Pope added considerably to this version, which included amongst much else that was new, the sylphs, the gnomes, the dressing-table scene and the game of ombre. Pope wrote on 8 November 1712: “Sir Plume blusters, I hear nay, the celebrated lady herself is offended, and which is stranger, not at herself, but me.”ĭuring 1713, Pope recast the poem, adding considerably to it, so that when it was published on 4 March 1714 it was five cantos long rather than the initial two. In the 1712 version, Pope chose as a motto a quotation from Martial, Epigram 86, Book II: ‘Nolueram, Belinda, tuos violare capillos, / Sed juvat, hoc precibus me tribuisse tuis.’ Translation: ‘It is not for me, Belinda, to lay violent hands upon your hair, but it delights me to pay you the tribute you have entreated.’ After the poem was published, the Fermors took against it. ‘A common acquaintance’, John Caryll, asked Pope to ‘write a poem to make a jest of it, and laugh them (the two families concerned) together again’. The Petres and the Fermors were now of course at loggerheads. A scandalous incident in high society had estanged two families who had formerly been friends: Lord Petre had cut off a lock of Arabella Fermor’s hair. ‘The Rape of the Lock’ was published in May 1712 when Pope was just twenty-four he dashed off the first version in ‘less than a fortnight’s time’ at some point during 1711. Should you have any feedback to give, or corrections, then please contact me at: or at Introduction and Background
I teach English at Tudor Hall School, Banbury, Oxon OX16 9UR, England. I have been much helped by the proof-reading of Susan Carrdus and by the technical expertise of Cezary Wasowski. The Oxford English Dictionary online is of course another excellent resource. ‘The Rape of the Lock’ edited by Cynthia Wall, Bedford Books, 1998, gives much valuable background and context.
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The edition edited by Frederick Ryland and published by Blackie & Son Limited is full of interesting information. J S Cunningham’s edition, published by Hodder, 1961, is still a classic.
The Oxford Student Texts edition, edited by Elizabeth Gurr, OUP, 1990, is enormously helpful. The Routledge English Texts edition, edited by Geoffrey Tillotson, first published in 1941 by Methuen & Co Ltd, is invaluable. I have worked from various editions of ‘The Rape of the Lock’. As a commentary, it is simply one person’s response to the poem, which other readers may entirely disagree with. This commentary on Alexander Pope’s ‘The Rape of the Lock’ aims to make it as accessible and enjoyable as possible, at the same time containing rigorous analysis of the poetry.
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