rage on more provoking crimes, Nor fear a dearth in these flagitious times. No pardon vile obscenity should find, Though wit and art conspire to move your mind; But dullness with obscenity must prove As shameful sure as impotence in love. In the fat age of pleasure, wealth, and ease, Sprung the rank weed, and thrived with large increase: When love was all an easy monarch's care, [ 536 ] Seldom at council, never in a war Jilts ruled the state, and statesmen farces writ; Nay, wits had pensions, and young lords had wit: The fair sat panting at a courtier's play, And not a mask went unimproved away: [ 541 ] The modest fan was lifted up no more, And virgins smiled at what they blushed before. The following license of a foreign reign, [ 544 ] Did all the dregs of bold Socinus drain, [ 545 ] Then unbelieving priests reformed the nation. And taught more pleasant methods of salvation; Where Heaven's free subjects might their rights dispute, Lest God himself should seem too absolute: Pulpits their sacred satire learned to spare, And vice admired to find a flatterer there! Encouraged thus, wit's Titans braved the skies, [ 552 ] And the press groaned with licensed blasphemies. These monsters, critics! with your darts engage, Here point your thunder, and exhaust your rage! Yet shun their fault, who, scandalously nice, Will needs mistake an author into vice; All seems infected that the infected spy, As all looks yellow to the jaundiced eye.

Learn, then, what morals critics ought to show, For 'tis but half a judge's task to know. 'Tis not enough, taste, judgment, learning, join; In all you speak, let truth and candor shine: That not alone what to your sense is due All may allow, but seek your friendship too.

Be silent always, when you doubt your sense; And speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence: Some positive persisting fops we know, Who, if once wrong will needs be always so; But you, with pleasure, own your errors past, And make each day a critique on the last.

'Tis not enough your counsel still be true; Blunt truths more mischief than nice falsehoods do; Men must be taught as if you taught them not, And things unknown proposed as things forgot. Without good breeding truth is disapproved; That only makes superior sense beloved.

Be niggards of advice on no pretense; For the worst avarice is that of sense With mean complacence, ne'er betray your trust, Nor be so civil as to prove unjust Fear not the anger of the wise to raise, Those best can bear reproof who merit praise.

'Twere well might critics still this freedom take, But Appius reddens at each word you speak, [ 585 ] And stares, tremendous with a threatening eye, Like some fierce tyrant in old tapestry Fear most to tax an honorable fool Whose right it is uncensured to be dull Such, without wit are poets when they please, As without learning they can take degrees Leave dangerous truths to unsuccessful satires, And flattery to fulsome dedicators Whom, when they praise, the world believes no more, Than when they promise to give scribbling o'er.

'Tis best sometimes your censure to restrain, And charitably let the dull be vain Your silence there is better than your spite, For who can rail so long as they can write? Still humming on, their drowsy course they keep, And lashed so long like tops are lashed asleep. False steps but help them to renew the race, As after stumbling, jades will mend their pace. What crowds of these, impenitently bold, In sounds and jingling syllables grown old, Still run on poets in a raging vein, Even to the dregs and squeezing of the brain; Strain out the last dull droppings of their sense, And rhyme with all the rage of impotence!

Such shameless bards we have, and yet, 'tis true, There are as mad abandoned critics, too The bookful blockhead ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head, With his own tongue still edifies his ears, And always listening to himself appears All books he reads and all he reads assails From Dryden's Fables down to Durfey's Tales [ 617 ] With him most authors steal their works or buy; Garth did not write his own Dispensary [ 619 ] Name a new play, and he's the poets friend Nay, showed his faults—but when would poets mend? No place so sacred from such fops is barred, Nor is Paul's Church more safe than Paul's Churchyard: [ 623 ] Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead, For fools rush in where angels fear to tread Distrustful sense with modest caution speaks, It still looks home, and short excursions makes; But rattling nonsense in full volleys breaks, And, never shocked, and never turned aside. Bursts out, resistless, with a thundering tide,

But where's the man who counsel can bestow, Still pleased to teach, and yet not proud to know? Unbiased, or by favor, or in spite, Not dully prepossessed, nor blindly right; Though learned, well-bred, and though well bred, sincere, Modestly bold, and humanly severe, Who to a friend his faults can freely show, And gladly praise the merit of a foe? Blessed with a taste exact, yet unconfined; A knowledge both of books and human kind; Generous converse, a soul exempt from pride; And love to praise, with reason on his side?

Such once were critics such the happy few, Athens and Rome in better ages knew. The mighty Stagirite first left the shore, [ 645 ] Spread all his sails, and durst the deeps explore; He steered securely, and discovered far, Led by the light of the Maeonian star. [ 648 ] Poets, a race long unconfined and free, Still fond and proud of savage liberty, Received his laws, and stood convinced 'twas fit, Who conquered nature, should preside o'er wit. [ 652 ]

Horace still charms with graceful negligence, And without method talks us into sense; Will like a friend familiarly convey The truest notions in the easiest way. He who supreme in judgment as in wit, Might boldly censure, as he boldly writ, Yet judged with coolness though he sung with fire; His precepts teach but what his works inspire Our critics take a contrary extreme They judge with fury, but they write with phlegm: Nor suffers Horace more in wrong translations By wits than critics in as wrong quotations.

See Dionysius Homer's thoughts refine, [ 665 ] And call new beauties forth from every line!

Fancy and art in gay Petronius please, [ 667 ] The scholar's learning with the courtier's ease.

In grave Quintilian's copious work we find [ 669 ] The justest rules and clearest method joined: Thus useful arms in magazines we place, All ranged in order, and disposed with grace, But less to please the eye, than arm the hand, Still fit for use, and ready at command.

Thee bold Longinus! all the Nine inspire, [ 675 ] And bless their critic with a poet's fire. An ardent judge, who, zealous in his trust, With warmth gives sentence, yet is always just: Whose own example strengthens all his laws; And is himself that great sublime he draws.

Thus long succeeding critics justly reigned, License repressed, and useful laws ordained. Learning and Rome alike in empire grew; And arts still followed where her eagles flew, From the same foes at last, both felt their doom, And the same age saw learning fall, and Rome. [ 686 ] With tyranny then superstition joined As that the body, this enslaved the mind; Much was believed but little understood, And to be dull was construed to be good; A second deluge learning thus o'errun, And the monks finished what the Goths begun. [ 692 ]

At length Erasmus, that great injured name [ 693 ] (The glory of the priesthood and the shame!) Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age, And drove those holy Vandals off the stage. [ 696 ]

But see! each muse, in Leo's golden days, [ 697 ] Starts from her trance and trims her withered bays, Rome's ancient genius o'er its ruins spread Shakes off the dust, and rears his reverent head Then sculpture and her sister arts revive, Stones leaped to form, and rocks began to live; With sweeter notes each rising temple rung, A Raphael painted, and a Vida sung [ 704 ] Immortal Vida! on whose honored brow The poets bays and critic's ivy grow Cremona now shall ever boast thy name As next in place to Mantua, next in fame!

But soon by impious arms from Latium chased, Their ancient bounds the banished muses passed. Thence arts o'er all the northern world advance, But critic-learning flourished most in France, The rules a nation born to serve, obeys; And Boileau still in right of Horace sways [ 714 ] But we, brave Britons, foreign laws despised, And kept unconquered and uncivilized, Fierce for the liberties of wit and bold, We still defied the Romans as of old. Yet some there were, among the sounder few Of those who less presumed and better knew, Who durst assert the juster ancient cause, And here restored wit's fundamental laws. Such was the muse, whose rule and practice tell "Nature's chief masterpiece is writing well." Such was Roscommon, not more learned than good, With manners generous as his noble blood, To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known, And every author's merit, but his own Such late was Walsh—the muse's judge and friend, Who justly knew to blame or to commend, To failings mild, but zealous for desert, The clearest head, and the sincerest heart, This humble praise, lamented shade! receive, This praise at least a grateful muse may give. The muse whose early voice you taught to sing Prescribed her heights and pruned her tender wing, (Her guide now lost) no more attempts to rise, But in low numbers short excursions tries, Content if hence the unlearned their wants may view, The learned reflect on what before they knew Careless of censure, nor too fond of fame, Still pleased to praise, yet not afraid to blame, Averse alike to flatter, or offend, Not free from faults, nor yet too vain to mend.

[Line 17: Wit is used in the poem in a great variety of meanings (1) Here it seems to mean genius or fancy , (2) in line 36 a man of fancy , (3) in line 53 the understanding or powers of the mind , (4) in line 81 it means judgment .]

[Line 26: Schools —Different systems of doctrine or philosophy as taught by particular teachers.]

[Line 34: Maevius —An insignificant poet of the Augustan age, ridiculed by Virgil in his third Eclogue and by Horace in his tenth Epode.]

[Lines 80, 81: There is here a slight inaccuracy or inconsistency, since "wit" has a different meaning in the two lines: in 80, it means fancy, in 81, judgment .]

[Line 86: The winged courser .—Pegasus, a winged horse which sprang from the blood of Medusa when Perseus cut off her head. As soon as born he left the earth and flew up to heaven, or, according to Ovid, took up his abode on Mount Helicon, and was always associated with the Muses.]

