JolieH

Songs of innocence and of experience. Shewing the two contrary states of the human soul 1789-1794 / W. Blake

The Human Abstract

Pity would be no more
If we did not make somebody Poor;
And Mercy no more could be
If all were as happy as we.


And mutual fear brings peace,
Till the selfish loves increase:
Then Cruelty knits a snare,
And spreads his baits with care.


He sits down with holy fears,
And waters the ground with tears;
Then Humility takes its root
Underneath his foot.


Soon spreads the dismal shade
Of Mystery over his head;
And the Catterpiller and Fly
Feed on the Mystery.


And it bears the fruit of Deceit,
Ruddy and sweet to eat;
And the Raven his nest has made
In its thickest shade.


The Gods of the earth and sea
Sought thro' Nature to find this Tree;
But their search was all in vain:
There grows one in the Human Brain.

MsJacquiiC

Hmmm - I've actually read this poem before - It's memorable if ever there is such a thing - But really what I like about Blake (especially with this piece) is that he finds a way to be so pessimistically optimistic whilst keeping a coyly demure smile on his face - especially the following lines:

I think he was spouting some knowledge there.... Oh - but for the world to know the "Human Abstract" is not abstract at all - but entirely a caricature of worldly deceit that still exists as I type these words!

Nice share JOLIE

Jacquii.

JolieH

Jacquii,
I agree, you are right about Blake and that such worldly deceit exisit today.

This poem reflects "The Enlightenment" "They believed that human reason could be used to combat ignorance, superstition, and tyranny and to build a better world. Their principal targets were religion (embodied in France in the Catholic Church) and the domination of society by a hereditary aristocracy."

Originating Website: http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/hum_303/enlightenment.html