There had already been nine poetical replies in Abelard 's name to Pope 's original epistle , stretching from 1720 to 1785 .
His is singular in stressing the historical background to Abelard 's story .
There had already been nine poetical replies in Abelard 's name to Pope 's original epistle , stretching from 1720 to 1785 , but his is singular in stressing the historical background to Abelard 's story .