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Know Then Thyself by Alexander Pope

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 21^st May 1688 and died on 30^th 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.