The poem
True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learned to dance. 'Tis not enough no harshness gives offense, The sound must seem an echo to the sense: Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows; But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar; When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, The line too labors, and the words move slow; Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main. Hear how Timotheus' varied lays surprise, And bid alternate passions fall and rise!
this poem is kool
This poem is excerpt from a long poem called "An Essay on Criticism." Alexander Pope wrote it to criticize poets who emphasized too much on the sound & rhyme of the poem, without emphasizing as much on content. Through the imagery he is trying to point out the mistakes and defects the poets make in poems.
This peom is not criticizing how poet's emphasize too much on sound and rhythm rather than content. Alexander Pope is trying to convey how the sound of a poem should contribute to its meaning. For example, when he discusses Zephyr, he uses the alliteration of s's to create a smooth feeling. When he discusses the sea, he includes hard consonants that convey the waves' hard lashing against the shore. The meaning of his poem is to show other writers the importance of the sound and diction in a poem to help convey the meaning.