An Essay on Criticism
Contents
| Part | Line | Topic |
| I Introduction | 1 | That 'tis as great a fault to judge ill, as to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public. |
| 9-18 | That a true Taste is as rare to be found, as a true Genius. | |
| 19-25 | That most men are born with some Taste, but spoiled by false Education. | |
| 26-45 | The multitude of Critics, and causes of them. | |
| 46-67 | That we are to study our own Taste, and know the Limits of it. | |
| 68-87 | Nature the best guide of Judgment. | |
| 88 | Improv'd by Art and Rules, — which are but methodis'd Nature. | |
| id-110 | Rules derived from the Practice of the Ancient Poets. | |
| 120-138 | That therefore the Ancients are necessary to be studyd, by a Critic, particularly Homer and Virgil. | |
| 140-180 | Of Licenses, and the use of them by the Ancients. | |
| 181 etc. | Reverence due to the Ancients, and praise of them. | |
| II 201→ | Causes hindering a true Judgment | |
| 208 | 1. Pride | |
| 215 | 2. Imperfect Learning | |
| 233-288 | 3. Judging by parts, and not by the whole. | |
| 288, 305, 399 etc. | Critics in Wit, Language, Versification, only. | |
| 384 | 4. Being too hard to please, or too apt to admire. | |
| 394 | 5. Partiality — too much Love to a Sect, — to the Ancients or Moderns. | |
| 408 | 6. Prejudice or Prevention. | |
| 424 | 7. Singularity. | |
| 430 | 8. Inconstancy. | |
| 452 etc. | 9. Party Spirit. | |
| 466 | 10. Envy. | |
| 508 etc. | Against Envy, and in praise of Good-nature. | |
| 526 etc. | When Severity is chiefly to be used by Critics. | |
| III v. 560→ | ||
| 563 | Rules for the Conduct of Manners in a Critic. | |
| 566 | 1. Candour, Modesty. | |
| 572 | Good-breeding. | |
| 578 | Sincerity, and Freedom of advice. | |
| 584 | 2. When one's Counsel is to be restrained. | |
| 600 | Character of an incorrigible Poet. | |
| 610 | And of an impertinent Critic, etc. | |
| 629 | Character of a good Critic. | |
| 645 | The History of Criticism, and Characters of the best Critics, Aristotle, | |
| 653 | Horace, | |
| 665 | Dionysius, | |
| 667 | Petronius, | |
| 670 | Quintilian, | |
| 675 | Longinus. | |
| 693 | Of the Decay of Criticism, and its Revival. Erasmus, | |
| 705 | Vida, | |
| 714 | Boileau, | |
| 725 | Lord Roscommon, etc. | |
| Conclusion |