Metaphoric Imagery Within Alexander Popes’ “Essay on Critism”
In Alexander Pope’s Essay on Critism, the herioc couplet: “Words are like leaves; and where they most abound, Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found” introduces metaphors derived from nature to address that the abudance of words to that of “leaves” represents a writers overuse of language that deludes their content thus leading to Popes understanding of “bad writing” (Line 219-220). The use of metaphors throughout the couplet thus further allude to the overarching concept that in attempting to express their true focus- the metaphoric “fruit” of their intentions- in turn become hidden and distant from nature that is ironically expressed through the metaphric use of “leaves” and …show more content…
The fruit thus becomes the representation of the writers own orignal thoughts and interpretations but through the dilluding of the leaves and over excess occures which limits the expression that is “rarely found”. The imagery in understanding how the fruit is essentially covered by the leaves, creates a metaphoric comparision to language thus encapsulating the vivid colors that most fruits have with the dullness of fallen and brittle leaves. The fruit from the tree, in turn, provokes the idea that the orignal intentions of the writer are often muddled through the over use of words, which are represented by the “leaves”, that stem from the same tree of the writers “fruit”; This function can be supported through Popes own use of form from within the couplet, as he utilizes a didactic structure within the heroic couplet. The didactic strucutre wihtin the poem however creates a Caesura of breaks and pauses in which words such as “and” and “like” creates a metaphoric drift from within the poem that direclty sperates the couplets two distinct sentences on the writers words-“leaves”- and their intentions-
In Alexander Pope’s Essay on Critism, the herioc couplet: “Words are like leaves; and where they most abound, Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found” introduces metaphors derived from nature to address that the abudance of words to that of “leaves” represents a writers overuse of language that deludes their content thus leading to Popes understanding of “bad writing” (Line 219-220). The use of metaphors throughout the couplet thus further allude to the overarching concept that in attempting to express their true focus- the metaphoric “fruit” of their intentions- in turn become hidden and distant from nature that is ironically expressed through the metaphric use of “leaves” and …show more content…
The fruit thus becomes the representation of the writers own orignal thoughts and interpretations but through the dilluding of the leaves and over excess occures which limits the expression that is “rarely found”. The imagery in understanding how the fruit is essentially covered by the leaves, creates a metaphoric comparision to language thus encapsulating the vivid colors that most fruits have with the dullness of fallen and brittle leaves. The fruit from the tree, in turn, provokes the idea that the orignal intentions of the writer are often muddled through the over use of words, which are represented by the “leaves”, that stem from the same tree of the writers “fruit”; This function can be supported through Popes own use of form from within the couplet, as he utilizes a didactic structure within the heroic couplet. The didactic strucutre wihtin the poem however creates a Caesura of breaks and pauses in which words such as “and” and “like” creates a metaphoric drift from within the poem that direclty sperates the couplets two distinct sentences on the writers words-“leaves”- and their intentions-