An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad
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About this book
Literary quarrels become a question of moral purpose in Walter Harte's verse defence of satire, first published in 1730. Taking Alexander Pope's Dunciad as its chief concern, the poem argues that ridicule can correct folly and encourage virtue. Harte praises Pope as a friend and guide, while tracing a poetic inheritance that includes Dryden and the classical satirists.
The argument unfolds in rhyming verse, with direct addresses to poets, sharp portraits of hostile critics and reflections on truth, beauty and good writing. An introduction by Thomas B. Gilmore places the poem within competing traditions of criticism: one ranked satire below grander literary forms, while another treated it as moral philosophy. Readers interested in Pope, eighteenth-century literary disputes or the purposes of comic criticism will find both a forceful defence of a poet and an account of the standards behind that defence.
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Book facts
- Author
- Walter Harte
- Pages
- 44
- Language
- English
- Genre
- Satire
- Formats
- PDF, EPUB, Read online