Introduction

Biography

Pope was the son of a whole­sale li­nen mer­chant in Lom­bard Street, Lon­don.

His fa­ther, be­ing a Ro­man Ca­tho­lic, first placed him un­der the charge of Fa­ther Ta­vern­er, who taught him the ru­di­ments of Greek and La­tin. Later he at­tend­ed a school at Win­chester, and then at Hyde Park Cor­ner.

Around age 12, he moved with his par­ents to Bin­field, in Wind­sor For­est, and from then on, his edu­ca­tion was large­ly in his own hands.

His sub­se­quent suc­cess as a wri­ter and po­et is a mat­ter of his­to­ry, and has been dealt with in de­tail by Dr. John­son, in his Lives of the Po­ets, and oth­ers.

Pope did not write vers­es to be used as hymns, since he was Ca­tho­lic, and his church would not have used Eng­lish lang­uage ma­te­ri­al in wor­ship.