“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

“To instruct those who are not critics, at the same time I write myself, is like selling arms to an enemy in time of war.”

A modest doubt about teaching the rules while still practising the art · Preface to Letters and Poems, Amorous and Gallant, 1692

• Criticism
• Humility
• Writing

“There was one way left of excelling: for though we had several great poets, we never had any one great poet that was correct; and he desired me to make that my study and aim.”

The counsel Pope credited with steering him toward correctness rather than mere grandeur · Advice to the young Pope, as reported in Spence's Anecdotes

• Criticism
• Excellence
• Poetry