[Line 94: Parnassus .—A mountain of Phocis, which received its name from Parnassus, the son of Neptune, and was sacred to the Muses, Apollo and Bacchus.]

[Line 97: Equal steps .—Steps equal to the undertaking.]

[Line 129: The Mantuan Muse —Virgil called Maro in the next line (his full name being, Virgilius Publius Maro) born near Mantua, 70 B.C.]

[Lines 130-136: It is said that Virgil first intended to write a poem on the Alban and Roman affairs which he found beyond his powers, and then he imitated Homer:

Cum canerem reges et proelia Cynthius aurem Vellit— Virg. Ecl. VI ]

[Line 138: The Stagirite —Aristotle, born at the Greek town of Stageira on the Strymonic Gulf (Gulf of Contessa, in Turkey) 384 B.C., whose treatises on Rhetoric and the Art of Poetry were the earliest development of a Philosophy of Criticism and still continue to be studied.

The poet contradicts himself with regard to the principle he is here laying down in lines 271-272 where he laughs at Dennis for

Concluding all were desperate sots and fools Who durst depart from Aristotle's rules.]

[Line 180: Homer nods — Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus , 'even the good Homer nods'—Horace, Epistola ad Pisones , 359.]

[Lines 183, 184: Secure from flames .—The poet probably alludes to such fires as those in which the Alexandrine and Palatine Libraries were destroyed. From envy's fiercer rage .—Probably he alludes to the writings of such men as Maevius (see note to line 34) and Zoilus, a sophist and grammarian of Amphipolis, who distinguished himself by his criticism on Isocrates, Plato, and Homer, receiving the nickname of Homeromastic (chastiser of Homer). Destructive war —Probably an allusion to the irruption of the barbarians into the south of Europe. And all-involving age ; that is, time. This is usually explained as an allusion to 'the long reign of ignorance and superstition in the cloisters,' but it is surely far-fetched, and more than the language will bear.]

[Lines 193, 194:

'Round the whole world this dreaded name shall sound, And reach to worlds that must not yet be found,"—COWLEY.]

[Line 216: The Pierian spring —A fountain in Pieria, a district round Mount Olympus and the native country of the Muses.]

[Line 248: And even thine, O Rome. —The dome of St Peter's Church, designed by Michael Angelo.]

[Line 267: La Mancha's Knight .—Don Quixote, a fictitious Spanish knight, the hero of a book written (1605) by Cervantes, a Spanish writer.]

[Line 270: Dennis, the son of a saddler in London, born 1657, was a mediocre writer, and rather better critic of the time, with whom Pope came a good deal into collision. Addison's tragedy of Cato , for which Pope had written a prologue, had been attacked by Dennis. Pope, to defend Addison, wrote an imaginary report, pretending to be written by a notorious quack mad-doctor of the day, entitled The Narrative of Dr. Robert Norris on the Frenz of F. D. Dennis replied to it by his Character of Mr. Pope . Ultimately Pope gave him a place in his Dunciad , and wrote a prologue for his benefit.]

[Line 308: On content .—On trust, a common use of the word in Pope's time.]

[Lines 311, 312: Prismatic glass .—A glass prism by which light is refracted, and the component rays, which are of different colors being refracted at different angles show what is called a spectrum or series of colored bars, in the order violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red.]

[Line 328: Fungoso —One of the characters in Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humor who assumed the dress and tried to pass himself off for another.]

[Line 356: Alexandrine —A line of twelve syllables, so called from a French poem on the Life of Alexander the Great, written in that meter. The poet gives a remarkable example in the next line.]

[Line 361: Sir John Denham, a poet of the time of Charles I. (1615-1668). His verse is characterized by considerable smoothness and ingenuity of rhythm, with here and there a passage of some force—Edmund Waller (1606-1687) is celebrated as one of the refiners of English poetry. His rank among English poets, however, is very subordinate.]

[Line 366: Zephyr .—Zephyrus, the west wind personified by the poets and made the most mild and gentle of the sylvan deities.]

[Lines 366-373: In this passage the poet obviously intended to make "the sound seem an echo to the sense". The success of the attempt has not been very complete except in the second two lines, expressing the dash and roar of the waves, and in the last two, expressing the skimming, continuous motion of Camilla. What he refers to is the onomatopoeia of Homer and Virgil in the passages alluded to. Ajax , the son of Telamon, was, next to Achilles, the bravest of all the Greeks in the Trojan war. When the Greeks were challenged by Hector he was chosen their champion and it was in their encounter that he seized a huge stone and hurled it at Hector.

Thus rendered by Pope himself:

"Then Ajax seized the fragment of a rock Applied each nerve, and swinging round on high, With force tempestuous let the ruin fly The huge stone thundering through his buckler broke."

Camilla , queen of the Volsci, was brought up in the woods, and, according to Virgil, was swifter than the winds. She led an army to assist Turnus against Aeneas.

"Dura pan, cursuque pedum praevertere ventos. Illa vel intactae segetis per summa volaret Gramina nec teneras cursu laesisset aristas; Vel mare per medium fluctu suspensa tumenti, Ferret iter, celeres nec tingeret aequore plantas." Aen . vii 807-811.

Thus rendered by Dryden.

"Outstripped the winds in speed upon the plain, Flew o'er the fields, nor hurt the bearded grain; She swept the seas, and as she skimmed along, Her flying feet unbathed on billows hung"]

[Lines 374-381: This passage refers to Dryden's ode, Alexander's Feast , or The Power of Music . Timotheus, mentioned in it, was a musician of Boeotia, a favorite of Alexander's, not the great musician Timotheus, who died before Alexander was born, unless, indeed, Dryden have confused the two.]

[Line 376: The son of Libyan Jove .—A title arrogated to himself by Alexander.]

[Line 393: Dullness here 'seems to be incorrectly used. Ignorance is apt to magnify, but dullness reposes in stolid indifference.']

[Line 441: Sentences —Passages from the Fathers of the Church who were regarded as decisive authorities on all disputed points of doctrine.]

[Line 444: Scotists —The disciples of Duns Scotus, one of the most famous and influential of the scholastics of the fourteenth century, who was opposed to Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), another famous scholastic, regarding the doctrines of grace and the freedom of the will, but especially the immaculate conception of the Virgin. The followers of the latter were called Thomists, between whom and the Scotists bitter controversies were carried on.]

[Line 445: Duck Lane .—A place near Smithfield where old books were sold. The cobwebs were kindred to the works of these controversialists, because their arguments were intricate and obscure. Scotus is said to have demolished two hundred objections to the doctrine of the immaculate conception, and established it by a cloud of proofs.]

[Line 459: Parsons .—This is an allusion to Jeremy Collier, the author of A Short View etc, of the English Stage . Critics, beaux .—This to the Duke of Buckingham, the author of The Rehearsal .]

[Line 463: Blackmore , Sir Richard (1652-1729), one of the court physicians and the writer of a great deal of worthless poetry. He attacked the dramatists of the time generally and Dryden individually, and is the Quack Maurus of Dryden's prologue to The Secular Masque . Millbourn , Rev. Luke, who criticised Dryden; which criticism, although sneered at by Pope, is allowed to have been judicious and decisive.]

[Line 465: Zoilus . See note on line 183.]

[Line 479: Patriarch wits —Perhaps an allusion to the great age to which the antediluvian patriarchs of the Bible lived.]

[Line 536: An easy monarch .—Charles II.]

[Line 541: At that time ladies went to the theater in masks.]

[Line 544: A foreign reign .—The reign of the foreigner, William III.]

[Line 545: Socinus .—The reaction from the fanaticism of the Puritans, who held extreme notions of free grace and satisfaction, by resolving all Christianity into morality, led the way to the introduction of Socinianism, the most prominent feature of which is the denial of the existence of the Trinity.]

[Line 552: Wit's Titans .—The Titans, in Greek mythology, were the children of Uranus (heaven) and Gaea (earth), and of gigantic size. They engaged in a conflict with Zeus, the king of heaven, which lasted ten years. They were completely defeated, and hurled down into a dungeon below Tartarus. Very often they are confounded with the Giants, as has apparently been done here by Pope. These were a later progeny of the same parents, and in revenge for what had been done to the Titans, conspired to dethrone Zeus. In order to scale heaven, they piled Mount Ossa upon Pelion, and would have succeeded in their attempt if Zeus had not called in the assistance of his son Hercules.]

[Line 585: Appius .—He refers to Dennis (see note to verse 270) who had published a tragedy called Appius and Virginia . He retaliated for these remarks by coarse personalities upon Pope, in his criticism of this poem.]

[Line 617: Durfey's Tales .—Thomas D'Urfey, the author (in the reign of Charles II.) of a sequel in five acts of The Rehearsal , a series of sonnets entitled Pills to Purge Melancholy , the Tales here alluded to, etc. He was a very inferior poet, although Addison pleaded for him.]

[Line 619: Garth, Dr. , afterwards Sir Samuel (born 1660) an eminent physician and a poet of considerable reputation He is best known as the author of The Dispensary , a poetical satire on the apothecaries and physicians who opposed the project of giving medicine gratuitously to the sick poor. The poet alludes to a slander current at the time with regard to the authorship of the poem.]

