No More Learning

'163'

Why do we accuse God for permitting wickedness when we do not blame Him
for permitting evil in the natural world?


'166 there':

in nature.

'here':

in man.


'173-206'

In this section Pope reproves those who are dissatisfied with man's
faculties. He points out that all animals, man included, have powers
suited to their position in the world (ll. 179-188), and asserts that if
man had keener senses than he now has, he would be exposed to evils from
which he now is free (ll. 193-203).


'176 To want':

to lack.

'177'

Paraphrase this line in prose.


'181 compensated':

accented on the antepenult.


'183 the state':

the place which the creature occupies in the natural world.


'195 finer optics':

keener power of sight.


'197 touch':

a noun, subject of "were given," understood from l. 195.


'199 quick effluvia':

pungent odors.
The construction is very condensed here; "effluvia" may
be regarded like "touch" as a subject of "were given" (l. 195); but one
would expect rather a phrase to denote a keener sense of smell than man
now possesses.


'202 music of the spheres':

it was an old belief that the stars and planets uttered musical notes as
they moved along their courses. These notes made up the "harmony of the
spheres. " Shakespeare ('Merchant of Venice', V, 64-5) says that our
senses are too dull to hear it. Pope, following a passage in Cicero's
'Somnium Scipionis', suggests that this music is too loud for human
senses.


'207-232'

Pope now goes on to show how in the animal world there is an exact
gradation of the faculties of sense and of the powers of instinct. Man
alone is endowed with reason which is more than equivalent to all these
powers and makes him lord over all animals.


'212'

The mole is almost blind; the lynx was supposed to be the most
keen-sighted of animals.


'213-214'

The lion was supposed by Pope to hunt by sight alone as the dog by
scent. What does he mean by "the tainted green"?


'215-216'

Fishes are almost deaf, while birds are very quick of hearing.


'219 nice:'

keenly discriminating.

'healing dew:'

healthful honey.


'221-222'

The power of instinct which is barely perceptible in the pig amounts
almost to the power of reason in the elephant.


'223 barrier:'

pronounced like the French 'barriere', as a word of two syllables with
the accent on the last.