The Rape of the Lock Quotes by Alexander Pope: Context & Meanings

The Rape of the Lock, Canto III, line 16 in the 1714 second edition. ‘At ev’ry Word a Reputation dies’ is already present in that edition and remains dated 1714; the line occurs in a satirical description of fashionable social talk rather than as literal reportage.

The Rape of the Lock, Canto I, line 2 in the 1717 recension. The retained catalog wording ‘What mighty contests rise from trivial things’ is verified in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope (1717), scan page 157; the 1714 second edition instead reads ‘What mighty Quarrels rise from trivial things,’ so the synchronized source year is 1717. The line is part of Pope’s mock-heroic invocation and should be read as satire.

The Rape of the Lock, Canto V, line 34 in Pope’s 1717 revision; final line of Clarissa’s added speech. The inherited 1714 source year is corrected to 1717; the narrator immediately notes that the audience gives her no applause, keeping the maxim inside its mock-heroic dramatic setting.

The Rape of the Lock, Canto V, lines 29–30 in Pope’s 1717 revision; spoken by Clarissa. Her speech was added in 1717, so the inherited 1714 source year is corrected to 1717. Clarissa’s counsel is immediately followed by the poem’s return to comic battle, preserving the satirical frame.

The Rape of the Lock, Canto V, lines 15–16 in Pope’s 1717 revision; spoken by Clarissa. Her moralizing speech (Canto V lines 7–36) was added in 1717, so the inherited 1714 source year is corrected to 1717. The reviewed evidence opens the 1717 Canto V scan start; the exact couplet is independently preserved in the complete final-form text.