Alexander Pope (1688-1744) is regarded by many as the most important poet of the early eighteenth century. An invalid from infancy, Pope devoted his energies towards literature and achieved remarkable success with his first published work at the age of 21. A succession of poems followed, including "An Essay on Criticism" (1711), "Windsor Forest" (1713), and his masterpiece "The Rape of the Lock" (1712). A second period of poetry was begun in 1728 with the appearance of the first Dunciad. All these works, which exhibit Pope's astonishing human insight, his wide sympathies, and powers of social observation (displayed to greatest effect in his talent for satire), feature in this selection. In his introduction - a defence of Pope's poetic practice - Pat Rogers argues that the Romantic conception of poetry as a record of fleeting and subjective states must be abandoned in order to understand Pope fully. Instead, he should be seen as an accomplished practitioner of the poetry of ideas and of satirical reflection on human society.