Donkey milk knowledge archive · Historical source

Alexander Pope (1735): “that mere white Curd of Ass’s milk” as a satirical line

In his “Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot”, published early in 1735, Alexander Pope mocks the courtier Lord Hervey as a “mere white Curd of Ass’s milk”. The line shows how closely 18th-century England linked donkey milk with pallor, invalid diets and sickly gentlemen.

Historical account: The information reproduced here reflects the knowledge of its time. It is not scientifically substantiated, is not a recommendation and cannot be applied to today. Donkey milk is a food, not a remedy.
1735LondonSatirical verse epistle
Author
Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
Work
An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot
Passage
p. 21, lines 301–302 of the first London edition (J. Wright for Lawton Gilliver, 1734 [1735]); lines 305–306 in modern editions
Time & place
January 1735 (imprint 1734) · London
Type of source
Satirical verse epistle

In the original words

What the original says

Let Paris tremble—“What? that Thing of silk, / “Paris, that mere white Curd of Ass’s milk?

Let Paris tremble – “What? that thing of silk, / Paris, that mere white curd of ass’s milk?”

EnglishPope, An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, London 1734 [1735], S. 21, V. 301–302

“Satire or Shame alas! can Paris feel? / “Who breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel?”

“Can Paris, alas, feel satire or shame? / Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?”

EnglishPope, An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, London 1734 [1735], S. 21, V. 303–304

† Lord H——rv——y.

Footnote to “Paris”: Lord H[e]rv[e]y.

EnglishDubliner Nachdruck (George Faulkner) 1735, S. 15, Fußnote

English rendering: our own translation by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, following the sense of the text.

Background

Who, when, what kind of text

Alexander Pope was the most widely read English poet of his day and a feared satirist. The “Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot” takes the form of a verse letter to his friend, the physician and writer John Arbuthnot (1667–1735), who died a few weeks after it appeared. In it Pope settles scores with critics and literary opponents and defends his own role as a satirist.

The poem appeared at the beginning of January 1735; the first London edition still bears the year 1734 in its imprint. A reprint followed in Dublin the same year. Its most famous passage is the portrait of a courtier who is called “Paris” in the first edition. In later editions Pope replaced the name with “Sporus”, after the favourite of the emperor Nero.

Content

What the source reports about donkey milk

The attack begins with a mock objection: how could one attack “Paris”, this “Thing of silk”, this “mere white Curd of Ass’s milk”? Donkey milk here stands for something pale, soft and feeble. The jibe only works because readers knew donkey milk as the drink of delicate people in need of careful nursing.

The target is John Hervey (1696–1743), confidant of Queen Caroline and a political opponent of Pope. The Dublin reprint of 1735 decodes the name in a footnote: “Lord H——rv——y”. Commentators usually relate the line to Hervey’s pale appearance and to his strictly regulated diet, which is said to have included donkey milk.

The next line, “Who breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel?”, itself became an English idiom for a disproportionate attack. Pope answers it by only then unfolding the satire in full.

At a glance

Figures & facts from the source

1735publication of the first edition (imprint 1734)
p. 21page of the donkey-milk line in the first London edition
l. 302line number in the first edition, usually l. 306 today
Paris → Sporuspseudonym in the first edition and in later versions
p. 15Dublin reprint of 1735 with footnote naming Lord Hervey

Fact check

Recorded or just told?

Widespread claim

Pope wrote the famous line about “Sporus, that mere white curd of ass’s milk”.

What the sources say

In the first London edition of 1735 the figure is called “Paris”; the name “Sporus” appears only in later versions. The wording about donkey milk is the same in both.

Critical assessment

How reliable is this source?

Source value

The first edition and the Dublin reprint can be checked page by page as digital copies. The identification with Lord Hervey is attested by the contemporary footnote of the reprint; the link to a donkey-milk diet rests on later commentary.

Satire, not a factual text

Pope says nothing about the properties of donkey milk; he uses an image. That the image was understood is the real finding: donkey milk was so familiar in London that it could serve as shorthand for pallor and sickliness.

Today’s assessment

The line is literary evidence of donkey milk’s reputation in the 18th century. It proves neither effects nor quantities consumed and says nothing about donkey milk as a food today.

Our assessment

Hardly any line of verse made donkey milk as famous as this one. For us it shows that donkey milk was common knowledge in 1730s London – so familiar that a poet could sketch an entire character with a single phrase.

References

Sources to check

More sources and studies in the research archive. Summarised by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, as of November 2026.