The Rape of the Lock (Unabridged‪)‬

The Rape of the Lock

A Heroi-comical poem

By Alexander Pope

Edited and with an introduction by Thomas W. Parrott

Read by Denis Daly

Alexander Pope was celebrated for his command of classical Greek and produced seminal translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Prior to the preparation of these translations, Pope took advantage of his mastery of the classical style and also his waspish wit to compose a burlesque epic about the theft of a lock of hair. The incident that inspired Pope was related to him by his friend John Caryll. Lord Petre had cut off a lock of the hair of Arabella Fermor, whom he was courting at the time, without asking the lady's permission. Pope mockingly compares the theft of the lock of hair with the capture of Helen by Paris, the event that set off the Trojan War.

This recording includes the first version of the poem, which is in two cantos, and the final version which has five cantos.