Pope and Donne : adaptation and influence.

In this dissertation, I read Alexander Pope through the lens of John Donne. Because Pope “versified” two of Donne’s satires, there can be no question that he was influenced by the older poet – it is the degree and nature of that influence that this work attempts to mine. Specifically, in Pope’s versions of Donne’s satires, I argue that Pope responded to Donne in six areas: the role of the poet in society, the necessity for individual rather than general satire, the impetus to remove vulgarities, the shifting definition of reason, the relationship of reason to religion, and relationship of the poet to the state. I do not confine myself to Pope’s imitations of Donne; rather, I bring in other aspects of his corpus when appropriate to fill out Pope’s response on a particular subject.