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What if the foot ordain'd the dust to tread (from An Essay on Man I)

Alexander Pope, Alexander Pope poetry, Christian, Christian poetry, Catholic poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Alexander Pope
(1688 - 1744) Timeline

Original Language
English

Christian : Catholic
18th Century

     What if the foot ordain'd the dust to tread,
Or hand to toil, aspir'd to be the head?
What if the head, the eye, or ear repin'd
To serve mere engines to the ruling mind?
Just as absurd for any part to claim
To be another, in this gen'ral frame:
Just as absurd, to mourn the tasks or pains,
The great directing Mind of All ordains.

     All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul;
That, chang'd through all, and yet in all the same,
Great in the earth, as in th' ethereal frame,
Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees,
Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent,
Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part,
As full, as perfect, in a hair as heart;
As full, as perfect, in vile man that mourns,
As the rapt seraph that adores and burns;
To him no high, no low, no great, no small;
He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all.

 

 

-- from Essay on Man and Other Poems: (Dover Thrift Editions), by Alexander Pope

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Bower
  Heart
  Pain and Wounding
  Spring Blossom
  Sun


Recommended Books


Alexander Pope, by Maynard Mack
Alexander Pope: Selected Poetry, by Alexander Pope / Edited by Pat Rogers
The Complete Critical Guide to Alexander Pope, by Paul Baines
Essay on Man and Other Poems: (Dover Thrift Editions), by Alexander Pope
The Poems of Alexander Pope, by Alexander Pope / Edited by John Butt

More >>

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2009 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.