[Line 623: St Paul's Churchyard , before the fire of London, was the headquarters of the booksellers.]

[Lines 645, 646: See note on line 138.]

[Line 648: The Maeonian star .—Homer, supposed by some to have been born in Maeonia, a part of Lydia in Asia Minor, and whose poems were the chief subject of Aristotle's criticism.]

[Line 652: Who conquered nature —He wrote, besides his other works, treatises on Astronomy, Mechanics, Physics, and Natural History.]

[Line 665: Dionysius , born at Halicarnassus about 50 B.C., was a learned critic, historian, and rhetorician at Rome in the Augustan age.]

[Line 667: Petronius .—A Roman voluptuary at the court of Nero whose ambition was to shine as a court exquisite. He is generally supposed to be the author of certain fragments of a comic romance called Petronii Arbitri Satyricon .]

[Line 669: Quintilian , born in Spain 40 A.D. was a celebrated teacher of rhetoric and oratory at Rome. His greatwork is De Institutione Oratorica , a complete system of rhetoric, which is here referred to.]

[Line 675: Longinus , a Platonic philosopher and famous rhetorician, born either in Syria or at Athens about 213 A.D., was probably the best critic of antiquity. From his immense knowledge, he was called "a living library" and "walking museum," hence the poet speaks of him as inspired by all the Nine —Muses that is. These were Clio, the muse of History, Euterpe, of Music, Thaleia, of Pastoral and Comic Poetry and Festivals, Melpomene, of Tragedy, Terpsichore, of Dancing, Erato, of Lyric and Amorous Poetry, Polyhymnia, of Rhetoric and Singing, Urania, of Astronomy, Calliope, of Eloquence and Heroic Poetry.]

[Line 686: Rome .—For this pronunciation (to rhyme with doom ) he has Shakespeare's example as precedent.]

[Line 692: Goths .—A powerful nation of the Germanic race, which, originally from the Baltic, first settled near the Black Sea, and then overran and took an important part in the subversion of the Roman empire. They were distinguished as Ostro Goths (Eastern Goths) on the shores of the Black Sea, the Visi Goths (Western Goths) on the Danube, and the Moeso Goths, in Moesia ]

[Line 693: Erasmus .—A Dutchman (1467-1536), and at one time a Roman Catholic priest, who acted as tutor to Alexander Stuart, a natural son of James IV. of Scotland as professor of Greek for a short time at Oxford, and was the most learned man of his time. His best known work is his Colloquia , which contains satirical onslaughts on monks, cloister life, festivals, pilgrimages etc.]

[Line 696: Vandals .—A race of European barbarians, who first appear historically about the second century, south of the Baltic. They overran in succession Gaul, Spain, and Italy. In 455 they took and plundered Rome, and the way they mutilated and destroyed the works of art has become a proverb, hence the monks are compared to them in their ignorance of art and science.]

[Line 697: Leo .—Leo X., or the Great (1513-1521), was a scholar himself, and gave much encouragement to learning and art.]

[Line 704: Raphael (1483-1520), an Italian, is almost universally regarded as the greatest of painters. He received much encouragement from Leo. Vida —A poet patronised by Leo. He was the son of poor parents at Cremona (see line 707), which therefore the poet says, would be next in fame to Mantua, the birthplace of Virgil as it was next to it in place.

"Mantua vae miserae nimium vicina Cremona."—Virg.]

[Line 714: Boileau .—An illustrious French poet (1636-1711), who wrote a poem on the Art of Poetry, which is copiously imitated by Pope in this poem.]

[Lines 723, 724: Refers to the Duke of Buckingham's Essay on Poetry which had been eulogized also by Dryden and Dr. Garth.]

[Line 725: Roscommon , the Earl of, a poet, who has the honor to be the first critic who praised Milton's Paradise Lost , died 1684.]

[Line 729: Walsh .—An indifferent writer, to whom Pope owed a good deal, died 1710.]

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essay meaning in sinhala

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Translation of "essay" into sinhala.

රචනා is the translation of "essay" into Sinhala. Sample translated sentence: Back in Noemí’s hometown of Manresa, the local newspaper highlighted her academic achievement and reviewed the content of her essay. ↔ නාඕමිගේ ගමේ පළ වන පුවත්පතක ඇයට ලැබුණ ජයග්රහණය ගැන වගේම රචනාවේ පළ වූ දේ පිළිබඳවත් සඳහන් කළා.

A written composition of moderate length exploring a particular issue or subject. [..]

English-Sinhala dictionary

piece of writing often written from an author's personal point of view

Show algorithmically generated translations

Automatic translations of " essay " into Sinhala

Translations with alternative spelling

"Essay" in English - Sinhala dictionary

Currently we have no translations for Essay in the dictionary, maybe you can add one? Make sure to check automatic translation, translation memory or indirect translations.

Translations of "essay" into Sinhala in sentences, translation memory

පෙළ පරිවර්තනය.

මූලාශ්‍ර පෙළ, පරඅිවර්තන ප්‍රතිඵල, ලේඛන පරිවර්තනය.

වෙබ් අඩවි පරිවර්තනය

URL ඇතුල් කරන්න

රූප පරිවර්තනය

Introduction ~ හැඳින්වීම.

1 Introduction
2 Etymology
3.1 Stages of historical development
4.1 Writing System and Pronunciation
4.2 The alphabet
5 How should I start?

Introduction [ edit | edit source ]

Sinhala (සිංහල), also known as Sinhalese in English, is the native language of the Sinhalese people who constitute approximately 75% of the population of Sri Lanka and number greater than 15 million. Sinhala is also spoken as a second language by about three million people from other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. It has evolved over the course of more than 2,300 years. Sanskrit and Pali are ancestor languages of Sinhala. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages , and has been influenced by Dravidian languages such as Tamil and less so from a few other Indo-European languages: English, Dutch, and Portuguese.

Etymology [ edit | edit source ]

According to legend, Sinhabahu or Sīhabāhu (meaning, "Lion-arms") was the son of a princess of the Kalinga Kingdom and Sinha * (meaning, "Lion"; *he is described as a lion;). Sinhabahu killed his father who was harming the people of Kalinga and became the king of Kalinga. Prince Vijaya was his son who was exiled because of his impropriety and sailed to Sri Lanka with his troops. The term Sinhala comes from Sanskrit and is based on the mythological story of Prince Vijaya who is also the mythological founder of the Sinhalese nation. In some versions of this story, he is introduced with the name Simhala and as the son of Sinha . So, both the nation and the language are named from "Sinhala". There are lot of definitions for the etymology of the name Simhala , but none of them are considered official. However, it is agreed that it has a connection with the word Sinha (meaning, "Lion").

History [ edit | edit source ]

Although Sinhala is an Indo-European language, it has some unique features that set it apart from other Indo-Aryan languages. Some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the Vedda language 1 . Sinhala has many words that are only found in Sinhala, or shared between Sinhala and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan.

The oldest Sinhalese Prakrit inscriptions found are from the 3rd to 2nd century BCE following the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka; the oldest existing literary works date from the 9th century CE. Because of the arrival of Buddhism, Sri Lanka has been effected by the Indian culture and has relinquished most of the aboriginal Vedda culture which has almost completely disappeared now. Because of this situation, Sri Lanka became a country with Indo-Aryan culture which is surrounded by the Dravidian culture of South India. This has made Dravidian languages (mostly Tamil) a major influence of Sinhala.

Stages of historical development [ edit | edit source ]

The development of Sinhala is divided into four periods:

Sinhalese Prakrit (until 3 rd century AD)
Proto-Sinhala (3 rd - 7 th century AD)
Medieval Sinhala (7 th - 12 th century AD)
Modern Sinhala (12 th century — present)

Written Sinhala and Spoken Sinhala [ edit | edit source ]

There is a large difference between written and spoken Sinhala. Written Sinhala has a strict standard, but spoken Sinhala doesn't. So spoken Sinhala is easier to learn than written Sinhala. Even though this book has been written to teach how to speak, read and write, its priority is to teach written Sinhala. The following passage has some very important information about the writing system and pronunciation, so please read it carefully and study it well.

Writing System and Pronunciation [ edit | edit source ]

Sinhala is written in Sinhala script, which is an abugida , where only the consonants are independent letters and the vowels are indicated with diacritics ( pillam ; පිල්ලම්, vowel strokes) on those consonants. However, vowels are written as full letters when they occur word-initially, including in some compound words. Each consonant without a vowel stroke has an "inherent vowel", either /ʌ/ or /ə/, depending on the position of the consonant within the word. Vowel strokes are used to change the inherent vowel to another vowel sound. When a consonant has no vowel sound, the consonant is written with a sign called hal kirīma (හල් කිරීම) on it which removes the inherent vowel. So, a consonant-vowel pair is written as a single character: a letter plus an optional vowel stroke which changes the vowel sound, or in the case of the hal kirīma , removes the vowel sound.

