Talk:Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot

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Oh gads. I'm no expert in Pope, but one section asserts that this is a conversation, not strictly a letter, while the next section refutes that. That can't be right -- Charlie (Colorado) (talk) 14:57, 8 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

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I second that gads. I can't tell whether the following is just a semi-literate attempt to contribute content, or remarks that were meant for the talk page. Am dumping the stuff here. Cynwolfe (talk) 16:20, 24 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

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This is not a conversation between Pope and Arbuthnot, as it is entitled 'Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot.' Having the word 'epistle' - which means letter - in the title clearly means that the poem is a letter to his doctor, who is absent in the poem, but appears to be there because, as Pope is writing, his friend comes alive on the page. So we, the readers, may feel that Pope is talking directly to Arbuthnot, but he isn't physically present in the poem.

The poem's internal audience - Arbuthnot - is geographically absent. This poem is an example of the 'Epistilian' dialectic, where the speaker is alone when he writes, but creates an audience through the letter he is writing. Arbuthnot is merely a personality on the page. There is never a direct address to the Doctor, as he is away from Pope.


this is a satirical poem by Alexander pope. Here pope himself is the persona. He is telling the 18th century people they were field great by traveling and that time.people were contaminated and people were narrow domestic wall not intellectual who suspected on the writing of Alexander pope's intellectual arena.