Pope's introduction to his
Essay on Man:
AN ESSAY ON MAN.
TO
H. ST. JOHN LORD BOLINGBROKE.
THE DESIGN.
Having proposed to write some pieces of
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 few clear points: there are not many certain truths in this world. It is therefore in the
anatomy of the
Mind as in that of the
Body; more good will accrue to
mankind by attending to the large, open, and perceptible parts, than by studying too much such finer nerves and vessels, the conformations and uses of which will for ever escape our observation. The disputes are all upon these last, and, I will venture to say, they have less sharpened the wits than the hearts of men against each other, and have diminished the practice more than advanced the theory of
Morality. If I could flatter myself that this Essay has any merit, it is in steering betwixt the extremes of
doctrines seemingly opposite, in passing over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming a temperate yet not inconsistent, and a
short yet not imperfect system of
Ethics.
This I might have done in prose, but I chose verse, and even rhyme, for two reasons. The one will appear obvious; that principles, maxims, or
precepts so written, both strike the reader more strongly at first, and are more easily retained by him afterwards: the other may seem odd, but is true, I found I could express them more shortly this way than in prose itself; and nothing is more certain, than that much of the force as well as grace of
arguments or instructions depends on their
conciseness. I was unable to treat this part of my subject more in detail, without becoming dry and tedious; or more poetically, without sacrificing
perspicuity to ornament, without wandering from the precision, or breaking the chain of reasoning: if any man can unite all these without
diminution of any of them I freely confess he will compass a thing above my capacity.
What is now published is only to be considered as a general Map of
Man, marking out no more than the greater parts, their extent, their limits, and their connection, and leaving the particular to be more fully delineated in the charts which are to follow. Consequently, these
Epistles in their progress (if I have health and leisure to make any progress) will be less dry, and more susceptible of poetical ornament. I am here only opening the fountains, and clearing the passage. To deduce the rivers, to follow them in their course, and to observe their effects, may be a task more agreeable.
P.