Poetry Response #7

This is an excerpt from An Essay on Man written by Alexander Pope I found in the old Literature book.

I. Know then thyself, presume no God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is Man
Placed on isthmus of a middle state,
A darkly wise, and rudely great;
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
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,
Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much:
Chaos of thought and passion , all confused;
Still by himself abused, or disabused;
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 hurled:
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

I really liked this poem partially because it has an old fashioned sense to it, but the theme question is timeless. Pope is asking what every man wonders, "What is the purpose of life?" He addressed the question differently throughout the verse, for instance addressing who's duty it is to answer it, that is indeed man's duty to understand mankind. It is man's duty, not God's. He then wonders if maybe we think about it too much? Are we born only to die? Is our lives defined only between what happens between birth and death? Life is full of success and failure, and Pope puts it, "Created half to rise, and half to fall," so then is the purpose only to keep going? I really enjoy poems that question things. Pope questions religious beliefs here too, I think. He wonders if we really should leave our lives in the hands of a mystery. I think Pope believes in God, but doesn't necessarily like Him. Pope thinks of God and a figure who sends men to live blindly; we wonder confused while He sits with the answers. Personally, I don't necessarily agree with Pope, but I do find it interesting.