Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“To help me thro' this long disease, my Life,”
- Source
- Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot
- Date
- 1735
Meaning of “To help me thro' this long disease, my…”
Pope describes poetry as something that helps him endure life, linking literary work with friendship, illness, and the long experience of living.
Where does it come from?
An Epistle from Mr. Pope to Dr. Arbuthnot (1735 first-edition scan), printed page 7 / scan leaf 13, lines 128–131. Pope explains that the Muse helped him endure “this long Disease, my Life” and addresses his physician-friend Arbuthnot directly. The frozen catalog lowercases “disease”; this is witness capitalization only. The passage is autobiographical-satirical verse, not medical guidance about illness or resilience.
