Part 31 (2/2)

Pope urges man to comfort himself with hope, seeing that he cannot know the future.

'93 ”What future bliss:”

the words ”shall be” are to be understood after this phrase.

'96'

Point out the exact meaning of this familiar line.

'97 from home:'

away from its true home, the life to come. This line represents one of the alterations which Warburton induced Pope to make. The poet first wrote ”confined at home,” thus representing this life as the home of the soul. His friend led him to make the change in order to express more clearly his belief in the soul's immortality.

'89'

Show how ”rests” and ”expatiates” in this line contrast with ”uneasy”

and ”confined” in l. 97.

'99-112'

In this famous pa.s.sage Pope shows how the belief in immortality is found even among the most ignorant tribes. This is to Pope an argument that the soul must be immortal, since only Nature, or G.o.d working through Nature, could have implanted this conception in the Indian's mind.

'102 the solar walk:'

the sun's path in the heavens.

'the milky way:'

some old philosophers held that the souls of good men went thither after death.

Pope means that the ignorant Indian had no conception of a heaven reserved for the just such as Greek sages and Christian believers have.

All he believes in is ”an humbler heaven,” where he shall be free from the evils of this life. Line 108 has special reference to the tortures inflicted upon the natives of Mexico and Peru by the avaricious Spanish conquerors.

'109-110'

He is contented with a future existence, without asking for the glories of the Christian's heaven.

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