An
Essay on Man
Introduction
The poem entitled An Essay on Man is
composed by a prominent English poet Alexander Pope. He has discussed in his
typical style, the nature, conduct and destiny of Man..
“The Proper study of Mankind is Man.”
- Pope
Summary
In the opening lines of the poem,
Pope says that God has concealed future and fate from all creatures. They are
absolutely unaware of the forth-coming event. God has hidden from animals what
he has given to man and from man what he has given to the angles, otherwise, it
would be impossible to live here in, God has given to his creatures only what
they can afford to know.
The lamb does not know that it is
going to be sacrificed. Would it know, it would not skip and play. Man knows
that the lamb is going to be sacrificed and he can afford this knowledge but
the lamb can not. Pleased to the last it licks the hand, which is going to shed
its blood. The poet says that God remains indifferent to the day to day
happenings and rise or fall of human beings. Ion his eyes, the death or decline
of a great hero or the death of a tiny bird are incidents of similar
significance. Since God prefers none to none there is no possibility of any
injustice from God. What ever is given is nothing but in our interest. So we
should hope and wait the great teacher Death and pray to God.
Hope soars high with flattering
wings. We should uphold the banner of hope and thankful to God for this gift of
unawareness. In the concluding lines of the poem, Pope gives his vies on the
condition of human soul and the role of hope in human life. He says that hope
never deserts human beings. It remains alive and active in human heart forever.
It is hope, which inspires human
beings to keep striving and moving ahead. Man is never contented with his
present condition and circumstances. He always hopes and struggles to get into
a better position. The light of hope gives courage and will to work to the
moral beings.
Conclusion
About human soul, the poet remarks
that it never enjoys a moment of real joy and peace in this world. It is
constantly restless, disturbed and far from its real and eternal home. The
eternal abode of human soul is Heaven. It aspires to liberate itself from the
material cage of human body and go back to its original and final home. Human
soul hopes to live there permanently enjoying peace comfort freedom and
happiness.
“When all else is lost, Future still remains.”
- Bovee
Reference to
the Context
Reference
The lines given for explanation are
an extract from the poem entitled An Essay on Man, written by Alexander Pope.
About the Poet
Alexander Pope occupies a very
prominent position in the domain of English Literature. He was a representative
poet of the 8th century also known as the Augustian age, the age of satire and
heroic couplets.
About the Poem
An Essay on Man is a philosophical,
didactic, thought-provoking and soul-stirring poem. It was addressed by Pope to
Bolingbroke. At the beginning of the poem he says:
“The proper study of mankind is man.”
Pope in this poem is not the satirist
but a moralist who has chosen his object to vindicate the ways of God to man.
He thus gives his philosophical reflection on the fate and fortune of man, the
nature and importance of hope and the cause of the restlessness of human soul
in this world.
Lines
Heaven from all creatures hides the book of Fate —— Or who could suffer
being here below?
Explanation
In the opening lines of the poem,
Pope has presented the benign care and kindness displayed by God’s Providence
to his creatures by making them ignorant to their future fate.
He says that God has made his
Creatures blind to their future. They know very little or nothing of what is
going to happen to them. They don’t know what sorrows or sufferings lie in
store for them. They know only about their present.
The poet says that God has done this
according to a specific system. For instance, angels being spiritual beings
know more than man does, man being superior to animals knows more than they do
and animals being at the bottom of the hierarchy know nothing about their
future.
Poet justifies this policy of the
Providence as being kind and beneficial. This is intended to keep the cycle of
life going. Since life on this planet is full of sorrows, sufferings,
disappointments, disease and death. We would have tried to make an end to our
life before the fall of the future calamity if we had the slightest knowledge
of our future.
The poet wants to say that blindness
to the future is a blessing kindly given to by God Almighty and it enables us
to face the hard realities of life with undying courage, hope and
determination.
“Ignorance of future ills is a more useful thing than knowledge.”
– Cicero
– Cicero
Lines
Oh blindness to the future! Kindly given ———– And now a bubble burst,
and now a world.
Explanation
In these lines the poet tells us how
our ignorance to the future becomes a great blessing. He thinks that we are
kept ignorant of our future simply because God wanted each of us to complete
the work fixed for him. Man is ignorant about the days a head, so that he may
complete the cycle of his life according to the wishes of God. God’s knowledge
is so wide that the looks at a dying hero as accurately as he does at a small
sparrow. Since God is maker, molder and creator of this Universe. He looks at
all the creatures equally. In his eyes making no difference between the
creatures. He watches the actions of all the human beings, seeing a sparrow and
a hero. He knows about the ruin of a planetary system as well as about the ruin
of the smallest particle. It also means that death of small or a great man, the
least particle or any other system does not impress God at all. God watches the
astronomical systems of the Universe. Even the bursting of a bubble or the ruin
of a world, both have equal importance for God. In this stanza, the poet gives
very good example, to clear the fact that all the things are equal in the eyes
of God whether it is an hero or an ordinary thing like sparrow all have to
complete their life cycles as prescribed to them by the Almighty God.
Lines
“Hope humbly then, with trembling pinion soar ——— But gives that hope
to be thy blessing now.
Explanation
In these lines, Pope, the moral
pedagogue, is preaching the principle of humility and modesty in our life of
this world.
“Greater are those who show humility.”
– Blake
– Blake
He says that God has very kindly made
us blind to our fate and fortune. We don’t know what sorrows and sufferings and
joys and happiness lie ahead in store for us. Therefore, it is only prudent and
wise to live simply with humble hopes and modest desires. We should try to rise
but slowly and gradually. We should learn from the bird, which soars, but
slowly balancing its wings at every step as though the bird is afraid of
falling down. Similarly, we human beings should always keep death before us.
Death teaches us that this world is just like an inn where we have come for a
brief sojourn. Our life is just like a bubble blown up in the air. Death
reveals to us the secrets of the next world and mystery of life hereafter. It
also teaches us the lesson of parity and equality by treating all living beings
alike.
We should also love and pray God for
his blessings. God does not tell us what bliss he is going to grant us in
future, But God has blessed us with hope which is really a precious gift of
God. It is hope which keeps us happy and gives us comfort and solace when we
are in the grip of difficulties and hardships. Thus we can say that Hope is our
best companion because:
“Hope is the best armour against fate.”
Lines
Hope springs eternal in the human breast ———– Rests and expatiates in a
life to come
Explanation
“Hopes makes future bright.”
- Lowell
In these oft quoted lines, the poet
presents an altruism about the fate of human beings that nobody is happy but
every body hopes to be happy.
The poet says that instead of telling
us about or fate, God gives us hope, which is really a precious gift of God. He
says that hope never deserts human beings. It remains alive and active in human
heart forever. Hope keeps the man happy. He forgets the difficulties and
hardships of the present and is overjoyed when he thinks of the future bliss.
Rossy picture of the future emerges before his eyes and he forgets grieves of
the present. Alexander Pope wants to say that without hope man’s life would
have been meaning less and colourless and would have not struggled ceaselessly
and relentlessly for the achievements of his objectives.
About human soul, the poet remarks
that it never enjoys a moment of real joy and peace in this world. It is
constantly restless, disturbed and far from its real and eternal home. The
eternal abode of human soul is heaven. It aspires to liberate itself from the
material cage of human body and go back to its original and final home. Human
soul hopes to live there permantly enjoying peace, comfort, freedom and
happiness.
Therefore, Pope says that man should
lead a pious, virtuous and sinless life and perform good and noble deeds for a
better after death.
“Hope, like the gleaming taper’s light, adorns and cheers our body.”
- Oliver Goldsmith
- Oliver Goldsmith
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