Bits of Life 2

F-15 Words-450

to the fallen autumnal leaves.
“Thick as Autumnal Leaves that strow the brooks / In Vallombrosa,"

Lycidas is a pastoral elegy composed by Milton to lament the death of close friend and fellow poet named Edward King in 1638.

Milton used pastoral imagery and rural life to explore the themes of loss, grief, and the meaning of life and death.
He questions the injustice of premature death, criticizes the corrupt Roman church too. Finally, the poem resolves grief by promising spiritual resurrection and Lycidas becoming a guardian angel.

The next poet I recall is Alexander Pope. The three important books we read of Pope were The Rape of the Lock and Essay on Criticism and an Essay on Man.


Pope was bright, precocious, and determined and, by his teens, was writing accomplished verse. His rise to fame was swift. Despite his physical shortcomings, he was hailed as one of the best writers of his age.

Rape of the Lock-

It is a mock epic and a satire on a trivial incident gaining importance. Pope wrote it at a friend’s request that makes fun of the two families involved in the incident.

It is divided into five cantos, each one is shown as something serious contributing to the general laughter.
Pope invokes Muse in the epic fashion and calls upon her help to highlight the “dire offence” of a stolen lock from the hair of beautiful Belinda.

Significantly notable is the use of the word “rape”. The Meaning of "Rape": The word "rape" is used in its older definition, meaning to "snatch" or "seize," rather than sexual assault, though the word was chosen to highlight the excessive, violating nature of the act.

Some of his remembered and famous quotes include "To err is human; to forgive, divine,"

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread," and "A little learning is a dangerous thing".

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast.”

“An honest man's the noblest work of God"

“The proper study of mankind is man.”

“True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, / As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance" (An Essay on Criticism).

“Words are like leaves; and where they most abound, / Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found"

"Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul"

“We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow. / Our wiser sons, no doubt will think us so"

“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. A tomb now suffices him for whom the world was not enough.”

There are plenty more useful saying to be found in