The inherent vowel is pronounced /ʌ/ when stressed (the first vowel in a word, before a consonant without an attached vowel, and certain other situations) and /ə/ when unstressed. There are a few words which are exceptions to the normal rules of stress pronunciation.

The inherent form of the letter: "ක" ( /ka/ ).
To write ki, a diacritic is placed over the letter: "කි" ( /ki/ ).
When there is no vowel, a special sign, hal kirīma is added: "ක්" ( /k/ ).

Even though the writing system of Sinhala is an abugida, there were characters called "joined letters" ( bandi akuru; බැඳි අකුරු ) with three sounds combined that are rarely used now. They were used widely until the mid-twentieth century. These letters were written when the first letter is a consonant without a vowel and the second is a letter with a consonant and a vowel.

The alphabet [ edit | edit source ]

The alphabet (actually an abugida ) will be extensively described in the next lesson. There are 18 vowels and 42 consonants in the alphabet. Keep in mind that there are some letters that are not included in the alphabet and some letters that are unused. The alphabet has many versions since ancient times and there are different modern versions that are proposed. However, the standard Sinhala alphabet is the one from the Sri Lankan National Institute of Education (NIE).

How should I start? [ edit | edit source ]

There is no need to write long paragraphs at the start, because you just need to understand these lessons and go ahead. Don't worry too much about your progress in learning this language. It'll be very easy to understand if you start from the basics. Even though Sinhala is an Indo-European language, as is English, it is very far from English geographically and linguistically. So, its structure is very different from English. Although there aren't many online sources for you to learn Sinhala, this book will be enough to learn the basics. You can learn how to write Sinhala letters from YouTube videos and other online sources. Get a paper notebook and write them again and again. Then, try to write them in more accurate shapes and sizes.

If you are familiar with IPA symbols, they will give you a better idea how to pronounce the words. In this wikibook, we use special signs for vowels to make these lessons easier. They will be introduced to you in the vowel chart of the next lesson. Also, every word written in Sinhala script will be followed by its pronunciation written in English (Latin) characters.

This book is designed with lessons in four stages. Basic lessons will make you ready to advance to the next stage. Each lesson of the second stage will have its own vocabulary and exercises. So, study well and have fun! Also, don't forget to read the DID YOU KNOW fact in every lesson.

Notes [ edit | edit source ]

Book:Sinhala

Dict LK is online large Sinhala dictionary that provides Sinhala to English and English to Sinhala meaning with linguistic features. You can search for more than a million words . It provides Abbreviation , Glossary , Technical Terms in the alphabetic order. This application helps the user who wants to translate one language to another language with different size of smart devices. Dict.lk is one of the fast and effective searchable dictionaries for Sinhala to the English language. This application helps for University References , exam and business purpose .

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Essays of Buddhist Philosophy -I බෞද්ධ දර්ශනය: ශාස්ත්‍රීය විමර්ශන I

2018, Essays of Buddhist Philosophy -I

Collected articles written in Sinhala have uploaded here for the interest of reading the subject.

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www.academia.edu

Thilini Arosha

Thinking with Literature

Translating worlds through words: the bird-view of the selalihini sandeshaya (the starling’s message).

This essay is a reflection on the process of translating into English the Sinhala epic poem සැළලිහිණි සංදේශය / Selalihini Sandeshaya ( The Starling’s Message ), which is a canonical text of Sinhala literature. Selalihini Sandeshaya was composed in the fifteenth century, around AD 1450, a period during which local Sinhala literature flourished. The poet, Venerable Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera, was a Buddhist monk renowned for his literary genius and considered as one of the greatest writers of the classical Sinhala literary tradition. He was the Head and Chief of Sangha (order of monks) at the Vijayabahu Pirivena at Totagamuwa, Sri Lanka. Being a polyglot, he was honored with the title of sadbhasa paramesvara (“supreme master of six languages”). This poem, which is his most celebrated work, belongs to the popular Sinhala sandesa kavya genre (“message poems”), in which a message is dispatched through a bird. The word “sandesa” is derived from Sanskrit, meaning “successful communication.” The word has also been used to mean “information,” “message,” “news,” and “errand.”

In the Selalihini Sandeshaya , the messenger is the bird selalihiniya , or the starling. In the Sinhala sandesa kavya tradition, all the messengers are birds (unlike in the Indian sandesa kavya tradition). Other poems of this genre have been named after messenger birds such as peacocks, pigeons, geese, parrots, cocks, doves, and golden orioles. This poem features all four elements that a sandesa kavya is required to include: a sender, a courier, a recipient, and a message. As Jayasuriya points out, other requisites include “that the hero or the heroine should be a celebrity, the poem should start with a blessing, the courier must be praised, the destination must be mentioned, the route must be outlined describing distinguished persons on the way, the message must be narrated and the courier must be blessed,” [1] which are all featured in the Selalihini Sandeshaya .

The message carried by the starling in the Selalihini Sandeshaya is sent to the local deity Vibhisana, who is the younger brother of Ravana (once the king of Sri Lanka), as depicted in the ancient Indian epic Ramayana . Fifteen stanzas of the poem (out of 111 stanzas) are devoted to portraying the god Vibhisana in detail, which indicates the importance the poet accorded the portrayal of the god. The poem describes the starling’s journey from Sri Jayawardenapura (the capital of the Kotte kingdom) to Kelaniya (where Vibhisana’s shrine is located) during the course of a single day. The message entreats Vibhisana to grant a son to princess Ulakudaya Devi, the younger daughter of the reigning King Parakramabahu VI . Given that King Parakramabahu had only two daughters, a male grandchild was a necessity to continue the royal lineage. The epilogue (stanzas 109 to 111) narrates how the princess eventually gave birth to a son, indicating that the starling successfully delivered the message to the deity, and that the deity fulfilled the request. Ulakudaya Devi gave birth to Vijayabahu, who, after the death of King Parakramabahu in AD 1467, was crowned king.

The main poem consists of 111 quatrains (known as sivupada in Sinhala). The Selalihini Sandeshaya is the shortest of the sandesa kavyas, but it is often cited as the sandesa that exemplifies the highest poetic quality. The divisions in the poem are based on what is being described in each section, such as descriptions of cities like Sri Jayawardenapura and Kelaniya, descriptions of places of interest, religious shrines (both Buddhist and Hindu shrines), places of natural beauty, celebrations, festivals, accounts of the king and the queen, invocation of the deity Vibhisana, and “odes” to the morning and the evening. Given the level of detail, the poem sheds light on several social, cultural, religious, and political aspects of fifteenth-century Sri Lankan society. Thus, apart from its poetic/literary value, this poem embeds information detailing the history of the times. As Jayasuriya notes in the introduction to his translation of the Selalihini Sandeshaya , “[u]nlike the earlier works of poetry that mostly dealt with Buddhist religious themes, the Sandesa kavya mark a clear turning point in that they deal with mundane subjects. Through them, we could understand the changes in the political arena and the aspirations, beliefs and other religious tendencies of the elite.” [2] However, references to Buddhism and Sinhala Buddhist culture are found in abundance throughout the poem.

One of the key purposes of this project was to translate into English a renowned fifteenth-century Sinhala epic poem composed in elu (pure) Sinhala, which is different from contemporary Sinhala (though not a wholly alien language variety to the contemporary reader). The decisions made with regard to the readership during the translation process were dynamic rather than static. At the beginning, the specific target audience imagined for the translation consisted of the contemporary bilingual Sri Lankan readership, assuming that they would be familiar with certain historical, cultural, and religious aspects of Sri Lanka. However, as the translation process evolved, the audience was expanded to include a broader international audience, who would potentially be unfamiliar with not only the language and content but also the cultural, social, and religious aspects of the source language text. The text and the content have not been modified to accommodate familiar styles and forms of contemporary readerships. In fact, one of the purposes of this project is to preserve the source language text’s form and content as much as possible. Since one of the goals in undertaking this translation is to provide not just a literary understanding of the text, but also a broader sociocultural understanding of fifteenth-century Sri Lanka, culture-specific vocabulary in the target language text has been preserved as much as possible, such as dageba, Triple Gem, Deva, Devi, and kovil . The source language text provides insights into some key sociocultural features of the period during which it was composed. For instance, verses 73, 74, and 75 provide details of the shrine at Kelaniya, which was, and continues to be, a very important religious center. The stanzas provide a description of a troupe of female dancers who are part of a religious celebration. These examples highlight the role women played in public pageants and religious celebrations during the time the poem was compiled. Certain scholars have commented on how women were not allowed to take part in public performances in Sri Lanka prior to gaining independence from the British in 1948 (see, for instance, Susan A. Reed’s Dance and the Nation: Performance, Ritual, and Politics in Sri Lanka ). [3] The depiction of women performing in public and religious spaces in Selalihini Sandeshaya challenges such views.

