When in his âEpistle to Dr. Arbuthnotâ Pope referred to âthis long disease, my life,â his statement was quite literally true, since Pope, in addition to being a dwarf and a hunchback, suffered from many diseases during his lifetime. With technical advice from several physicians, the authors present the first medical case history of the poet. Drawing heavily upon the Correspondence for information about Popeâs symptoms, they discuss the effect ill health had on his writings and the prevalence of medical themes in his works. The authors also explore Popeâs interests in astronomy (second only to his obsession with medicine), microscopy, geology, and physics and how they relate to his writings.
Originally published in 1968.
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