An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope

In an attempt to diversify my pathetic writing, here's a poem I'm going to look at and write about all in less than 50 minutes.

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan
The proper study of Mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A Being 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 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.

On the Third Day, God created Man in his likeness. We, as humans, bear similarity to God. As a result, we have often turned to looking at God to satisfy our endless quest for self-definition. The result of this is a narcissistic view of humankind that draws a strong distinction between us and animals that is not present, at least willingly, between God and us. Alexander Pope explores the relationships that connect God, humans, and animals to explain that humans are unique from both.
Pope describes our relationship to God and animals like a middle ground rather than a direct product of God. By metaphorically calling our situation an "isthmus" [line 3], humans are made out to be connected to both God and animals. The idea of an isthmus is a narrow strip of land, meaning that God and animals are not necessarily close, but humankind can span the distance between both of them with attributes of both. The idea of an isthmus also relates to the idea that two much larger continents surround human beings so that they are more alone. The line "Great Lord of all things, yet a prey to all" [line 16] describes humans as insignificant, as humans are both smitten by God and devoured by animals. At the same time, humans are "Lord of all things", a title usually given to God. The curious capitalization of "Lord" reveals human's likeness to God, but also their lack of his invincibility, showing that humans are between and attached to both God and animal.
Where humans stand in accordance to God and animals only reveals that they are in the middle in terms of power, but Pope further elaborates that humans are unique. "A Being darkly wise and rudely great" first juxtaposes the two ideas of human definition. On one end, they are wise, in a manner not understood like God, referencing the individual cognitive ability of humans. On the other, they are obviously great, meaning strong in a way clear to the eyes. Yet the negative connotation of those adverbs also points out the negative feelings associated with trying to judge humans on the same scale as animals or God. Instead, the anaphora Pope uses for "in doubt" [lines 7-9] emphasizes that, because humans are reluctant to choose to be either like God or animal, they are unlike either and have their own distance. The isthmus described earlier is indeed its own continent.

akdjksv I can't write. Well I guess I should learn to sing or something.