The translation process of this poem consisted of three stages. The first intralingual translation stage involved translating the source language text in classical elu Sinhala to obtain a source language text in contemporary Sinhala. The second stage is gloss translation: translating the source language text in contemporary Sinhala to the target language text in contemporary English. The third stage was transforming the target language text in English (gloss) to metered verse to generate the final target language text in English. One issue that came up at the intralingual translation stage was in ascertaining the meaning of some of the Sinhala words and expressions in the source language text. Not only were some of the words, expressions, and idioms archaic and no longer part of contemporary Sinhala , but they were also altered to accommodate the poetic diction and style of classical Sinhala poetic conventions. Thus, words were abbreviated, adapted to fit the internal rhymes, and merged with other words in a way those words ordinarily would not have been used together. While these usages display the poetic creative genius of the author and his masterly use of language, they created considerable translation challenges. The existing translations of this poem (William Charles Macready, 1865; N. D. de S. Wijesekara, 1934; K. W. de A. Wijesinghe, 1940 and 2006; and Edmund Jayasuriya, 2002) are prose/gloss translations. [4] None of the prior translations have attempted to maintain the form of the poem, which is an important feature of the sandesa kavyas. Although the end-rhymes were mostly preserved, the internal rhymes were not easy to replicate or preserve in the English translation (consider, for instance, verse 74). Despite difficulties in maintaining internal rhyme, in most instances, the meaning, content, and form of the verses were sustained. However, features such as alliteration, consonance, and assonance had to sometimes be sacrificed in order to preserve the meaning, content, and form (for example verse 75, line 1).

In retrospect, the form of the translation can be considered as a hybrid—a combination of the mimetic form and the c ontent-derivative form or organic form. While the form of the source language text was respected, there was concern about preserving the semantic content as much as possible. T he Sinhala verses are composed using a traditional meter known as samudraghosa (which translates to “the sound of the ocean”): a meter that imitates the rhythm of rising and falling ocean waves. It is also a meter that is dependent on the many vowel sound combinations used in Sinhala. It is therefore a difficult meter to maintain as the language changes, supporting a popular view that a verse form cannot successfully exist outside of its own language. Instead, in the attempt to maintain the poetic form, a different meter has been adopted. In addition, the dialogic/conversational style of the poem, suggesting a familiar relationship between the starling, the reader, and the poet, was an important feature that was preserved in the translation. The poet frequently makes his presence felt by addressing the starling directly and by giving the bird various instructions and advice.

Condensing the content/meaning of the source language text into the target language text posed another challenge. As the gloss translations illustrate, the English gloss translations are wordier when unpacked from the source language text, which uses a minimal number of words and a more compact style to convey its meaning. As Jayasuriya observes, “ Sri Rahula Thera shows his unmistakable skill in poetic delineation and precision in the sensitive handling of language. It is mostly free from lengthy descriptions and overused similes and metaphors as are customary in sandesa poetry.” [5] In the final translation, it was challenging to condense the content in English within the restricted form of rhymed verse. As a consequence, there were times when form was sacrificed for content and vice versa. Internal rhyme is a prominent feature of this poem, which could not always be sustained in the target language text. Verse 74 is a delightful example of such internal rhyme (indicated below in boldface):

විදෙන ලෙළෙන නරු බර පුළුලුකුළැ රැඳී

හෙළන නඟන අත නුවනග බැලුම් දිදී

රුවින දිලෙන අබරණ කැලුම ගත යෙදී

සැලෙන පහන සිළු වැනි රඟන ලිය සැදී

Additionally, there were instances when certain references in the source language text did not “make sense.” For instance, verse 27 describes how the shoreline is strewn with beads, which are human-made and artificial (as opposed to natural elements such as pearls or shells that can be found on the shore). It is difficult to grasp why and how that particular word is used in the source language text given the context in which it is used. One hypothesis is that it may have had a meaning which is no longer in use. Jayasuriya has translated the word as “corals” in his 2002 translation. However, the Sinhala word does not have a meaning corresponding to this particular interpretation.

The difficulty in locating and accessing reference and research material related to the source language text, in both Sinhala and English, was another key challenge encountered in the translation process. Although a copy of the Selalihini Sandeshaya is available at the Widener Library at Harvard University (from where the source text was borrowed), no records of existing translations of the Selalihini Sandeshaya , or records related to its secondary literature, can be found on widely used online catalogues such as WorldCat and UNESCO’s Index Translationum. While the Anthology of Sinhalese Literature up to 1815 by C. H. B. Reynolds [6] contains an English translation of the Selalihini Sandeshaya , unless the reader is already aware of its inclusion in the anthology, it is not possible to deduce its inclusion by looking at the bibliographic entry in WorldCat. The absence of a phonetic alphabet for Sinhala and the lack of standardized English spelling for source language texts also generate challenges. For instance, “selalihini” is also translated as “selelihini” and “salalihini” in previous translations and in references to the source text, complicating searches for both primary and secondary texts. The article, “A Preliminary Survey of Translations (Sinhala to English) in Postcolonial Sri Lanka, and Some Comments on the Compilation of Bibliographies,” [7] discusses in detail these and other extra-textual challenges that translators encounter, particularly when working with texts written in little-known minority/minor source languages such as Sinhala. The experience of translating excerpts from the Selalihini Sandeshaya , which resembled an attempt at a metapoem, has highlighted not just the textual challenges but also the extra-textual challenges a translator could face when working on a text while being away from the source language text’s “home.” The next section provides a detailed discussion of some of the translated verses as well as specific examples that highlight some of the challenges encountered during the translation process.

Verse 07 is from the section titled “Ode to Jayawardhanapura.” Jayawardhanapura was the capital of the kingdom of Kotte during the time this poem was composed. This city is still considered as the executive and judicial capital of Sri Lanka and is known today as Sri Jayawardhanapura Kotte. On the one hand, the poet uses this section to celebrate the beauty, prestige, opulence, and prosperity of Sri Lanka’s capital city. On the other hand, he highlights the qualities of the inhabitants of the city, which add to the appeal and reputation of Jayawardhanapura. The first line of the poem is a comment on the key quality of the city-dwellers: piety and devotion to Buddhism. According to the poet, the people of Jayawardhanapura have great respect for the “Triple Gem,” which refers to t he three principal constituents of Buddhism: “Buddha” (the Buddha), “Dhamma” (the teachings of the Buddha), and “Sangha” (the Buddhist monks). The verse also highlights how the city outdoes the beauty, richness, and prestige of even the city of gods (“ සුරපුර ” can also be translated as “heaven” or “celestial city”). The polytheistic characteristic of the fifteenth-century Sri Lankan “religious” belief system reveals itself in these two lines alone. Despite a deep belief in and respect for all three aspects of Buddhism (the “Triple Gem” explained above), there is also equal engagement with an alternative but complementing belief system founded on pantheism (influenced by Hinduism). The third line provides context as to how the city acquired its name. “Jayawaddana,” used in the source language text, is the poetic and abbreviated form of the name of the city “Sri Jayawardhanapura.” The unabridged name of the city is “Sri Jayawardhanapura,” which means “resplendent city of growing victory,” and was so named in 1391. The name given to the city is a comment on Sri Lanka’s political situation at this time, when the king, ruling from Sri Jayawardhanapura, was able to secure a high number of victories against invading foreign armies and various regional chieftains. During this historical and economically prosperous period, all of Sri Lanka was united politically under a single king: King Parakramabahu VI. Prior to his political unification of the island, different regions were ruled by autonomous chieftains. The capital city is referred to in two other sandesas, or messenger poems ( mayura , or peacock, and gira , or parrot, messenger poems). Keeping the dialogic form of the poem, in the final line of the verse, the poet directly addresses the starling as “honored friend” and entreats the bird to become familiar with the city’s background. The starling is an important ambassador, entrusted with the responsibility of delivering an imperial supplication to a powerful deity. In fact, the poem begins with a tribute to the starling, complimenting its beauty and goodness. Throughout the poem, the bird-messenger is treated with great respect.

