"An Essay on Criticism" by Alexander Pope is a major poem published in 1711. Composed in heroic couplets, this verse essay examines how writers and critics should behave in the literary world of Pope's time. The poem offers advice on good criticism while warning against common faults, emphasizing imitation of ancient writers like Homer and Virgil as the ultimate standard for taste. It's the source of enduring quotations including "To err is human; to forgive, divine" and "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." (This is an automatically generated summary.)