Thread 24639705

>The Essay on Man was a work of great labour and long consideration, but certainly not the happiest of Pope’s performances. (Samuel Johnson)
>Kant was fond of the poem and would recite long passages from it to his students.
Who should we trust?

>>24639705 (OP)
Vanity of Human Wishes is better

>>24639718
I like Wordsworth's parody:
'Let observation with extensive observation
Observe mankind....'

>>24639705 (OP)
>but certainly not the happiest of Pope’s performances.
Strange, why would he think this?

>>24639705 (OP)
For me, Johnson, although don't get it twisted into thinking that Johnson was saying here that the Essay on Man is awful. The Essay on Man is reasonably good philosophy and I could understand why Kant would like it from that perspective, but as poetry it is one of the weaker of Pope's major works, aside from Pope's talent for producing absolute knock-out one liners and couplets (eg. "hope springs eternal in the human breast", "Know then thyself, presume not God to scan/ The proper study of mankind is Man").

>>24641224
>as poetry it is one of the weaker of Pope's major works
Why?

>>24641271
A lot of attempts to combine philosophy and poetry don't end well (eg. Wordsworth's failure with The Excursion, Lucretius is the only major exception I can think of in literature to this rule), the philosophy ends up marring the poetic expression and turning the poet away from poetic imagery and ideas. The poem often sounds very laborious or contrived, and the lesson is a bit dull. But Johnson's criticism in the Lives of Poets is more informed and explained better than I can, you should read the section in full if you haven't already.
https://jacklynch.net/Texts/pope.html
(from paragraph 363)

>>24639705 (OP)
"Not the happiest" doesn't strictly sound like a criticism. I think Johnson just finds it rather melancholy, and it doesn't 'sparkle' like some of Pope's merrier works (like the Rape of the Lock).

>>24641224
Isn't the criticism about the philosophical content though?

>>24641384
True, mostly, but he says "the subject is perhaps not very proper for poetry", giving the point about pure metaphysics being unpoetical, and the last paragraph gives the point about the language:
>if I had undertaken to exemplify Pope’s felicity of composition before a rigid critick I should not select the Essay on Man, for it contains more lines unsuccessfully laboured, more harshness of diction, more thoughts imperfectly expressed, more levity without elegance, and more heaviness without strength, than will easily be found in all his other works.

>>24641338
In this era "gay" would mean "happy" and "happy" would mean "fortunate" (related to "hap" or "happenstance," something like "chance"). Thus, in context, Pope's "happier" works would be his more fortunate (better) compositions.

>>24639705 (OP)
Johnson was a schizo. Kant was an autist. The choice is obvious.

>>24639705 (OP)
The brain-dead retard who went to Scotland for the sole purpose that he would criticise manuscripts in a language he couldn't read

I actually cannot think of a man more arrogant than him

>>24641312
>combine philosophy and poetry don't end well
That can't be done since poetry expresses what philosophy cannot do

>>24642486
read Schelling

>>24639705 (OP)
>That can't be done
>negation
The best form of poetry/philosophy in one. It's where poets go when they want to continue not knowing what the fuck they're talking about.

>>24639705 (OP)
Kant knew English??

>>24642471
Kant or Johnson?

>>24642471
The Ossian schizo is back? Accept it was a hoax and move on, mate.

>>24642471
The Ossian schizo is back?

>>24643424
>Kant knew English??
french translation popularized it