Verse 22 is from the section “Ode to Evening,” which describes what the starling observes in the evening as he flies in the direction of the shrine of Vibhisana. The bird observes a row of flags fluttering amid the fumes of camphor and black aloe-wood rising in the air. Camphor and black aloe-wood are routinely lit, particularly in the morning and the evening, at Hindu kovils , or Hindu temples (also translated as “residence of God”) as ritual offerings to deities. This is a practice common at shrines as well as at some households even in contemporary Sri Lanka (in both Hindu and non-Hindu households). The camphor and the wood emit fragrant yet heavy fumes which envelop the kovil premises. Echoing the soundscape of verse 10, the evening is full of the sounds of drums, conchs, and bells, which seem to be spreading everywhere. Unlike in verse 10 where the sounds were associated with victory in battle, however, the sounds in this verse consist of music used for religious ceremonies and chanting at the Hindu kovil. The third line refers to eulogistic hymns chanted in Tamil by beautiful women, and these hymns have a gladdening effect on the listener. It is important to note how the poet, Venerable Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera, who was a renowned Buddhist scholar-monk in the fifteenth century, included in this verse the detail about the Hindu kovil and the serene and calming effect of the hymns, sung in Tamil by (presumably) Tamil women present at the kovil. The final line of the verse reveals the name of the kovil to be Isvara Kovil, which lies between the capital city and Kelaniya. The poet finds the kovil to be picturesque, and he instructs the starling to rest and spend the night at this kovil before resuming his journey on the following day. The verse is of special significance for multiple reasons. For one, Isvara Kovil, a Hindu temple, is portrayed positively and respectfully by the Sinhala Buddhist monk. Second, the poet refers to hymns sung in the Tamil language, which are described as having a soothing effect on the listener and contributing positively to the vibrant soundscape. Third, the verse depicts Tamil women participating in religious rituals and performances by singing at the Hindu kovil (similarly, verses 73, 74, and 75 portray a troupe of female dancers at the Kelaniya temple, a very important Buddhist center of worship ). Fourth, the poet advises the bird to rest and recover at the Isvara Kovil. Finally, this kovil is located between the capital city of Jayawardhanapura and the temple of Kelaniya, between which the distance is roughly 5.5 miles, indicating that kovils were located in close proximity to the capital city as well as to major Buddhist temples (and not merely in majority Tamil/Hindu areas of the country such as Jaffna in the northern part of the country). On the one hand, given the context of the political rift between the Sinhalese and the Tamils (which was marked by the violent thirty-plus-year civil war that concluded in 2009), and the contentious issues around the topic of language equality (consider the Sinhala Only Act of 1956 that had a discriminatory impact on users of Tamil), this verse reveals how Hinduism and the Tamil language were likely an organic part of Sri Lankan culture and community during the poet’s time. In fact, it is important to note that Lokanatha, the younger daughter of King Parakramabahu VI, on whom this poem invokes blessings , was married to a Tamil prince called Nannurtunaya. It is only after marriage that she came to be known as Ulakudaya Devi. Perhaps given this context, the Sinhala Buddhist poet-monk has no hesitation in painting a positive poetic picture of the Hindu kovil and the hymns sung in the Tamil language, and in choosing the kovil as an appropriate resting place for the starling carrying a message to a deity. This verse is of special significance considering the recent development of a politicized and almost militarized Buddhist clergy culture in countries such as Sri Lanka (and Myanmar), which in turn incites communal hostility toward the non-majority races, religions, and languages.

Verse 27 is from the section “Ode to Passing Scenery,” in which the poet describes the various scenic aspects of the starling’s journey. In this verse the poet invites the bird-messenger as well as the reader to appreciate the beauty of the ocean. It is also one of the best examples of how the poet skillfully uses onomatopoeia, or sabda dhvani , which is unfortunately lost in translation. The first two lines describe how the vast and powerful ocean waves rise up skyward, propelled by the strong winds, as if trying to reach the sky. [8] The personification of the sky as a “heavenly lady” and the ocean waves as attempting to embrace the “heavenly lady” imbue these natural elements with an amorous relationship. Attention is also drawn to the dazzling beaches, which are strewn with sparkling pearls, conch shells, and beads. In the gloss translation, the word පබළු has been translated as “beads,” which are artificial and human-made. Other instances of the usage of the word පබළු in classical literature indicate that this was the meaning assigned to පබළු even at the time this poem was composed. It is curious, however, how “beads” came to be found strewn on the shoreline. It could be that the word possessed another meaning in the fifteenth century which has become obsolete. Jayasuriya has translated the word as “corals” in his 2002 translation of the poem. However, the present translation avoids using such a translation due to the ambiguity of contextual meaning and the apparent difference in meaning rendered when පබළු is translated as corals. Conch shells and pearls are traditionally considered as symbols of prosperity and opulence. According to historical records, these items were also commercial goods sought after by international merchants. The fact that such valuable items are part of Sri Lanka’s natural resources and are to be found in abundance, simply strewn along the coastline, could be an indication of the richness of the island’s natural resources and wealth at the time the poem was written. Maintaining the dialogic style of the poem, the verse ends with the poet addressing the starling and asking him to observe the majesty of the great ocean in the north, of which the waves are reaching up as if trying to embrace the heavenly lady—the sky—and which constantly sprinkles the shoreline with natural riches like pearls and conchs.

Verse 45 depicts yet another natural element that the poet brings to the starling’s attention. This verse is from the section titled “Ode to the Kelani River,” in which the poet highlights the beauty of one of Sri Lanka’s longest rivers (ninety miles in length). This verse focuses on a group of beautiful maidens who are playing veenas while seated on the riverbank. The women belong to the “Na” group, “Na” being a derivative of “Naga.” “Naga” (meaning “serpent”) is conjectured to have been one of the several indigenous groups who inhabited ancient Sri Lanka before the arrival of North Indian settlers. The Mahavamsa , the oldest historical record of the island, describes the Naga as supernatural beings whose natural form was not that of a human but that of a serpent. They are also said to have possessed the ability to change their form to anything at will. The Na maidens’ veenas, which are stringed musical instruments used in the Indian subcontinent, are studded with gems. The women pluck the strings delicately with the tips of their fingernails while sweetly singing about the virtues of Lord Buddha. The poet asks the starling to take a break and to rest awhile on the riverbank while enjoying the music of the Na maidens. This is yet another example of how The Starling’s Message portrays women freely engaged in public performances, particularly in performances of a religious nature. There is, however, a special relationship between the Nagas and Buddhism. The Mahavamsa describes how Lord Buddha visited the kingdom of the Nagas in 581 BCE to resolve a conflict over a gem-studded throne between the two Naga kings Chulodara and Mahadora. The Nagas are said to have embraced Buddhism after Lord Buddha’s visit to their kingdom. Verse 65, discussed below, portrays another instance that demonstrates the close relationship between Buddhism and the Nagas. The kingdom of the Nagas is said to have been located on the riverbanks of the Kelani River where the city of Kelaniya was eventually established.

Verse 65, from the section “Ode to Meritorious Deeds,” instructs the starling on how to correctly pay homage to one of the important Buddhist temples that the bird passes by. The poet first provides some historical background about the temple. The temple is said to have been built on a site where Lord Buddha once preached the Dhamma (Buddhist teachings). The first line describes how the king of the Nagas, King Mini Akkhika (meaning the “possessor of eyes resembling gems”), invited Lord Buddha to his kingdom in Kelaniya to preach the Dhamma. The line states that Lord Buddha arrived through air. “Arhat,” or individuals who have reached the final stage of enlightenment (nirvana), such as Lord Buddha, are said to possess the ability to move from one location to another by traveling through the air. The Buddha is said to have visited Sri Lanka thrice, the occasion referred to in this verse being the third and last visit. The verse describes how, on this last visit, Lord Buddha sat on a gem-studded throne in the midst of other arhat monks and preached the Dhamma. According to the Mahavamsa and other chronicles, five hundred arhat monks accompanied Lord Buddha on his visit to Kelaniya. The poet then reveals that a sixty-cubit high dageba , which is a large, dome-like Buddhist architectural structure, was built to mark the occasion on the spot where Lord Buddha preached the Dhamma. Dagebas customarily hold Buddhist relics. The inside of a dageba is hollow and contains a shrine at which Buddhists engage in religious practices. The relic placed inside this particular dageba is said to have been the bejeweled throne on which the Lord Buddha was seated and over which the Naga kings Chulodara and Mahadora once quarreled. This dageba, known today as the Kelani Temple, is to date one of the most cherished and popular Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Sri Lanka. According to a popular Buddhist aphorism, all of one’s sins could be absolved by a single visit to this temple. The poet concludes the verse by using the familiar imperative form and commanding the starling to pay respect to the “great dageba,” which he personifies, and to which he adds the honorific prefix “ හිමින්. ” The starling is commanded to worship the dageba from the vantage point of sixteen locations. This is an act of high veneration and piety (the number of locations is based on the circumference of the dome at the base of the dageba). Coincidentally, there also exist sixteen places of revered Buddhist shrines/places of worship in Sri Lanka.

Although only a few verses from the Selalihini Sandeshaya have been discussed in this essay due to length and scope constraints, they facilitate a considerable understanding of not only literary and poetic conventions used in the fifteenth-century Sinhala sandesa kavya genre, but also aspects of the sociocultural, political, and religious background of fifteenth-century Sri Lanka. The process of translating this poem has also revealed a number of challenges that a translator-scholar working on minor/minority literatures from a non-Western Global South nation can encounter. In his recent book Comparing the Literatures , David Damrosch acknowledges the problem of the “chronically disadvantaged” languages and literatures of the world and how historical disparities that generate such a class of chronically disadvantaged literatures “continue to this day.” [9] The act of translating the classical Sinhala poetry of the Selalihini Sandeshaya to modern English poetry is, on the one hand, an attempt to address this imbalance. On the other hand, it is a form of critical engagement with factors that engender such chronic disadvantages vis-à-vis local literatures from underrepresented and overlooked parts of the world.

[1] Edmund Jayasuriya, Salalihini Sandesa of Totagamuve Sri Rahula Thera (Pitakotte: Central Cultural Fund for the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, 2002), 21.

[2] Edmund Jayasuriya, Salalihini Sandesa of Totagamuve Sri Rahula Thera (Pitakotte: Central Cultural Fund for the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, 2002), 19.

[3] Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2010.

