An Essay on Man

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Quizzes

Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry

A Study of Poetry

4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul

Famous Poets and Poetic Form

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:

Poetry: First Lines

An Essay on Man

poem by Pope

verifiedCite

While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.

Select Citation Style

Share to social media

Facebook Twitter

URL

https://64.176.36.150/topic/An-Essay-on-Man

Feedback

Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).

Feedback Type

Your Feedback

Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

The Victorian Web - Alexander Pope's Essay on Man: An Introduction

verifiedCite

While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.

Select Citation Style

Share to social media

Facebook Twitter

URL

https://64.176.36.150/topic/An-Essay-on-Man

Feedback

Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).

Feedback Type

Your Feedback

Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

The Victorian Web - Alexander Pope's Essay on Man: An Introduction

Written and fact-checked by

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

An Essay on Man, philosophical essay written in heroic couplets of iambic pentameter by Alexander Pope, published in 1733–34. It was conceived as part of a larger work that Pope never completed.

The poem consists of four epistles. The first epistle surveys relations between humans and the universe; the second discusses humans as individuals. The third addresses the relationship between the individual and society, and the fourth questions the potential of the individual for happiness. An Essay on Man describes the order of the universe in terms of a hierarchy, or chain, of being. By virtue of their ability to reason, humans are placed above animals and plants in this hierarchy.

Britannica Quiz

Famous Poets and Poetic Form

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.