Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot

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The "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot" is a poem written by Alexander Pope and completed in the summer of 1734. Dr. John Arbuthnot was a physician and was known as a man of wit. He was a member of the Martinus Scriblerus Club, together with amongst others Pope, Jonathan Swift and John Gay. He was formerly the physician of Queen Anne.

[edit] Analysis

The poem is a conversation (although sometimes printed as a letter) between Pope and Arbuthnot, in which Pope gives his opinion about certain members of the 18th century society, for example Edmund Curll, who was a disreputable book seller.

"Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" is probably its most famous line.

[edit] References

• The Norton Anthology of English literature, volume 1

[edit] External links

• Annotated text of the poem