ABSTRACT
(a) William Cowper, extract from Table-Talk, ll. 646–55, written in the winter of 1780 to 1781, Poetical Works of William Cowper, ed. J. Bruce, Aldine ed. (1870), i. 30–1. … POPE, as harmony itself exact, In verse well disciplined, complete, compact, Gave Virtue and Morality a grace, That, quite eclipsing Pleasure's painted face, Levied a tax of wonder and applause, E'en on the fools that trampled on their laws. But he (his musical finesse was such, So nice his ear, so delicate his touch) Made poetry a mere mechanic art, And every warbler has his tune by heart.
