The Epistle of Pope
1.
Although Pope worked on this poem from 1729 and had finished the first three epistles by 1731, they did not appear until between February and May 1733, and the fourth epistle was published in January 1734. The first collected edition was published in April 1734. The poem was originally published anonymously,
Pope not admitting its authorship until its appearance in The Works,
II (April 1735).
The Essay on Man was originally conceived as part of a longer philosophical poem (see Pope's introductory statement on the Design). In the larger scheme, the poem would have consisted of four books: the first as we now have it ; a second book of epistles on human reason, human arts, and sciences, human talent, and the use of learning, science and wit "together with a satire against the misapplications of them" ; a third book on the Science of Politics ; and a fourth book concerning "private ethics" or "practical morality."
The only part of the scheme, therefore, which was fully completed was the four epistles of the Essay on Man. Parts of the fourth book of The
Dunciad were composed using material for the second book of the original essay and the four moral epistles were originally conceived as parts of the fourth book (see below).
Pope's explanation of the aim of the work and his summary of the first epistle are as follows. "The Design/Having proposed to write some pieces on human life and manners, such as (to use my Lord Bacon's expression) `come home to Men's Business and Bosoms,' I thought it more satisfactory to begin with considering Man in the abstract, his nature and his state ; since, to prove any moral duty, to enforce any moral precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection of any creature whatsoever, it is necessary first to know what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being.
"The science of human nature is, like all other sciences, reduced to a
Although Pope worked on this poem from 1729 and had finished the first three epistles by 1731, they did not appear until between February and May 1733, and the fourth epistle was published in January 1734. The first collected edition was published in April 1734. The poem was originally published anonymously,
Pope not admitting its authorship until its appearance in The Works,
II (April 1735).
The Essay on Man was originally conceived as part of a longer philosophical poem (see Pope's introductory statement on the Design). In the larger scheme, the poem would have consisted of four books: the first as we now have it ; a second book of epistles on human reason, human arts, and sciences, human talent, and the use of learning, science and wit "together with a satire against the misapplications of them" ; a third book on the Science of Politics ; and a fourth book concerning "private ethics" or "practical morality."
The only part of the scheme, therefore, which was fully completed was the four epistles of the Essay on Man. Parts of the fourth book of The
Dunciad were composed using material for the second book of the original essay and the four moral epistles were originally conceived as parts of the fourth book (see below).
Pope's explanation of the aim of the work and his summary of the first epistle are as follows. "The Design/Having proposed to write some pieces on human life and manners, such as (to use my Lord Bacon's expression) `come home to Men's Business and Bosoms,' I thought it more satisfactory to begin with considering Man in the abstract, his nature and his state ; since, to prove any moral duty, to enforce any moral precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection of any creature whatsoever, it is necessary first to know what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being.
"The science of human nature is, like all other sciences, reduced to a