"_A critical age called for symmetry, and exquisite finish had to bestudied as much as nobility of thought. . . . POPE aimed to take firstplace as a writer of polished verse. Any knowledge he gained of theworld, or any suggestion that came to him from his intercourse withsociety, was utilized to accomplish his main purpose. To put histhoughts into choice language was not enough. Each idea had to be putin its neatest and most epigrammatic form._"