Alexander Pope's poem “An Essay on Man” was an expression of his philosophy of man's place in the universe. Pope called this philosophy the “Great Chain of Being,” and through it sought to examine man's place in this chain that had God at the top,inanimate objects at the bottom, and an imperfect man somewhere in between.
Pope is critiquing the idea that mankind should be critical or judgmental of the God's creation. We can imagine him reacting to someone's claim that, because of some perceived injustice, cruelty, or suffering, God is in some way imperfect.
The most often quoted and studied section of the poem begins with the lines:
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.
Here Pope is admonishing those who believe they can “figure out” God. Mankind has no business trying to analyze the creator of the universe, the head of chain of being; instead, he should look to himself and try to understand his own nature.
Near the end of this section of the poem, Pope looks at how mankind fits into a very specific part of God's creation—Earth:
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.
In these lines it as though Pope is giving man a tryout as a god, calling him lord, judge, and a glory. But man falls short in each case; he is prey, in error, and a jest.
It is Pope's contention that mankind cannot measure up to God; he is too flawed. Not only can man not be God, he cannot even hope to understand God.
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