The Dunciad

Name: The Dunciad
Author: Alexander Pope

by Alexander Pope

Satiric poem attacking literary dullness and poor writers with mock-heroic energy

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About the author

Alexander Pope

The dominant English poet of the early 18th century, Pope wrote in heroic couplets of extraordinary precision and wit. An Essay on Criticism and An Essay on Man are his major philosophical poems; The Dunciad is the greatest satire in the language. His translation of Homer made him rich and famous.

More by Alexander Pope

The Rape of the LockMock-heroic poem satirizing aristocratic vanity through a trivial lock of hair
Essay on ManPhilosophical poem arguing that all human knowledge serves divine order and purpose
Iliad (trans.)Heroic couplet translation of Homer's Iliad adapting ancient epic for eighteenth-century readers
Epistle to Dr ArbuthnotSatiric epistle defending the speaker against critics and displaying wit and reputation
An Essay on CriticismVerse essay on literary criticism establishing rules for good taste and poetic judgment
An Essay on ManPhilosophical poem arguing that all human knowledge serves divine order and purpose