AbstractWilliam Blake was a great poet who lived from the mid-18th to the early 19th century. His work was largely unappreciated during his lifetime. The Human Abstract is part of a collection that Blake published under the title Songs of Experience. The collection addresses what might broadly be called metaphysical questions, more specifically the relationship between human beings and those, if any, who partake of divinity. This article will argue that Blake's poetry is best understood as a kind of meditation on the human condition, almost as if it were an anticipation of existentialist philosophy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first stanza of the poem sets the tone and suggests Blake's topic. When he states, “Pity would be no more, / if we did not make someone poor:” (Blake, 2). A couple of points seem to be made here. The first is that pity is an emotion that, conceptually, cannot exist in the absence of some notion of poverty (not necessarily an economic notion). For example, if all beings in the world were somehow equal in every respect, it would not make sense for one of the beings to pity another or a group of others. Of course, such a being might mistakenly think that the object of supposed pity is in some respect inferior to him. We must therefore qualify the point by saying not that piety requires actual inequality, but that it requires perceived inequality. Blake's second point appears to be empirical rather than conceptual. It seems to say that, in fact, only human beings can make someone, or something, properly pitied. This is a common point in discussions of the differences between humans and other animals. The point is that morality comes into the picture only with the emergence of the human being. Of course, piety is not in itself a moral notion. So the point must be deduced from Blake's text: one might doubt whether it is there. The second part of the verse discusses mercy and happiness, in a way that seems intended to extend the previous discussion: “And mercy could be no more/if everyone were happy like us”; (Blake, 4). Blake seems to give mercy the same status as pity. Just as no one could be (rightly) pitied if everyone were equal, so it would make no sense to suppose that a person is merciful if everyone were equally happy. Mercy, like pity, requires some deprivation for its correct application. It is once again implied that morality, or perhaps rather morality, is the sole province of human beings (at least among land animals). Blake then turns his attention to fear, peace, selfishness, cruelty, and caring. He seems to subscribe to the Hobbesian view that only fear will maintain peace between people. Blake continues: “Till selfish love increases;/Then Cruelty weaves a snare,/And lays her bait with care” (Blake, 8). This seems to mean that selfish love, at a certain point, is incompatible with peace. The last point is certainly not to be taken literally. Blake is not saying that there is a Platonic form of cruelty that intrudes into human affairs. Instead, his point seems to be that selfish love not only disturbs peace but leads to cruelty. If the “baits” of cruelty are carefully scattered, very few, if any, will be able to escape its embrace. A question to keep in mind, although it does not seem to be answered by the poem, is whether Blake means by “selfish love” romantic and sexual love, on the one hand, or a more general notion..