Abstract
Abstract This chapter considers Pope’s most important early poem, Windsor-Forest, as a panegyric to Stuart monarchy. It traces the textual history of Windsor-Forest and investigates moments of contact between this poem and others by Pope’s friends and contemporaries, including Diaper, Higgons, Finch, Granville, and John Philips. It begins by exploring the enduring appeal of Stuart panegyric and the common motif of the renewed golden age before moving on to examine two of the most famous conceits of the poem: a fiat and a metamorphosis. Those motifs were frequently deployed by Pope’s contemporaries to reflect on current theories of monarchy. By studying the development of Windsor-Forest in context—and alongside parallel developments in contemporary politics—this chapter begins to explain when and why Pope’s political outlook turned from confidence to anxiety and disaffection.
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