The Human Abstract
Pity would be no moreIf we did not make somebody poor,And Mercy no more could beIf 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 his holy fears,And waters the ground with tears;Then Humility takes its rootUnderneath his foot.
Soon spreads the dismal shadeOf Mystery over his head,And the caterpillar and flyFeed on the Mystery.
And it bears the fruit of Deceit,Ruddy and sweet to eat,And the raven his nest has madeIn its thickest shade.
The gods of the earth and seaSought through nature to find this tree,But their search was all in vain:There grows one in the human Brain.
Words in this poem
- somebody n.
- A person unknown or uncertain; a person indeterminate; some person.
- knits n.
- Small particles of ore. Raymond. [Prob. same word as nit a louse's egg.]
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Human Abstract is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of William Blake, Project Gutenberg ebook #574; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Blake, The Human Abstract, in Poems of William Blake (1783–1794), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #574, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/blake-poems/the-human-abstract.html, id L02018.
Form and metre
The Human Abstract is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 --AA more · poor · beA · weA
- 2 AABB peaceA · increaseA · snareB · careB
- 3 AA-- fearsA · tearsA · root · foot
- 5 AABB deceitA · eatA · madeB · shadeB
- 6 AABB seaA · treeA · vainB · brainB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Pity would be no more | 6 | /˘···· |
| If we did not make somebody poor, | 9 | ·····/·˘· |
| And Mercy no more could be | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| If all were as happy as we. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And mutual fear brings Peace, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Till the selfish loves increase; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Then Cruelty knits a snare, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And spreads his baits with care. | 6 | ······ |
| He sits down with his holy fears, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And waters the ground with tears; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Then Humility takes its root | 8 | ·˘/˘˘··· |
| Underneath his foot. | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Soon spreads the dismal shade | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of Mystery over his head, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And the caterpillar and fly | 8 | ··/˘·˘·· |
| Feed on the Mystery. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| And it bears the fruit of Deceit, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ruddy and sweet to eat, | 6 | /˘···· |
| And the raven his nest has made | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| In its thickest shade. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| The gods of the earth and sea | 7 | ······· |
| Sought through nature to find this tree, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| But their search was all in vain: | 7 | ······· |
| There grows one in the human Brain. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.