THE RAPE OF THE LOCK: AN UNNOTICED SIGNIFICANCE OF 'CHINA'S EARTH'.

EUROPE; CHINA

The article discusses about "The Rape of the Lock," by Alexander Pope. The most imaginative response to the phrase 'China's Earth' from Alexander Pope's line in "The Rape of the Lock" on the pouring of coffee, 'While China's Earth receives the smoking Tyde,' is that of Yasmine Gooneratne, who considers that 'the picture created is that of the Yang-tse-kiang in full flood.' However, the basic meaning of 'China's Earth', and the one it has for most readers today, is that porcelain was manufactured in China from clay, an 'earth substance.' Before the secret of manufacturing true, hard-paste porcelain was learnt in Europe at the beginning of the eighteenth century, it was widely believed that the Chinese produced it by burying its ingredients, including clay, deep in the earth for many years.