An Epistle to Cobham
An Epistle to Cobham is a poem by Alexander Pope, published in 1734 and also known as Of the Knowledge and Characters of Men. It addresses Lord Cobham and examines the difficulty of understanding people whose behaviour appears inconsistent.[1][2]
Title and edition
The London edition names Lawton Gilliver as its publisher and prints 1733 on its title page. Eton’s catalogue records that imprint but notes that the bibliographer Foxon dates the publication to 1734. The half-title supplies the alternative name, Of the Knowledge and Characters of Men.[1]
The poem
Pope writes in rhyming pairs of lines. The opening questions both book learning and personal observation as routes to understanding character: observers bring their own preferences to what they see. People also change, and an action does not always reveal its motive.[2]
The poem then proposes a dominant motive, called the “ruling passion”, as a way to make sense of apparently contradictory behaviour. Clodio’s desire for praise illustrates the idea. His wish to be admired leads him in incompatible directions, rather than towards a steady achievement.[2]
Short scenes near the end show attachments persisting even at the end of life. Euclio, for example, struggles to part with his property while making his will. The closing lines imagine Cobham’s final concern as the welfare of his country.[2]
Interpretation
Literary scholar William Hutchings identifies a tension between the poem’s restless, changing minds and its proposal that one passion can explain an individual. His account draws attention to the vivid character sketches, including the miser Euclio. This reading treats the poem as an exploration of a difficult problem, rather than a simple set of rules for judging people.[3]
Related reading
- Poetry
- An Epistle to Bathurst — Pope’s poem about wealth and its uses.
- An Epistle to Burlington — Pope’s poem about taste in buildings and gardens.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 An epistle to the Right Honorable Richard Lord Visct. Cobham. By Mr. Pope, Eton Collections, record B15153, shelfmark Cq.1.1.02(12). Bibliographic record, including the half-title and corrected publication year; accessed 11 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Alexander Pope, An Epistle to the Right Honourable Richard, Lord Viscount Cobham, London: Lawton Gilliver, imprint dated 1733. Primary text, transcribed on Wikisource, revision 13080557; consulted 11 October 2026. The imprint date is distinguished here from the publication year.
- ↑ William Hutchings, “An Epistle to Sir Richard Temple, Lord Cobham”, in ‘Wit’s Wild Dancing Light’: Reading the Poems of Alexander Pope, Open Book Publishers, 2023, pp. 165–168. DOI: 10.11647/OBP.0372.15. Publisher’s chapter summary consulted; the full chapter was not available during this review.