An Essay on Criticism指的是《英美文学选读》的一段摘选文章。

《英美文学选读》“Selected Readings In English And American Literatures”主编：张伯香 副主编：马建君 胡晓红

Pope then proceeds to discuss the laws by which a critic should be guided--insisting, as any good poet would, that critics exist to serve poets, not to attack them. He then provides, by way of example, instances of critics who had erred in one fashion or another. What, in Pope's opinion (here as elsewhere in his work) is the deadliest critical sin--a sin which is itself a reflection of a greater sin? All of his erring critics, each in their own way, betray the same fatal flaw.

The final section of the poem discusses the moral qualities and virtues inherent in the ideal critic, who is also the ideal man--and who, Pope laments, no longer exists in the degenerate world of the early eighteenth century.

来自于《英美文学选读》对《论批评》的相关解释与补充。

Alexander Pope(1688-1744) An Essay on Criticism is writen by Alexander Pope,it is a didactic poem written in heroic couplets.It consists of 744 lines and is divided into three parts.It sumps up the art of poetry as upheld and practised by the ancients like Aristotle,Horace,Boileau,etc.and the eighteeth century European classicists.The poet first laments the dearth of true taste in poetic criticism of his day and calls on people to turn to the old Greek and Roman writers for guidance.After a detailed account of the various problems in literary criticism,he offershis own ideas and presents the classical rules.At the end of the poem,he also traces the history of literary criticism from Aristotle down to Boileau and Roscommon.The poem,as a comprehensive study of the theories of literary criticism,exerted great influence upon Pope's contemporary writers in advocating the classical rules and popularizing the neoclassicist tradition in England.

The whole poem is written in a plain style,hardly containing any imagery or eloquence and therefore makes easy reading.（You have to have special permission to reprint this article,reproduction of material without witten permission is strictly prohibited.Contact me for permission to copy this article.This article or section may be inaccurate ,hope more experts can make comments on it.Thanks.）

<<论批评>>是用英雄双韵体写成的说教诗，共744行，分为三部分。这部作品集十八世纪欧洲古典主义作家及古希腊罗马著名学者亚里士多德，霍拉斯，布瓦罗等人诗歌艺术之大成。诗人首先叹息当诗歌评论界缺乏一种真实的文风，并号召人们向古希腊罗马时期的作品寻求启示。在详述了文学评论界存在的各种问题之后，作者展示了自己的看法并提出古典文学的尺度。全诗结尾，作者还回忆了整个文学评论的历史，从亚里士多德到布瓦罗（法国古典主义文学理论家）。蒲柏的这篇诗作：是对文学批评理论的全面研究，对同时期作家们产生了深远的影响，倡导了古典主义标准，在英国普及了新古典主义。