Ode On Solitude by Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) born in 1688 was considered to be the greatest poet of his time. He was one of the greatest satirists of the early 18th century. He was also a critic. But he is chiefly remembered as a satirist. In satirical poetry, the poet criticises and laughs at social evils. Pope’s poetry is generally full of moral teachings. His main works include, “The Rape of the lock”, “The Dunciad", “The Epistles”, "Essay on criticism" and “Essay on man”.

 “Ode on Solitude” is a poem written by Alexander Pope when he was just twelve years old. In this poem, Pope expresses his desire to lead a quiet and lonely life, with no or limited property. This poem projects the importance of nature and the feeling satisfaction in life.

 Stanza I:

Happy the man, whose wish and care

   A few paternal acres bound,

Content to breathe his native air,

                            In his own ground.

The poet prefers to have just a few acres of land. He would not like to go anywhere out of his native region. He would like to breathe the air of his ancestral place. He wants to have a comfortable and self-sufficient life.

Stanza II:

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,

   Whose flocks supply him with attire,

Whose trees in summer yield him shade,

                            In winter fire.

He would get milk from the herds, food from the fields, wool for clothing from the sheep. He prefers to be under the shadow of trees during summer, and use the wood to make fire during the winter.

Stanza III:

Blest, who can unconcernedly find

   Hours, days, and years slide soft away,

In health of body, peace of mind,

                            Quiet by day,

All that required is good health, peace of mind and quietness.

Stanza IV:

Sound sleep by night; study and ease,

   Together mixed; sweet recreation;

And innocence, which most does please,

                            With meditation.

 He would spend his days in study and leisure; and live a life of a innocence and thought. He wants to gain pleasure through meditation.

Stanza V:

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;

   Thus unlamented let me die;

Steal from the world, and not a stone

                            Tell where I lie.

The poet wants to live a life of solitude where he will remain unnoticed and unknown. The final note is that the poet would like to live an oblivious life, with no necessity to be mourned or missed once he passes away.

Theme: Alexander Pope has presented the importance of solitude and nature in our life. Real happiness doesn't come from material wealth. Feeling of satisfaction and living in the lap of nature makes us happy. Refer to the short story 'How Much Land Does A Man Need' written by Leo Tolstoy during the 19th century.

Context:

Alexander Pope has expressed very mature and serious concepts of wishing to die alone, unnoticed in solace. The readers are surprised

to know that Pope wrote this poem at the age of 12 and taken such a mature topic for his poem. It is difficult to enter the mindset of the twelve-year-old Alexander Pope. When he writes, “let me live, unseen, unknown,” is almost sad to think that this is not at all what happened — Pope did not live a life of seclusion but rather was a respected poet during his time, and remains so today.

He wrote this poem when his family had just moved to a small estate by a forest, in a small village far from the main British towns. This village is now known as Popeswood (named after Pope himself).

Meter:

The poem is written in five quatrains. (20 lines) First three lines of each stanza are tetrameter lines and the last line in each stanza is dimeter line.

Rhyming Scheme:

Throughout this poem there is a lot of rhyming. The rhyme scheme used in this poem is abab per stanza. A couple of the word that rhyme in this poem are "away" and "day", and "recreation" and "meditation", and many more.

Poetic Devices:

Oxymoron: An example of an oxymoron used in this poem is “winter fire”. “Winter fire” is a oxymoron for winter is cold and fire is hot saying that the are contradictory so if you put them together they are creating an oxymoron.

Alliteration: “Sound sleep” is a poetic device in Ode to Solitude for it is an alliteration. They are an alliteration for they both start with the same letter. Another alliteration that is in Ode to Solitude is “unseen, unknown” for they also start with the same letters