Know Then Thyself by Alexander Pope
About the Poet
Alexander Pope was considered to be the
greatest poet of English during the early eighteenth century. He is best known for his great works like The
Rape of the Lock, Dunciad, A Essay on Criticism, and several translations of
Homer. He was born on 21st May 1688 and died on 30th May
1744. He wrote didactic poetry. He was a learned poet, who had learned French,
Latin, Italian, and Greek with his own efforts. He was greatly influenced by
Homer.
About the Poem
The present poem is an extract from his
long poem Essay on Man, written in four
Cantos.
In this extract, the poet strongly advises
human beings not to waste their precious time studying God and his
mysterious ways. Rather they should study themselves. They should know their
limitations, weaknesses and powers.
Line-to-
line Explanation of the Poem
Know then
thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper
study of mankind is man.
A being
darkly wise, and rudely great:
A being
darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too
much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too
much weakness for the stoic's pride,
Word-meanings:
Thyself: Yourself, Presume:
to assume, scan: to scrutinise, examine, isthmus:
a narrow piece of land having water on its sides and it joins two large
areas of land.
skeptic: doubtful, stoic: is the person who is not affected by both
joys and sorrows
The poet has
used the word ‘isthmus’ for the earth because it is surrounded by water.
Explanation: the very first line states the
central idea of the poem. The poet strongly advises man (i.e. all human beings)
to know himself. They should not venture to scan (scrutinise or examine) God
and his mysterious ways. They should not wrongly presume (assume/guess) that
they are able to scrutinise God. If they do so, it would be their greatest
folly.
The second
line ‘The proper study of mankind is a man’ clearly states that the proper subject for a man to study is ‘man’ his
himself. Man in his ignorance wastes his time and energy in unravelling God.
It is pity that man spends his own life but he is unable to know his own
weaknesses, limitations and powers. On the other hand, a lot of time is wasted
by him in studying others’ nature.
‘Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great: …’
After advising a man to study himself rather
than God, the poet proceeds to assert
(declare) what actually the man is. He uses paradoxes like, ‘darkly wise’ and ‘rudely
great’ to make human beings know their real place and position in the
Universe in relation to God and His Creation.
The poet
says that man has been placed in a middle state on this earth. He hangs between
two extreme points. He is neither an angel nor is he an animal. He possesses
both, divine and animal instincts.
‘A being darkly wise and rudely great
He is a
being (living form) that is wise but still ignorant of God and the Universe. He is
great but in his pride he behaves rudely with others. It is because he loses
his self-control very easily.
‘With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the stoic's pride, ‘
He has too
much knowledge but still, he is skeptical (doubtful) of his potential. He may take
pride in achieving a stoic’s position, but still, he is full of weaknesses.
A stoic is a person who is not affected by
his emotions and weaknesses. He is affected by his emotions.
Let’s read the next two lines:
He hangs
between; in doubt to act, or rest;
In doubt to
deem himself a god, or beast;
In doubt his
mind or body to prefer;
Word-meanings: deem: think or to believe, rest:
here it means the state of inaction
Explanation: The poet says that Man is many a
time troubled by his tendency of indecision. He is always in doubt to act or
not to act; to do or not to do an action. Sometimes he may think of himself as a god
and while at another time, he behaves like a beast. He doubts his own thoughts
and then he acts under the pressure of his emotions. Sometimes he is guided by
his mind (i.e. thoughts) while another time by his body (i.e. emotions)
The next lines:
Born but to
die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in
ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he
thinks too little, or too much:
Chaos of
thought and passion, all confus'd;
Still by
himself abus'd, or disabus'd;
Created half
to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord
of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge
of truth, in endless error hurl'd:
The glory,
jest, and riddle of the world!
Word-meanings: 1. reasoning: the mental power to
differentiate between good or bad; the useful and un-useful, etc, 2. err: to
commit mistake 3. Ignorance: the state of mind in which the person has no
knowledge of a particular thing 4. Chaos: confusion 5. Passion: strong emotion
6. Prey: victim 7. Sole: only 8. hurled: thrown 9. Jest: joke, prank 10.
Riddle: puzzle
Explanation: ‘Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;’
The ultimate
fate of Man is that he has to die. He is not an immortal being. He is habitual
of using his reasoning power but in that process, he is prone to commit
mistakes. A wise person sometimes may be under the influence of his emotions
and, at that very time, he is unable to recognize whether he is being guided by
his reasoning or emotions. Then he commits serious mistakes.
‘Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much:
Chaos of thought and passion, all confus'd;’
Still by himself abus'd, or disabus'd;
He is the
same person in his ignorance or in reason. He is the same, a confused person
whether he is thinking a little or too much. He is all confused between his
thought and passion. He is unable to know whether is being guided by his
thoughts or emotions. As he tries to reach a conclusion, then another idea,
maybe guided by reasoning or his passion, contradicts the previous one. In this
manner, man remains in a confused situation. He is, thus, abused by his own
thoughts and emotions
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
God has
created man in such a way that he acts to achieve greatness in his life, but at
the same time, he commits such a fatal mistake that causes his downfall. Men in
their glory are more prone to commit blunders that lead to their doom. He is
the lord of all things. He is the boss on all the creatures on the earth. But
still, he is prey to all of his weaknesses.
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd:
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!
Man is the
only judge of truth. It means he establishes the standards of moral values. He
makes rules to control human behavior on the earth so that human society may
work smoothly. The people who commit errors are punished. But the poet says
that, man commits so many errors while passing his judgments on others. Many a
time, he does not pass fair judgment as he may be under the influence of his
personal motives.
Man is a
glorious creature on the earth, but sometimes he commits funny acts. Thus he is
the riddles that cannot be solved. He is always unpredictable.
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