Essay on Man

I have to admit, I'm a little confused. The poem starts out saying that man is not the measure of all things, and continues as if he is no more important than any other living thing on the planet. He dismisses the idea that everything in the world was made for us, and says it's more likely we are made for the use of everything else. This I get. But by the end, it sounds like he thinks man is something special. It could be the poem form that's throwing me off, I don't know. The tone just seems different at each end. Maybe it would help to read through it again...