The Human Abstract by William Blake is consistent with his other works in the sense that it has religious ties. Although this particular poem presents a unique new view of the virtues (pity, mercy, peace and love); starting by criticizing the virtues of delight. Much like its sister poem, The Divine Image, this poem talks about the virtues and presents the idea that virtues can only exist if there is bad/poverty in the world. “Pity would be no more If we did not make somebody poor” (Line 1). The church is used as a source for these virtues. The speaker is not clearly defined but it seems to be some form of the poet and also speaks directly to the audience. The poem’s literal meaning seems to be comparing the divine image of mercy, pity, peace and love with the human image of poor, fear, selfish love and stagnant happy. The title refers to the human’s ability to create false structures of belief by using the rational part of the mind. Throughout the poem the idea that the church can abuse the willingness of those in need to find a moral compass is presented in a way that they seek the church for moral advice, which they then take advantage of the fact (that so many people blindly follow them for different virtues). This poem explores the realization that society traps himself in religion and then becomes dependent on the church. The speaker is able to show how the poem is applicable to life because the decision between humility and selfishness is a decision each person has to face; this idea is expressed through symbolism, personification and a consistent theme.
William Blake’s poetry follows a similar structure among each of his poems. In the human abstract, is comprised of six quatrains. . Although there is no consistent rhyme scheme (it varies between five and nine syllables), it starts clear with couplets in the first nine lines, but after this the pattern becomes assonance (with words such as shade & head, fly & mystery). Blake returns to using rhythm to end the poem at line seventeen (with deceit & eat). The rhyme scheme helped the flow of the poem. When the rhyme scheme was couplets in the first two stanzas it drew attention to the defining moment of the poem when the decision between kindness and selfishness needed to be made. In returning to the rhyme scheme, Blake’s uses the structure deviation highlights the last two stanzas. When Blake ceases to follow a rhyme scheme is when a shift in tone appears. The tone shifts from the speaker having a strong passionate didactic tone to a cynical view of how society is structured. The abrupt shift in line 7 starts by accepting the views in the first two stanzas and to describe the growth of a tree and the advanced stages of deception as a cruel society is created; this change in shift directly relates to the change in rhyme. The structure is important as it is intended to persuade the reader to accept, realize and even argue the assertions being presented
An important aspect of the poems depth is the imagery that is created by mainly using personification. The elements of personification brought some of the aspects and symbols into light. Visual imagery is introduced in the third stanza and continues from there. “spreads the dismal shade Of Mystery over his head; And the Catterpiller and Fly” (Line 13). Specifically in stanza three imagery is complimented by personification of Cruelty. The main aspect of the poem that Blake personifies is Cruelty, he brings him to life. “Then Cruelty knits a snare, And spreads his baits with care. He sits down with holy fears, And waters the grounds with tears” (Line 7). Humility is also personified shortly after. He brings humility and goodness to life by alluding to them growing. “Then humility takes its root underneath his foot” (Line 11). As the poem goes on the imagery is a little more subtle at depicting a picture of how society is “under a spell” of deceitful lessons taught to us by the church. Towards the end of the poem the fifth stanza shows imagery by using the raven, a black bird, to show death and darkness. Deceit is then personified as fruit (alluding to the deceitful fruit in the first book of the bible sat in the garden of eden which is mirrored to the tree in stanza three). In stanza one and two Blake capitalizes words that do not really need capitalization. This is common in Blake’s poems as a way to show importance. The capitalization of the p in Pity and m in Mercy personifies the idea and draws attention to its importance in the sense of the theme. The word ‘we’ shows that the speaker blames society including himself
The last line of the second stanza “and spreads his bait with care” gives evidence that cruelty is alway around waiting to “trap” people. Blake’s use of personification gives this piece of writing life and a connection with the audiences. By giving inanimate objects human qualities, personification helps connect ideas and objects to people, allowing the speaker to convey his meaning more effectively.
There were many symbols throughout the poem that help contribute to the theme. One of which was the tree that cruelty “plants”. This tree is seen as the evil seed but also represents the ideas planted by society. Not only is this tree a symbol but it also can be seen as a metaphor. The so called, tree of knowledge is a comparison to the human brain. Because this is a William Blake poem it is expected to have a biblical reference. This tree happens to contains an allusion to adam and eve with the fruit of deceit and the tree it is picked from. As the idea of the tree expands, mystery is seen as a connotation for religion, in the sense that the poem shows how society sees religion as a blanket of sorts, meant to comfort humanity but traps it instead. Since mystery is seen as religion the caterpillar and fly are symbols for priest who “feed” off of the blind trust of religious followers. The tree that is now associated with Deceit, and its branches harbor the raven. The raven is another symbol, often seen as the symbol of death. In the christian faith, ravens are often seen as birds that carry off the souls of the damned. although in this context it is just referring to death; which could be the death of the human/humanity or more likely the death of innocence. By the end of the poem the reader is able to realize that the above description has been a glimpse into the human mind, and the twisted mental experience.
Blake’s poetry are all brilliant works of art, but this poem in particular is important because of its germaneness to life itself. The decision between humility and selfishness is something each person must be accustomed with. Blake shows that there is good in all of us, but in order for the good to be seen, there must also be bad. Blake is successful in making the reader think more about the decision at hand. Blake is able to poetically show everyone searches for humility but it is in all of us if we allow it to grow. In almost all his poems, he notes to this theme of innocence and experience. In his poem “the Human Abstract”, he portrays how the society would be if the love, mercy, pity and peace values are misused. The result will be absolutely a fragmented and ruin society. This poem is one of Blake’s in which he persuades the reader to question the role of religion in a society. The poem then develops the meaning that even though the selfishness is enticing, if you allow it to grow within yourself it will take root and become who you are.