[4] Although these translations of the Selalihini Sandeshaya can be accessed via WorldCat, there likely exist other versions published in Sri Lanka locally which are not discoverable via catalogues such as WorldCat. For a more detailed discussion, see Dharshani Lakmali Jayasinghe, “A Preliminary Survey of Translations (Sinhala to English) in Postcolonial Sri Lanka, and Some Comments on the Compilation of Bibliographies,” Phoenix: Sri Lankan Journal of English in the Commonwealth 15 and 16 (2018 – 19): 61 – 69.

[5] Edmund Jayasuriya, Salalihini Sandesa of Totagamuve Sri Rahula Thera (Pitakotte: Central Cultural Fund for the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, 2002), 32.

[6] London: Allen & Unwin, 1970.

[7] Jayasinghe, “A Preliminary Survey.”

[8] A similar image occurs in verse 70 of Muvadevdavata .

[9] David Damrosch, Comparing the Literatures (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020), 35.

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When it rains heavily, rivers and streams fill up. When that water flows into the river, it overflows. When the river overflows, it floods. First the dam goes under. Going underground. The roads are flooded. Traffic is light at this time of night. Schools are closing. Homes are flooded. People in flooded houses flock to temples and schools. The government provides food parcels to people in flooded houses. Food is also provided by union companies. Paddy fields are flooded and rotting. Cattle, goats, and chickens are trapped under the cages. The vegetable boxes are also covered. Sickness occurs. When the flood subsides, the land becomes fertile. The water in the wells is getting dirty. Many people incur losses. Some make ferries out of Kehel Kota and ride in the floodwaters.

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Cleanliness-(පිරිසිඳුකම)

Pirisidukama sinhala essay Lack of cleanliness can lead to disease.If our body is not clean it is too sick.If...

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My mother-(මගෙ අම්මා)

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New Way To Sinhala language skills development

Preservation of antiquities is the responsibility of all of us

The importance of listening

Satara kan mantranaya vicharaya.

Descriptions

G.C.E.(O.L.) Examination 2019 – Sinhala Language

The Jataka stories, which can be considered as instructional stories, attempt to tell the bodhisattva stories of the Buddha’s previous souls. The Jataka book, which has been translated into various languages, is considered a work of universal literature.

According to the 30th chapter of the Mahavamsa Sri Lanka, the author of this book is King Panditha Parakramabahu IV (1302-1326) who took over the kingdom of Kurunegala. It is stated that a Bhikku scholar from the Chola country was kept as master and after listening to five hundred and fifty Pali Jataka Katha from those Bhikkhus, and then he translated them into Sinhala and wrote them down to the Tripitaka Bhikkus.

This Essay has 474 words

Total Marks =15

Sinhala essay:- Satara Kan Mantranaya Vicharaya – Free Sinhala Essay Online for Grade 10/11

Send this Sinhala Essay for your friends as help. Click on whatsapp or Viber Buttons below.

Shirantha Perera

Contamination of drinking water sources

Let’s establish a poison-free agriculture

Strategies to make wild elephants a resource in Sri Lanka

Strategies to make wild elephants a resource in this country

Thank you its very helpful

Thank you so much

thank you oya apita hodata udAW KARANAWA

N.Y.P.D. Officials Deploy Aggressive Use of Force (on Social Media)

The department’s leaders frequently go on X to upbraid police critics, from media columnists to elected officials, in a departure from protocol.

Top New York City police officials, with stars on their shoulder epaulets, sit during a media briefing at Police Headquarters.

By Maria Cramer and Dana Rubinstein

A newspaper columnist was accused of being “deceitful.” A lawyer and political activist was challenged to show her face at the funeral of a fallen officer. And a city councilwoman became the target of an apparent “vote her out” campaign.

The combative comments — all posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter — were nothing new for a site that has become synonymous with personal attacks and insults. What was unusual was the source: executives from the New York Police Department.

“The defund crowd who will cry ‘boo hoo’ to 9-1-1 when they need us,” John Chell, the chief of patrol, wrote on X on March 31, complaining about a critical column written by Harry Siegel of The Daily News. “The problem is that besides your flawed reporting is the fact that now we are calling you and your ‘latte’ friends out on their garbage.”

The aggressive stance — while consistent with the often antagonistic approach taken by Mayor Eric Adams and his circle of loyal aides — is a sharp departure from typical police protocol, and some former Police Department and city officials say many of the responses go too far.

But Mr. Adams and top police officials said the attacks would continue.

“We’re going to start pushing back and I think the issue is people aren’t used to it,” Chief Chell told reporters during a briefing this week. “I can tweet and fight crime at the same time.”

The latest and most extended example of the aggressive posture has centered on a series of attacks against Mr. Siegel, whose piece criticizing department leaders for crime on the subway ran the same day as the funeral of Jonathan Diller , a police officer killed in the line of duty.

Using the department’s public information account , the police began calling him “Harry ‘Deceitful’ Siegel,” pouncing on an error in his column — he wrote there had been 10 homicides on the subway when there had been four. The newspaper fixed the mistake and noted in a correction that it regretted the error. But the criticism continued, with several executives accusing Mr. Siegel of being disdainful of the police.

In recent months, police brass have also gone on X to complain about a judge, who they wrongly accused of freeing a man that went on to commit another felony .

Chief Chell also called the The New York Times’s coverage of Officer Diller’s funeral “disgraceful” in a repost of a New York Post editorial that criticized The Times for not featuring the article on the front page, among other complaints.

In an interview with The News, Commissioner Edward A. Caban did not say whether he agreed with his supervisors’ sentiments. But he said he understood their frustration with the media.

“I can tell you that my executives are very passionate about defending their specific bureaus,” said Commissioner Caban, whose own X account features more conventional fare: posts about promotional ceremonies and pictures of himself with politicians, officers and community leaders.

“As an agency, I don’t think we get credit, or the officers get credit, for the work we do,” he said.

Mr. Adams, a former police captain, was far more explicit in his support of the contentious social media posts. During a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, the mayor said that he did not believe his department leaders had “attacked” Mr. Siegel, adding that it was imperative that “the free press should be held accountable.”

“The columnist shared his opinion,” Mr. Adams said of Mr. Siegel’s column. “They shared their opinion.”

Not everyone agrees with Mr. Adams’s stance.

By letting loose on social media, executives in the department are not only undermining their own positions, they’re giving the public a sense that the leadership structure is not under control, said Bill Cunningham, the first communications director for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

“I don’t know that you can make the case for this department and its leadership,” Mr. Cunningham said. “It raises the question again of, who authorized it? Who decided this was a good strategy?”

Former Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said he understood that the posts on X reflect months of anger from police officers and leaders, who feel maligned by some in the media and remain furious over reforms passed by the State Legislature and the City Council that they believe have led to spikes in crime. But, he said, the posts are a reflection of how social media has removed guardrails even from institutions like the Police Department, where messaging was usually more controlled.

“The barriers are going down,” he said. “And that’s a shame in some respects. You want to have free speech but you need to have some degree of limits.”

Mr. Bratton, who now works in private consulting and has his own X account, said he had hired someone to help him restrain his emotional impulses, “so in a moment of frustration and anger, I don’t hit the send button.”

“I’m constantly expressing frustration with the legislature in the city and the state,” Mr. Bratton said. “But the idea is to as much as possible not to get into name-calling. Refrain from name-calling and stick as much as you can to the facts.”

The online indignation has even extended to supporters of the police.

On March 31, Mike Colón, whose podcast “MC’s Audio” usually features positive interviews with police officers, federal agents and firefighters, wrote an essay on LinkedIn after some of the messages were posted, telling police leaders to “grow up.”

Chief Chell replied to Mr. Colón’s post, accusing him of launching “a very direct attack.”

“I wonder who put you up to this?” Chief Chell wrote from his LinkedIn account.

Mr. Colón said he was perplexed.

“What do you care what some 24-year-old upstart journalist from Connecticut thinks?” he said “Don’t you have a department to run?”

Mr. Siegel, a 46-year-old tabloid veteran who is also an editor at The City, a nonprofit publication, said he felt the chiefs had conflated his criticism of them with being against police officers.

He said he was “certain that trying to intimidate is part of the point.”

“My wife is not thrilled,” Mr. Siegel said in an interview. “They’re obviously crossing a line into outright slander, which seems to show sloppiness and weakness, and a desperation to talk about anything other than the issues I actually write about in my columns.”

For the record, he said, he prefers deli coffee to lattes.

The Police Department has a media engagement unit known as the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information, with a robust budget of roughly $4 million, according to the Citizens Budget Commission.

It is staffed 24 hours a day by civilians and officers — its budget allows for a staff of about 30 — who field questions from reporters and distribute news releases detailing recent crimes and arrests.

It also oversees much of the department’s social media feeds. The current deputy commissioner for public information, Tarik Sheppard, a former deputy inspector, said he reviewed “90 percent” of the posts on X put out by precinct commanders, who have separate accounts.

“It’s impossible for me to see everything,” Commissioner Sheppard said, adding that his office fixes or takes down any incorrect information that is posted.

In the case of the police executive brass, he said he saw most of their posts before they were sent out, including the ones that were critical of Mr. Siegel.

“I totally support and agree with them,” Commissioner Sheppard said, adding that there was nothing “unprofessional” about pointing out errors. “And we’re not going to stop.”

