Analysis of The Human Abstract
William Blake 1757 (Soho) – 1827 (London)
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 grounds 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.
Scheme | XXAA BBCC XXXX DXXA EEDD AAFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (50%) |
Metre | 101111 11111101 0101111 11011011 0100111 1010101 110101 011111 1111101 0100111 10100111 0111 110101 11001011 00101 110100 01101101 100111 00101111 01101 0110101 11101111 1111101 11100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 692 |
Words | 138 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 92 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 23, 2023
- 41 sec read
- 432 Views
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"The Human Abstract" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39175/the-human-abstract>.
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