EPISTLE II. I. KNOW then thyself,1 presume not God to scan, Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,2 A Being darkly wise, and rudely great: 5 ΙΟ 15 Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all; Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled : The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! 1 “Know then thyself." This is the oldest saying recorded in philosophy. 2 Man is the connecting link between God and the brute creation. 3 One that professes to doubt all things. One who accepted things as they happened and made the best of his surroundings. The Stoic considered himself as partaker in the nature of God; hence "pride." 5 This line is too condensed to be perfectly clear. 6 Lines 13-18. Contrast Hamlet, ii. ii.: "What a piece of work is a man!" etc. 7 Deceived. 8" Half to rise," etc., soul, body. Go, wondrous creature! mount where Science guides, Superior beings, when of late they saw Unchecked may rise, and climb from art to art; 20 25 30 35 40 1 "Correct old Time." Refers to the reform of the calendar. The New Style was adopted in Germany in 1700, but in England not until 1752. 24 Empyreal sphere," i.e., the seventh sphere, or heaven, which was of the nature of fire. It was the home of the soul after death. 3 First," origin of all the others. 4 An allusion to the Neoplatonic philosophy, which sought union with God by contemplation and ecstasy, through disregard of the promptings of the 5 Worshipers of the sun god. senses. 6 Notice Pope's frequent use of this word. 7 Lines 31-34 are intended as a satire on the Newtonian theory of the uniNewton's Principia was first published in 1687. The comparison in verse. the last of these lines is not pleasing. 8 Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), the famous English philosopher, who discovered the law of universal gravitation; he determined also the orbits of 9 The intellect. comets. But when his own great work is but begun, 45 Or learning's luxury, or idleness; Or tricks to show the stretch of human brain, Mere curious pleasure or ingenious pain; Expunge the whole or lop the excrescent parts Of all our vices have created arts;3 50 Then see how little the remaining sum, Which served the past, and must the times to come! Self-love to urge, and Reason, to restrain; Nor this a good, nor that a bad we call, 55 Each works its end, to move or govern all: And to their proper operations still, Ascribe all good; to their improper, ill. Self-love, the spring of motion, acts 5 the soul; 60 Reason's comparing balance rules the whole. To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot: Or, meteor-like, flame lawless through the void, 65 Destroying others, by himself destroyed. Most strength the moving principle requires; Active its task, it prompts, impels, inspires. 1 "Trace Science," i.e., follow learning. 2 Lines 45-52. Had Pope wanted an example of the abuse of learning, he could have found one at home. 3 That is, of those luxuries which our vices have created into arts. 4 " Spring of motion," i.e., motive of action. 5 Actuates. 8 The grammatical connections in lines 63-66 are not very close. 9 Self-love. Sedate and quiet the comparing 1 lies, Formed but to check, deliberate, and advise. At best more watchful this, but that more strong. The action of the stronger to suspend, Reason still use, to reason still attend. Attention, habit and experience gains;3 Each strengthens reason, and self-love restrains. 80 Let subtle schoolmen 4 teach these friends to fight, More studious to divide than to unite; And grace and virtue, sense 5 and reason split," 85 Wits, just like fools, at war about a name, This taste the honey, and not wound the flower: 90 Pleasure, or wrong or rightly understood, Our greatest evil, or our greatest good. III. Modes of self-love the Passions we may call: 'Tis real good, or seeming, moves them all: But since not every good we can divide, 7 95 And reason bids us for our own provide, 1 "The comparing," i.e., reason. 2 The meaning of lines 71, 72, is explained in the succeeding couplet. 3 What is the subject of "gains"? 4 "Schoolmen." Not the school divines of the Middle Ages, but all moralists. 5 Senses. 6 The rime is the only excuse for the word. 7 Share with another. Passions, though selfish, if their means be fair,1 Their virtue fixed; 'tis fixed as in a frost; 1 Selfish aims, if pursued honorably, deserve the approval of reason. 2 Old form of " enlist." "divide" in line 95. 100 105 IIO 115 3 The word has nearly the same meaning as 4 If the passion, selfish though it be, imparts or brings good to others, it becomes a virtue. The love of glory in war, for example, if pursued in defense of one's country, becomes patriotism. 5 Indifference; insensibility. The epithet "lazy" is inapt. The apathy of the Stoics was a calm, unruffled by circumstances, —a state of mind gained by rigid discipline, -the ideal of the "wise" man. 6 Passion. 7" Parts it may ravage," etc. Alluding to the effect of a hurricane in purifying and restoring the atmospheric equilibrium. 8 The dial or face of a compass. 9 Lowell, quoting the passage lines 111-120, says: "And not seldom he is satisfied with the music of the verse, without much regard to fitness of imagery. Here Reason is represented as an apothecary compounding pills of 'Pleasure's smiling train' and 'the family of Pain.' In the following couplet he takes his illustration from the art of painting." |