The most prolific posters have been Chief Chell and Kaz Daughtry, the deputy commissioner for operations, who reposted many of Chief Chell’s messages and, in one of his own, called Mr. Siegel a “gadfly.”

During a briefing with reporters on Wednesday, Commissioner Daughtry was more measured, saying he believed in the freedom of the press. He said his posts were an emotional reaction to seeing Officer Diller in the operating room as doctors desperately tried to save him.

“I get home, and my daughter asked me, ‘Why are you crying, Daddy?’” Commissioner Daughtry said. “Then I look at my text messages, and I see an article written by Harry bashing us on a day we just buried one of our brothers. And I felt the need to speak up on behalf of my cops.”

Hurubie Meko and Chelsia Rose Marcius contributed reporting.

Maria Cramer is a Times reporter covering the New York Police Department and crime in the city and surrounding areas. More about Maria Cramer

Dana Rubinstein covers New York City politics and government for The Times. More about Dana Rubinstein

Explore Our Coverage of the Adams Administration

Burger King and Baptisms: Mayor Eric Adams keeps finding eye-catching ways to seize the spotlight on the issue of public safety through appearances at Rikers Island, even when the narrative turns against him.

Gun-Detecting Technology: Adams announced that New York City planned to test technology to detect guns in its subway system as officials seek to make transit riders feel safe after a deadly shoving attack.

Grappling With Acts of Violence: Adams was recently confronted with two tragic events that crystallized some people’s persistent fears about the city: the shooting death of Police Officer Jonathan Diller and a man being fatally pushed into the path of a subway train in an unprovoked attack.

Sexual Misconduct Accusations: A woman has accused Adams in a lawsuit of asking her for oral sex in exchange for career help in 1993 and sexually assaulting her when she refused. Adams said the accusation was completely false . A few days after the revelations, a top adviser to Adams was accused of sexually harassing a police sergeant and punishing her when she refused his advances.

COMMENTS

Saggio sulla critica
Saggio sulla critica (An Essay on Criticism) fu il primo importante poema del poeta e scrittore inglese Alexander Pope, scritto nel 1709 e pubblicato nel 1711.. Nonostante il titolo, il poema non è un'analisi critica ma una serie di opinioni di Pope sulla letteratura. La lettura del poema rende chiaro di come si rivolga al potenziale scrittore piuttosto che all'ingenuo lettore.
An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope
In Part I of "An Essay on Criticism," Pope notes the lack of "true taste" in critics, stating: "'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none / Go just alike, yet each believes his own.". Pope advocates knowing one's own artistic limits: "Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet, / And mark that point where sense and ...
1
AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM (1711) An Essay on Criticism, is a didactic poem in heroic couplets by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in 1711 when the author was 22 years old. It's an essay in which he exposes the neoclassical literary theory. It is divided into three parts: thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Despite the title, the poem is ...
Analysis of Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism
An Essay on Criticism (1711) was Pope's first independent work, published anonymously through an obscure bookseller [12-13]. Its implicit claim to authority is not based on a lifetime's creative work or a prestigious commission but, riskily, on the skill and argument of the poem alone. It offers a sort of master-class not only in doing….
Traduzioni romanticismo
An Essay on Criticism (1711) Part I ll. 59-Il primo scopo, il pensier vostro primo Sia quello sempre di seguir natura, Ed il vostro giudizio e il gusto vostro Formar sul suo invariabile modello: L'infallibil natura, unica e via Luce, splendente in divin modo, eterno Universale inalterabil ente, Fonte di vita d'energia di grazia,
1
Alexander Pope An Essay on Criticism (1711) Part I ll. 59- First follow NATURE, and your judgment frame By her just standard, which is still the same: Unerring Nature, still divinely bright, One clear, unchang'd, and universal light, Life, force, and beauty, must to all impart, At once the source, and end, and test of art.
An Essay on Criticism: Part 1
An Essay on Criticism: Part 1. By Alexander Pope. Si quid novisti rectius istis, Candidus imperti; si non, his utere mecum. [If you have come to know any precept more correct than these, share it with me, brilliant one; if not, use these with me] (Horace, Epistle I.6.67) PART 1. 'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill.
An Essay on Criticism Summary & Analysis
Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Criticism" seeks to lay down rules of good taste in poetry criticism, and in poetry itself. Structured as an essay in rhyming verse, it offers advice to the aspiring critic while satirizing amateurish criticism and poetry. The famous passage beginning "A little learning is a dangerous thing" advises would-be critics to learn their field in depth, warning that the ...
An Essay on Criticism
Frontispiece. An Essay on Criticism is one of the first major poems written by the English writer Alexander Pope (1688-1744), published in 1711. It is the source of the famous quotations "To err is human; to forgive, divine", "A little learning is a dang'rous thing" (frequently misquoted as "A little knowledge is a dang'rous thing"), and "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread".
English Poetry, Full Text
AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM. Written in the Year 1709. AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM. Written in the Year 1709. (by Pope, Alexander) THE CONTENTS OF THE Essay on Criticism. PART I. 1. That 'tis as great a fault to judge ill, as to write-ill, and a more dangerous one to the public. 2. The variety of men's Tastes; of a true Taste, how rare to be found.
An Essay on Criticism: Part 1
An Essay on Criticism: Part 1. Si quid novisti rectius istis, Candidus imperti; si non, his utere mecum [If you have come to know any precept more correct than these, share it with me, brilliant one; if not, use these with me] (Horace, Epistle I.6.67) 'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill .
PDF An Essay on Criticism
These were followed by the Essay on Criticism, 1711; Rape of the Lock (when completed, the most graceful, airy, and imaginative of his works), 1712−1714; Windsor Forest, 1713; Temple of Fame, 1715. In a collection of his works printed in 1717 he included the Epistle of Eloisa and Elegy on an Unfortunate Lady, two poems inimitable for pathetic ...
An Essay on Criticism: Part 1
Pope provided the following outline of the Essay on Criticism: "PART 1.That 'tis as great a fault to judge ill, as to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public, 1. That a true taste is as rare to be found, as a true genius, 9-18. That most men are born with some taste, but spoiled by false education, 19-25.
An Essay on Criticism
An Essay on Criticism, didactic poem in heroic couplets by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in 1711 when the author was 22 years old.Although inspired by Horace's Ars poetica, this work of literary criticism borrowed from the writers of the Augustan Age.In it Pope set out poetic rules, a Neoclassical compendium of maxims, with a combination of ambitious argument and great ...
An Essay on Criticism Summary
Plot Summary. "An Essay on Criticism" (1709) is a work of both poetry and criticism. Pope attempts in this long, three-part poem, which he wrote when he was twenty-three, to examine ...
An Essay on Criticism : Alexander Pope : Free Download, Borrow, and
LibriVox recording of An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope. The title, An Essay on Criticism hardly indicates all that is included in the poem. It would have been impossible to give a full and exact idea of the art of poetical criticism without entering into the consideration of the art of poetry. Accordingly Pope has interwoven the precepts ...
An Essay on Criticism
Despite its somewhat dry title, this text is not a musty prose dissection of literary criticism. Instead, the piece takes the shape of a long poem in which Pope, at the very peak of his powers, takes merciless aim at many of the best-known writers of his day. The epitome of the subtle but lethal wit Alexander Pope has come to be celebrated for, "An Essay on Criticism" is a fun and enlightening ...
AN ESSAY ON CRITICISM.
If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. 1.E.3.
The Rape of the Lock: An Essay on Criticism
An Essay on Criticism. 'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill. Appear in writing or in judging ill; But, of the two, less dang'rous is th' offence. To tire our patience, than mislead our sense. Some few in that, but numbers err in this, Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss; A fool might once himself alone expose, Now one in verse ...
Google Traduttore
Il servizio di Google, offerto senza costi, traduce all'istante parole, frasi e pagine web dall'italiano a più di 100 altre lingue e viceversa.
Part I
An Essay on Criticism Part I. This, the first mature original work of the author, was written in 1709, when Pope was in his twentieth year. It was not published till 1711. I NTRODUCTION. That it is as great a fault to judge ill as to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public. That a true Taste is as rare to be found as a true Genius.
an essay on criticism part 1 traduzione
An Essay on Criticism: Part 1. By Alexander Pope. Si quid novisti rectius istis, Candidus imperti; si non, his utere mecum [If you have come to know any... pope letteratura inglese contemporanea alexander pope an essay on criticism (1711) part ll. first follow nature, and your judgment frame her just standard,...
NYPD Officials' Aggressive Posts on X Push Back Against Critics
April 5, 2024, 12:53 p.m. ET. A newspaper columnist was accused of being "deceitful.". A lawyer and political activist was challenged to show her face at the funeral of a fallen officer. And a ...
PDF Alexander Pope An Essay on Criticism
An Essay on Criticism Written in the year 1709 [The title, _An Essay on Criticism_ hardly indicates all that is included in the poem. It would have been impossible to give a full and exact idea of the art of poetical criticism without entering into the consideration of the art of poetry. Accordingly Pope has interwoven the precepts of both ...