Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance,
Irish or
France).
Events
January - Three Hours After Marriage, a play written by
Alexander Pope,
John Gay and
John Arbuthnot, was staged this year. The play satirized poet and critic
John Dennis as "Sir Tremendous Longinus the Critic",
Lady Winchilsea as "Clinkett the poetess" and
Colley Cibber as "Plotwell". The play was met with massive criticism and had a short run, mortifying Pope.[1] (see Dennis, Parnell and Pope, in "Works published")
John Dennis, Remarks upon Mr Pope's Translation of Homer[2] In this continuation of the long-running feud between the author and
Alexander Pope, Dennis' prose critique mixes bad-faith, petty criticisms with some insights that anticipate
Matthew Arnold's thoughts on translating Homer into English, and
James Russell Lowell's criticism of Pope's use of the heroic couplet. "The Homer which Lintot prints does not talk like Homer but like Pope," Dennis wrote, noting the simplicity of the original and the artificiality of the translation. Included in the same pamphlet were Dennis' criticisms of Windsor Forest and Temple of Fame. Dennis' criticism was published in February, and he in turn was attacked by Parnell in May (see below); after which Dennis and Pope reconciled, maintaining peace until a new outbreak of their conflict in
1728.[3]
Jane Holt (née Jane Wiseman), this volume published under the name "Mrs. Holt" and believed to be Jane Holt, A Fairy Tale Inscrib'd, to the Honourable Mrs. W—, with other Poems[2]
Thomas Parnell, Homer's Battle of the Frogs and Mice. With the Remarks of Zolius. To which is prefixed, the Life of the said Zolius, an attack on
John Dennis (see above)[3]
Translator, Homer's Iliad, Book III this year, preceded by Book I in
1715, Book II in
1716 and to be followed by Books IV in
1718, and V-VI in
1720.[2]
The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope (with new material), including:
British Wonders; or, A Poetical Description of the Several Prodigies [...] That Have Happen'd in Britain Since the Death of Queen Anne, published anonymously[2]
A Collection of Historical and State Poems, Satyrs, Songs, and Epigrams[2]
Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
^Paul, Harry Gilbert,
John Dennis: His Life and Criticism, p 91, New York: Columbia University Press, 1911, retrieved via Google Books on February 11, 2010
^
abcdefghijklmnCox, Michael, editor, The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 2004,
ISBN0-19-860634-6
^
abPaul, Harry Gilbert,
John Dennis: His Life and Criticism, pp 92-9, New York: Columbia University Press, 1911, retrieved via Google Books on February 11, 2010