Alexander Pope on Criticism
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“Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss.”
“Ah, ne'er so dire a thirst of glory boast, Nor in the Critic let the Man be lost.”
“Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.”
“The generous Critic fann'd the Poet's fire, And taught the world with reason to admire.”
“And you, my Critics! in the chequer'd shade, Admire new light thro' holes yourselves have made.”
“When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, The line too labours, and the words move slow.”
“I lose my patience, and I own it too, When works are censur'd, not as bad but new: While if our Elders break all reason's laws, These fools demand not pardon but Applause.”
“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.”
“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.”
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