... to his later works and this, too, is reflected in his use of the supernatural machinery. The second, hugely important function of the sylphs in "The Rape of the Lock" is to ensure that the mood of the poem remains light and airy. When we look at the language used by Pope in any sequence concerning the sylphs we can certainly picture these " lucid squadrons" . Pope uses highly evocative ... its fifty chosen guardians. Perhaps the most striking allusion to the conventions of the epic comes in Umbriel's descent to the Caves of Spleen in Canto IV, which describes Belinda's psychological st...

• Word Count: 2068
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... first changed hands without being published (in this version Shadwell's name was spelt out) the published version only printed the first two letters of the name, making the poem even more rude than it already was. MackFlecknoe has fascinated critics and scholars because it formally ponders the question who shall be MackFlecknoe's successor, but content wise is a ruthless attack and refutation on another ... greatest talent in verse satire also influencing the great satirist of the next century: Alexander Pope. Dryden laid the foundations for the poetry to come, by pronouncing Augustan ...

• Word Count: 1687
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School