The Poems of Alexander Pope

John Butt, John Butt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• ISBN:
  9781134954766
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

The most complete and usable edition of Pope's poetry presenting the corpus of his poetry as printed in the Twickenham edition with Pope's own notes and a selection of the annotations in the other volumes of the Twickenham edition.

Poems 1730-1744

An Essay on Man

OR THE FIRST BOOK OF ETHIC EPISTLES TO H. ST. JOHN L. BOLINGBROKE

[written 1730–32; published 1733–34]

To the Reader

As the Epistolary Way of Writing hath prevailed much of late, we have ventured to publish this Piece composed some Time since, and whose Author chose this Manner, notwithstanding his Subject was high and of dignity, because of its being mixt with Argument, which of its Nature approacheth to Prose. This, which we first give the Reader, treats of the Nature and State of MAN, with Respect to the UNIVERSAL SYSTEM ; the rest will treat of him with Respect to his OWN SYSTEM, as an Individual, and as a Member of Society; under one or other of which Heads all Ethicks are included.

As he imitates no Man, so he would be thought to vye with no Man in these Epistles, particularly with the noted Author of Two lately published¹: But this he may most surely say, that the Matter of them is such, as is of Importance to all in general, and of Offence to none in particular.

To the Reader

The Author was induced to publish these Epistles separately for two Reasons, The one, that he might not impose upon the Publiek too much at once of what he thought incorrect; The other, that by this Method he might profit of its Judgement on the Parts, in order to make the Whole less unworthy.

The Design

Having proposed to write some pieces on Human Life and Manners, such as (to use my lord Bacon's expression) come home to Men's Business and Bosoms, I thought it more satisfactory to begin with considering Man in the abstract, his Nature and his State : since, to prove any moral duty, to enforce any moral precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection of any creature whatsoever, it is necessary first to know what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being.

The science of Human Nature is, hke all other sciences, reduced to a few clear points : There are not many certain truths in this world. It is therefore in the Anatomy of the Mind as in that of the Body; more good will accrue to mankind by attending to the large, open, and perceptible parts, than by studying too much such finer nerves and vessels, the conformations and uses of which will for ever escape our observation. The disputes are all upon these last, and, I will venture to say, they have less sharpened the wits than the hearts of men against each other, and have diminished the practice, more than advanced the theory, of Morality. If I could flatter myself that this Essay has any merit, it is in steering betwixt the extremes of doctrines seemingly opposite, in passing over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming a temperate yet not inconsistent, and a short yet not imperfect system of Ethics.

This I might have done in prose; but I chose verse, and even rhyme, for two reasons. The one will appear obvious ; that principles, maxims, or precepts so written, both strike the reader more strongly at first, and are more easily retained by him afterwards : The other may seem odd, but is true, I found I could express them more shortly this way than in prose itself; and nothing is more certain, than that much of the force as weh as grace of arguments or instructions, depends on their conciseness. I was unable to treat this part of my subject more in detail, without becoming dry and tedious; or more poetically, without sacrificing perspicuity to ornament, without wandring from the precision, or breaking the chain of reasoning : If any man can imite all these without diminution of any of them, I freely confess he will compass a thing above my capacity.

What is now published, is only to be considered as a general Map of MAN, marking out no more than the greater parts, their extent, their limits, and their connection, but leaving the particular to be more fully delineated in the charts which are to follow. Consequently, these Epistles in their progress (if I have health and leisure to make any progress) will be less dry, and more susceptible of poetical ornament. I am here only opening the fountains, and clearing the passage. To deduce the rivers, to follow them in their course, and to observe their effects, may be a task more agreeable.

Argument of the First Epistle

Of the Nature and State of Man, with respect to the UNIVERSE.

Of Man in the abstract.—I. That we can judge only with regard to our own system, being ignorant of the relations of systems and things, VER. 17, &c. II. That Man is not to be deemed imperfect, but a Being suited to his place and rank in the creation, agreeable to the general Order of things, and conformable to Ends and Relations to him unknown, VER. 35, &c. III. That it is partly upon his ignorance of future events, and partly upon the hope of a future state, that all his happiness in the present depends, VER. 77, &c. IV. The pride of aiming at more knowledge, and pretending to more Perfection, the cause of Man's error and misery. The impiety of putting himself in the place of God, and judging of the fitness or unfitness, perfection or imperfection, justice or injustice of his dispensations, VER. 113, &c. V. The absurdity of conceiting himself the final cause of the creation, or expecting that perfection in the moral world, which is not in the natural, VER. 131, &c. VI. The unreasonableness of his complaints against Providence, while on the one hand he demands the Perfections of the Angels, and on the other the bodily qualifications of the Brutes; though, to possess any of the sensitive faculties in a higher degree, would render him miserable, VER. 173, &c. VII. That throughout the whole visible world, an universal order and gradation in the sensual and mental faculties is observed, which causes a subordination of creature to creature, and of all creatures to Man. The gradations of sense, instinct, thoug...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• Contents
• Chronological Table
• List of Abbreviations
• The Preface of 1717
• Poems 1700-1717
• Poems 1718-1729
• Poems 1730–1744
• Index of Titles
• Index of First Lines