It is not often that knowledge of an artist's life sheds any significant light on his work, but in the case of Alexander Pope it does. Most of his poems are 'occasional'—that is, they are concerned with Pope's political and literary friends and enemies, so that without some knowledge about them we cannot properly understand what he wrote and why. Such knowledge, needless to say, does not explain why he wrote so well.

Music fans are an opinionated and contentious bunch, even when it comes to works almost universally admired as classics. Not all fans share a high opinion of the Beatles’ Line opus Sgt. Pepper, for example. To some rock aficionados it is an uneven, self-indulgent, and overproduced album. Miles Davis’ jazz classic Kind of Blue (1959) distances itself from this company by having few notable detractors. We can always depend on some critics to miss the boat when it first sets out, however. As a result, some early reviews of the album described Miles’ playing as 'morose' and 'maudlin,' even though most viewers immediately recognized Kind of Blue as a modern masterpiece. In recent years little has been heard to the contrary.

Music fans are an opinionated and contentious bunch, even when it comes to works almost universally admired as classics. Not all fans share a high opinion of the Beatles’ Line opus Sgt. Pepper, for example. To some rock aficionados it is an uneven, self-indulgent, and overproduced album. Miles Davis’ jazz classic Kind of Blue (1959) distances itself from this company by having few notable detractors. We can always depend on some critics to miss the boat when it first sets out, however. As a result, some early reviews of the album described Miles’ playing as 'morose' and 'maudlin,' even though most viewers immediately recognized Kind of Blue as a modern masterpiece. In recent years little has been heard to the contrary.