Four Ages of Poetry

Peacock’s “Four Ages of Poetry” is satirical in tone and provides his opinion about poetry by relating it to the four stages of the world. He does not find poetry beneficial in the modern world and thinks that it only appeals to foolish people who easily succumb to the sentiments presented by poetry. While poetry was once instrumental indeveloping man’s thinking, Peacock thinks it has now become a distraction away from reason and scientific advancement.His use of hyperbole to mock poetry, like in the lines when he says, “tell us how many battles such a one has fought, how many helmets he has cleft, how many breastplates he has pierced…” He is criticizing how people interpret these poems and how they are almost enveloped in the words of the poem letting their emotions take hold of their ability to reason. Peacock develops a parallel between what he sees as the degradation of poetry, from masters like Milton to poets like Wordsworth, with the degradation of men.