Enlightenment thinkers concerned themselves with epistemology: the theory of knowledge. Epistemological questions ask whether and how something is knowable. Such questions influenced the activities of all members of society. Scientists’ experiments took the shape of the scientific method. Poets’ poems took the shape of arguments. For example, Alexander Pope wrote his thesis on the qualities of fine poetry, “An Essay in Criticism,” in verse. Both Anne Ingram and Mary Leapor took to verse to make feminist arguments on behalf of women.
Many Enlightenment poets used satire as a way to make arguments entertaining. Samuel Butler's "Hudibras," published in 1662, is an early example of the genre that would grow in popularity in the following years. The poem ridiculed the Puritans who had reigned after the execution of Charles I. John Dryden also made a political point with his poetry; he satirized the Earl of Shaftesbury in 1681 with “Absalom and Achitophel” and again in 1682 with “The Medal.” Alexander Pope mocked his literary critics -- and the unintelligent reading public he took them to represent -- with his 1728 poem “The Dunciad.”
Enlightenment poetry concerned itself with public issues. In addition to arguments and satire, which contributed to ongoing debates, occasional poems commemorated events of national significance. Dryden’s “Annus Mirabilis,” a poem celebrating the English navy’s performance in battle, is representative of the way Enlightenment poets paid little attention to their own personal experiences, memories and feelings. This was a time when demand for histories was highest in the literature marketplace. Occasional poems, such as prose histories, addressed public issues and shaped England’s national identity.
Enlightenment poetry is sometimes referred to as Augustan poetry. Unlike the terms Elizabethan and Victorian, Augustan refers not to British royalty but to ancient Rome’s Augustus Caesar. Major Enlightenment poets greatly admired classical literature. In fact, Horace supplied the model for the form and content of Pope’s “An Essay on Criticism.” The 18th-century poets looked to antiquity for genres, such as the mock-epic and epistle, but also for aesthetic sensibilities. Classicism is the reason for Enlightenment poetry’s simple elegance.