“There ought to be the same difference observed between pastorals and elegies as between the life of the country and the court.”

A plain rule for matching manner to the life the poem pretends to · Preface to Letters and Poems, Amorous and Gallant, 1692

• Court
• Poetry
• Style

“If the end of wit be not to render oneself agreeable, I shall scarce envy them any other use they can make of it.”

Setting sociability, not display, as the proper use of wit · Preface to Letters and Poems, Amorous and Gallant, 1692

• Conversation
• Courtesy
• Wit

“There ought, perhaps, to be more indulgence shown to things of love and gallantry than any others, because they are generally written when people are young, and intended for ladies who are not supposed to be very old.”

A plea for gentler judgement of verses written young, and for the young · Preface to Letters and Poems, Amorous and Gallant, 1692

• Judgement
• Love
• Youth