An Essay on Man expresses the Deist view that God can be apprehended through nature, and not only through revealed scriptures Epistle I makes significant observations on the nature and state of Man with respect to the universe. The poem introduces man as a “mighty maze” but not without a plan. The Epistle now goes on to vindicate the ways of God to Man:
“Say first, of God above, or Man below, /What can we reason, but from what we know? /Of Man, what see we but station here,/ From which to reason, or to which we refer?/ Thro’ worlds unnumber’dtho’ the God be known, /’T is ours to trace Him only in our own.”
Thus the poet places God above, and Man below, and goes on to argue that our reasoning can be based only on knowledge. God is known through numberless worlds, but Man has to find Him only in his own. Thus a strong relationship is already established between God and man.
The poem goes on to unfold yet another aspect of Man by observing:
“Presumptuous Man!the reason wouldst thou find, Why form’d so weak, so little and so blind? First, if thou canst the harder reason guess, Why form’d no weaker, blinder and no less? Ask of the mother earth, why oaks are made Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade?”
Pope suggests here a natural plan in the ways of God to Man. He begins by denouncing Man as a “presumptuous” being, complaining about his being made weak and small. The poet asks Man to take comfort in thinking why he has not been made weaker and even smaller. Mother Earth, representing Nature, may be asked why oak trees have been made taller than the weeds they are out to protect. So Pope is already suggesting an optimistic view of life by observing that Man should remember that it could have been worse. Besides, Nature provides a particular size to every object for a certain purpose. And it is in the nature of the things that they should be exactly what they are made to be.
Pope next switches on to yet another stand by observing pointedly:
“Respecting Man, whatever wrong we call /May, must be right and relative to all”
Pope’s optimistic stand is still further strengthened here when he asks the “respecting” Man to understand that whatever we may call wrong must be right and only relative to everything else. The modern scientific principle of relativity has been artistically suggested here. “Presumptuous” Man has now become “Respecting” Man, and the tone of Pope has mellowed down, and the optimistic point of view of Pope spills over into yet another positive realization:
“Then say not Man’s imperfect, hear’n in fault; /Say rather, Man’s as perfect as he ought: /His knowledge measur’d to his state and place; /His time a moment, and a point his space. /If to be perfect in a certain sphere, /What matter, soon or late, or here or there? /The blest today is as completely so/ As who began a thousand years ago.”
So Man is brought out as “as perfect as he ought” to be. Man is not imperfect. Man should realize that he may be perfect in a certain sphere of life, and once one has achieved success it does not matter whether he had become successful soon or late.
Now God comes out as seeing everyone with an equal eye:
“Who sees with equal eye as God of all,/ A hero perish, or a sparrow fall /Atoms or systems into rain hurl’d /And now a bubble burst, and now a world”
Here the poet suggests strongly that everyone is equal in the eyes of God, as He sees with an equal eye a hero dying or a sparrow falling. For God, atoms hurled in the rain making the world come to pieces are as important in the eyes of God as a bursting bubble.
The poem now achieves a new philosophical dimension in which Man is advised to be hopeful but with humility. He should only wait for the profound teacher Death and praise God. Man does not know what future happiness is actually waiting for him. Hope is a blessing which springs forever in the body of Man, and blessings are in fact, only waiting to be showered on him.
And Epistle I ends with the following piece of advice:
“Cease then, nor ORDER Imperfection name, /Our proper bliss depends on what we blame./ Know thy own point: This kind, this due degree /Of blindness, weakness, Heav’n bestows on thee. /Submit – In this, or any other sphere/ Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear…./ And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason’s spite/ One truth is clear, WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT.”
These concluding lines of Epistle I give a brilliant poetic expression to a mood of enlightened confidence which characterizes the period. An optimistic philosophy of life is enunciated when Pope observes that Man’s proper happiness actually depends on what he complains about. Man should try to have a self-realization and submit to the Divine will and accept that whatever is, is right.
