NATURE AND HUMAN NATURE IN ALEXANDER POPE'S EPISTLES TO SEVERAL PERSONS AND JAMES THOMSON'S THE SEASONS by Roseanne Silvia Carrara A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of English University of Toronto © Copyright by Roseanne S. 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Canada Roseanne Silvia Carrara Nature and Human Nature in Alexander Pope's Epistles to Several Persons and James Thomson's The Seasons Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Graduate Department of English University of Toronto ABSTRACT This thesis identifies an affinity between two eighteenth-century poets whose works are rarely compared. Alexander Pope is chiefly considered a poet of human nature and James Thomson, a poet of natural description. I propose that Pope, in the Epistles to Several Persons, and Thomson, in The Seasons, compare phenomena of external nature to human behaviour to teach the proper employment of the imagination. Relying upon their own insights into nature and referring to natural philosophy, both suggest that the hidden order in nature compares to a hidden order in the self. They teach the imagination of virtue within and the necessity of acting consciously upon this quality. Such action also requires both the imagination of and the benevolent response to others' sentiments. In the Introduction, I present a rationale for reading these poems as sequences. And I consider the relationship between poetry and philosophy in the eighteenth-century in regard to the imagination. I then trace Pope's employment of natural imagery across the four Epistles to Several Persons. Chapter One considers the "Epistle to Cobham," where Pope teaches the importance of identifying the "Ruling Passion" by referring to external nature. Chapter ii Two examines how Pope reprises these references in the "Epistle to a Lady" to encourage sympathy and generosity. Chapter Three surveys the "Epistle to Bathurst" and the "Epistle to Burlington." Pope presents "Good Sense" as a means of tempering both "Self- love" and "Good-nature." Next, I read portions of The Seasons sequentially to identify Thomson's similar emphasis upon employing the imagination to identify one's virtues and to cultivate sympathy for others. Chapter Four presents a close reading of "Summer," lines 1104- 1370, considering Thomson's references to violent weather in relation to his lesson of cultivating virtuous love. Chapter Five examines Thomson's treatment of the imagination of the dying swain in "Winter" and his subsequent references to this scene as a means of teaching charity and "active Government." In the Conclusion, I consider Pope and Thomson's employment of the terms "vision" and "visionary," respectively, to confirm their espousal of the employment of the imagination in the pursuit of a virtuous life. in ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Department of English at the University of Toronto for the Open Fellowships and the V. W. Pratt Memorial Scholarships I received during my studies. I also thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for three years of financial support. I am especially grateful to my supervisor, Professor Richard Greene, who shared his wisdom and sustained his enthusiasm over the course of the project. His evocative questions always led to better answers. My committee members, Professors John Baird and Carol Percy were more than generous with their suggestions and support. I also thank Professors Thomas Keymer and Lawrence Lipking for their careful examination of this thesis. I am thankful for the support of my family. Theresa and Albert Moritz not only answered essential questions, they also provided hours of care for their grandchildren. Those children, Beatrice and Tobias Moritz, who arrived at different times during the project, now support me with their interest and patience. All of my parents encouraged me, each in their way. And my grandparents, who passed away during the completion of this thesis, made and still make virtuous love more than a possibility. I am also thankful for the kindness of many friends. Julianne Stephens Dieterich has been an inspiration since we met as undergraduates at Northwestern University. Carl Smith has been supportive since the day I interviewed for the American Culture program at NU. Robin Norris, Daniela Janes, and Wai-Ying Lee proved a visionary company. This thesis is dedicated to my husband Blaise Moritz, for "rendering Bliss secure." iv Nature and Human Nature in Alexander Pope's Epistles to Several Persons and James Thomson's The Seasons CONTENTS Title Page i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Contents v Abbreviations of Primary Sources vi Introduction 1 I. Nature and Imagination: The Ruling Passion in the "Epistle to Cobham" 28 II The Nature of the "Epistle to a Lady": Pope's Lessons in Fellow Feeling 70 III. Good Sense as Radical Imagination: Pope's Epistles to Burlington and Bathurst 115 IV. "That Spark the Tempest Wak'd": The Impulses of "Summer," 1104-1379 165 1104-1168 The "Touch Etherial" in Nature and in Man 169 1169-1222 Meeting "Instant Fate" with Love and Confidence 182 1223-1268 The Exercise of Fancy 200 1269-1370 "If Aught Profane to Love" 211 V. "Winter": The Imagination of Thomson's Swain 232 Conclusion 267 Works Consulted 272 v ABBREVIATIONS OF PRIMARY SOURCES CP The Correspondence of Alexander Pope, Ed. George Sherburn, 5 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956. DEL Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, First and Fourth Editions (1755 and 1773), Ed. Anne McDermott, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 1996. ESP Epistles to Several Persons (Moral Essays), Ed. F. W. Bateson, Volume Ill-ii, The Twickenham Edition of The Poems of Alexander Pope, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951. - "Cobham" "Epistle to Cobham" - "Lady" "Epistle to a Lady" - "Bathurst" "Epistle to Bathurst" - "Burlington' "Epistle to Burlington" LD Alan Dugald McKillop, James Thomson: Letters and Documents, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1958. SEA James Thomson, The Seasons, Ed. James Sambrook. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981. When appropriate, secondary sources cited in footnotes contain only half-titles. For example, Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake appears Fearful Symmetry. See "Works Consulted" for full titles. vi 2 in a manner which little credits their interest in the imagination.2 Thomson's The Seasons, which has often been considered a "miscellany," is most often presented to contemporary audiences in the form of a single season or in shorter selections. Pope's Epistles to Several Persons are rarely read, now, in the group of four in which Pope presented them throughout his career. Despite their consistent appearance as a collection in successive editions of Pope's Works (1735ff.), and despite Pope's presentation of the four poems as the Epistles to Several Persons (T744)5 towards the end of his life, scholars often single out the "Epistle to Cobham," the "Epistle to a Lady," the "Epistle to Bathurst," or the "Epistle to Burlington" for use in the classroom and for critical inquiry. The Epistles to Several Persons and The Seasons are available to us in reliable, scholarly editions, those editions upon which this thesis depends. However, viewing the works as sequences remains the exception rather than the rule. Recent critical interest in the miscellany and in the anthological reading habits of eighteenth-century audiences supports this practice of selection.6 Stefanie Lethbridge contends that the eighteenth-century "long poem was read much like an anthology and 2 Northrop Frye, Fearful Symmetry (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1947) 3. 3 Mary Jane Scott, James Thomson, Anglo-Scot (Athens: University of Georgia, 1988) 146-81; Stefanie Lethbridge, "Anthological Reading Habits in Eighteenth Century: The Case of Thomson's Seasons" Anthologies of British Poetry. Eds. Barbara Korte, Ralf Schneider, and Stefanie Lethbridge (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000) 90. 4 "Ethic Epistles, Second Book," Works, Vol. II (London: Lintot, 1735ff.). The "First Book" incorporated An Essay on Man. In the Works. Vol. II (1735ff.), the "Ethic Epistles, Second Book" included other poems (with the four ESP always at the forefront) or preceded a "Third Book" of "Ethic Epistles, to Several Persons" of ranging number (incl.