On the 21st of May 1688, English poet Alexander Pope was born in London, England. At twelve, Pope composed his earliest extant work, Ode to Solitude; the same year saw the onset of the debilitating bone deformity that would plague Pope until the end of his life. Originally attributed to the severity of his studies, the illness is now commonly accepted as Pott’s disease, a form of tuberculosis affecting the spine that stunted his growth—Pope’s height never exceeded four and a half feet—and rendered him hunchbacked, asthmatic, frail, and prone to violent headaches. His physical appearance would make him an easy target for his many literary enemies in later years, who would refer to the poet as a “hump-backed toad.”
In The Life of Pope (1781), Samuel Johnson vividly described Pope’s ailments. “Dr. Johnson provides a poignant account of Pope’s efforts to make himself presentable in company. “His…
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First Night Design 
There are two competing ideas in the public mind: that a ‘disabled’ person is no good for anything or, as senseless, that nature compensates by bestowing some special gift. It doesn’t. What can happen is that someone whose disability prevents some everyday activities has more time to concentrate on what specially interests him/her. It can be art, say, music, sport or, in my case, languages and linguistics. We don’t have these abilities because we’re disabled. We’d have them anyway, but have more time to concentrate on them.
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Well said, Michael. Good to see you here.
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I left you a comment not realizing it was on art lark… I’m on my reader, something I’m increasingly dissatisfied with, this being only one reason. Anyway, thank you for sharing the sad state of physicality overcome mentally by Pope! His suffering must have been immense!
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I’m sure Art Lark will appreciate the comment! I’m so glad you enjoyed this post. Thank you.
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