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Pope's Essay on Man

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Pope's Essay on Man
COURSEWORK

THEME: OF NATURE AND STATE OF MAN, WITH RESPECT TO THE UNIVERSE
ALEXANDER POPE’S ESSAY ON MAN

Plovdiv
2014
Alexander Pope was an 18th century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. Pope was catholic but Essay on Man is not a religious poem, it is a philosophical piece of work, written in heroic couplets and published between 1732 and 1734. It was a piece of work that Pope intended to make into a larger one, however, he did not live to complete it {1}. The heroic couplets consist of rhyming like made up of five iambs {2}. This refers to Pope’s desire to produce a respectable and idealistic work. He wrote this poem to prove the existence of God’s way to Man and to convince Man in the chance of self- perfection. An Essay on Man is divided in four epistles each of which examines the nature and state of man, with the respect to the universe( epistle I); with respect to himself, as an individual( epistle II); with respect to society( epistle III); and with respect to happiness( epistle IV). In my work I will discuss Pope’s epistle I of Nature and state of Man, with respect to the universe, by analyzing each section. Here I will represent my point of view over this epistle.
Pope begins the poem with an introduction (1-16) addressed to his friend St. John, Lord of Bolingbroke. Pope addresses a message to him and urges him to wake up and to leave “all meaner things” behind, and rather to embark on Pope’s quest to “vindicate the ways of God to Man”. It is time to acknowledge the world, the universe, which is all around. This is an invitation for a man to return to Mother Nature, to explore “a mighty maze” where everything seems to be in chaotic but beautiful order. In the introduction of the poem, the author takes us back to the Biblical beginning, where in heaven Garden first Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, “forbidden fruit” of good and evil. Author’s words refer


Cited: {1} www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope {2} www.education-portal.com/academy/lesson/alexander-popes-an-essay-on-man-summary-analysis-quize.html#lesson {3} www.gradesaver.com/popes-poems-and-prose/study-guide/section6 {4} www.elderscrolls.wiki.com/wiki/Book_of_Fate {5} www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraph#In_Christianity {6} www.windows2universe.org/mythology/zephyr.html OTHER SOURCES: {7} www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/critical-essays/alexander-popes-essay-on-man {8} www.whats-your-sign.com/bull_symbols.html
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