Key Differences Which Separate Pope from Wordsworth In comparing excerpts from Pope’s “An Essay on Man” and Wordsworth’s “Prospectus”, I found many similarities and some key differences. Pope’s lean toward the more structured and confined, and Wordsworth’s lean towards the informal and original. These differences are what separate the styles of both poets and make Pope “regular” or formal and Wordsworth “irregular” or unique. Both poems are done in iambic pentameter; …showed first 75 words of 284 total…

…showed last 75 words of 284 total…from what we know?/ From which to reason, or to which refer?” (1;18,20) for a nice balance. Although both seemed to contain a semi-formal diction, Pope’s “An Essay on Man” leaned a bit towards the formal. He offered a more structured style and confined form with the constant usage of endstops and the lack of personalization, while Wordsworth chose to accentuate by enjambment, euphemisms, and the constant usage of “I” which promotes uniqueness and originality.