Essay on Man: Epistle III

by Alexander Pope
In this philosophical poem, Pope attempts to define humanity's place in the universe with respect to a divine plan. Read the full text here.

Here are links to our lists for the book: The Design, Epistle I, Epistle II, Epistle III, Epistle IV
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. superfluous
    more than is needed, desired, or required
    Here, then, we rest: “The Universal Cause
    Acts to one end, but acts by various laws.”
    In all the madness of superfluous health,
    The trim of pride, the impudence of wealth,
    Let this great truth be present night and day
  2. impudence
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    Here, then, we rest: “The Universal Cause
    Acts to one end, but acts by various laws.”
    In all the madness of superfluous health,
    The trim of pride, the impudence of wealth,
    Let this great truth be present night and day
  3. endue
    give qualities or abilities to
    See matter next, with various life endued,
    Press to one centre still, the general good.
  4. wanton
    not restrained or controlled
    Has God, thou fool! worked solely for thy good,
    Thy joy, thy pastime, thy attire, thy food?
    Who for thy table feeds the wanton fawn,
    For him as kindly spread the flowery lawn
  5. pompous
    puffed up with vanity
    The bounding steed you pompously bestride,
    Shares with his lord the pleasure and the pride.
  6. strew
    spread by scattering
    Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain?
  7. prescient
    perceiving the significance of events before they occur
    Who taught the nations of the field and wood
    To shun their poison, and to choose their food?
    Prescient, the tides or tempests to withstand,
    Build on the wave, or arch beneath the sand?
  8. phalanx
    a body of troops in close array
    Who calls the council, states the certain day,
    Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way?
  9. profuse
    produced or growing in extreme abundance
    Whate’er of life all-quickening ether keeps,
    Or breathes through air, or shoots beneath the deeps,
    Or pours profuse on earth, one nature feeds
    The vital flame, and swells the genial seeds.
  10. sire
    the male parent of an animal, especially a domestic animal
    Thus beast and bird their common charge attend,
    The mothers nurse it, and the sires defend
  11. brood
    the young of an animal cared for at one time
    Still as one brood, and as another rose,
    These natural love maintained, habitual those.
  12. prerogative
    a right reserved exclusively by a person or group
    Heaven’s attribute was universal care,
    And man’s prerogative to rule, but spare.
  13. ruddy
    of the color between orange and purple in the color spectrum
    Did here the trees with ruddier burdens bend,
    And there the streams in purer rills descend?
  14. diffuse
    spread through
    ’Twas virtue only (or in arts or arms,
    Diffusing blessings, or averting harms)
    The same which in a sire the sons obeyed,
    A prince the father of a people made.
  15. furrow
    a long shallow trench in the ground
    He from the wondering furrow called the food,
    Taught to command the fire, control the flood
  16. abyss
    a bottomless gulf or pit
    Draw forth the monsters of the abyss profound,
    Or fetch the aërial eagle to the ground.
  17. profound
    situated at or extending to great depth
    Draw forth the monsters of the abyss profound,
    Or fetch the aërial eagle to the ground.
  18. revere
    regard with feelings of respect
    Till drooping, sickening, dying they began
    Whom they revered as God to mourn as man:
    Then, looking up, from sire to sire, explored
    One great first Father, and that first adored.
  19. oblique
    not direct, explicit, or straightforward
    Ere wit oblique had broke that steady light,
    Man, like his Maker, saw that all was right
  20. sovereign
    greatest in status or authority or power
    No ill could fear in God; and understood
    A sovereign being but a sovereign good.
  21. rend
    tear or be torn violently
    She, from the rending earth and bursting skies,
    Saw gods descend, and fiends infernal rise
  22. lucre
    monetary gain
    So drives self-love, through just and through unjust,
    To one man’s power, ambition, lucre, lust
  23. benevolence
    an inclination to do kind or charitable acts
    Forced into virtue thus by self-defence,
    Even kings learned justice and benevolence
  24. zealot
    a fervent and even militant proponent of something
    For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight;
    His can’t be wrong whose life is in the right
  25. thwart
    hinder or prevent, as an effort, plan, or desire
    But all mankind’s concern is charity:
    All must be false that thwart this one great end
Created on Wed May 12 16:58:27 EDT 2021 (updated Mon May 17 15:36:50 EDT 2021)

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