Chapter 4
John Sheffield’s Essay upon Poetry
The use of literature for educational purposes in the long eighteenth century
Article outline
- “There is indeed nothing in poetry, so entertaining”: Didactic poetry in the long eighteenth century
- “A master-piece in its kind”: John Sheffield’s Essay upon Poetry
- “T’inform the Ignorant, and warn the Bold”: The Essay and its audiences
- “But who that task can after Horace do?”: The laws of poetry and what readers were meant to learn from the Essay
- “Highly disagreeable to the natural pride of man”
- Conclusion
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Notes