The mixture of religion and science is usually absurd, but the poem Imperial Adam by A.D. Hope does just that. In his one line, “The surgeon fingers probing at the bone” alludes to the fact that God is the surgeon and removed a rib from Adam to create Eve. Not only that, later on in the poem, he describes the sexual encounter between Adam and Eve in a savage and beastly way portraying them as mere animals; “He took her in his arms and there and then, Like the clean beasts, embracing from behind, Began in joy to found the breed of men.” I believe that Hope hints to the fact that science and religion can co-exist. Maybe some portions of the religious view on how life was created are true, such as how God created the animals and man. But that is where God’s actions halted and science came to play. Humans, then, evolved from their savage like form to the more sophisticated way they are today. It is the combination of the two theories of life rather than believing in each one separately.
Oh Ko Lung I like the theory so much! I've always found that science and religion are so difficult to put into the same room. Still, I think that the science reference should be more elaborated on. Though it would be incontrovertible that science is in the poem, I feel that A.D. Hope suggests that God created science, as opposed to your view where God, thereby religion, and science are equals. Perhaps you were aiming towards that perspective, but I have always seen you as a very anti-religious friend. A.D. Hope clearly refers to Genesis throughout the poem as the main dessert, but the science references appear to be more towards icing on the cake. The references to modern science are just that: modern. The speculation about contemporary science by A.D. Hope is never implicitly mentioned the poem. Still, I am digging the whole science/religion idea.
ReplyDeleteKo, I support every idea you have stated in your reaction to Imperial Adam poem by Hope. Prior to reading your paragraph, I did not realize the connection when Hope uses both scientific and religious terms for his poem. It is quite possible that religion and science can co-exist, but I can only agree to an extent. Religion and science have been competing with each other since humans have sparked curiosity for reason. Personally, I believe in science rather than religion because of the vast investigation of the dawning of time. Religion has been strictly organized and has removed flaws in their texts over time. Anyway, concerning Adam's & Eve's savage nature, I agree that hope portrays the two human beings as very animal like and very primitive. Evidently, the surrounding animals were surrounding Eve during her birth, which is very unusual nowadays. This shows that possibly in the past, the first humans were "one with nature," which only proves their animal like characteristics.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your reaction and I have definitely learned to look at poems from different perspectives because of your reaction.