An Essay on Criticism (Extract)

True Ease in Writing comes from Art, not Chance,
As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance,
'Tis not enough no Harshness gives Offence,
The Sound must seem an Eccho to the Sense.
Soft is the Strain when Zephyr gently blows,
And the smooth Stream in smoother Numbers flows;
But when loud Surges lash the sounding Shore,
The hoarse, rough Verse shou'd like the Torrent roar.
When Ajax strives, some Rocks' vast Weight to throw,
The Line too labours, and the Words move slow;
Not so, when swift Camilla scours the Plain,
Flies o'er th'unbending Corn, and skims along the Main.

Alexander Pope (1709)

- This extract was given to me in Secondary School (Candy do you recall this one?) and though I obviously didn't understand it all, it somehow stuck in my memory as an example of really well crafted poetry. The entire essay is in heroic couplets and is a good example for teaching iambic pentameter. Its also a good poem to discuss the mechanics of poetry and the kinds of sounds (plosive, fricative, sibilance, assonance etc) which words can introduce. I really enjoyed reading it in its entirety at Uni, though it takes a bit more work!