5 poems by William Blake

The next poem is the “Human Abstract”. The title and the last stanza, try to make it clear that the tree described is a symbol of an “abstract” feature “in the human brain”.  The poems opening comment is “the poor always ye have with you”, which were Jesus’ words to Judas Iscariot. This was meant by Jesus to be an insightful comment on poverty, saying that it will never go away.  Blake puts across the idea, in his opening couplet; that “pity” depends on there being some poor and others ‘rich’. Perhaps the most dominant word here is “make” as if we force people into poverty so that they can receive our “pity”. He’s feeding the reader with the idea that the rich give handouts to the poor, and feel smug and magnanimous for doing so. In the same way, happiness is not ‘allowed’ to be universal, or there would be no need for “mercy”. Blake was reflecting how society was organised on principles of inequality.

In the four remaining stanzas, the point Blake is trying to argue becomes much less clear. Although his attitude towards society improves somewhat in a variety of places throughout the remainder of the poem. He comments on the “mutual fear brings peace”, in this he is expressing in a single line, that ‘peace’ is achieved by enemies living in fear of each other, and how, good things like “holy fears”, “tears” and “Humility” are mixed up with wicked things like “mutual fear”, “the selfish loves” and “cruelty”. Cruelty, as he “knits a snare” or “spreads his baits” is compared to a ‘hunter’ (snares or baits, would be used to catch small prey), also by saying “his” Blake implies that this is a person not one of his ‘abstractions’. The “Catterpillar and fly” which “Feed on the Mystery” suggest the idea of sickness and corruption. The “thickest shade” where the “raven” nests, puts forward the obscurity and secrecy of the “Human Abstract”, this furthermore reflects on Blake’s depiction of society. The final stanza gives away the ‘key’ to ‘unlock’ the poem; the “Gods” searched “in vain” to find this tree, but Blake knows it is found “in the Human Brain”, showing that its existence is genuine, but in a metaphorical way. In all, the poem contains some ‘striking’ images, the first stanza emphasises the problems for those who want a fairer society, or perhaps the reasons why there will never be a fair society among us. This poem has blatant links with “The Poison Tree”; they share almost exactly the same image and core metaphor, showing the contrary states of the human form.

The “Poison Tree” has almost the same metaphor as the “Human Abstract” it explains that the one certain truth is nature. The way it shares this with a “Human Abstract” is the image of a tree as it grows, while in “London” the image is of manacles, which contrasts with the “Human Abstract” and the “Poison Tree” due to the manacles holding back this growth. All three of these poems set out to reveal the dark side of human nature. A “Poison Tree” shows how anger can be released by goodness or manipulated into a deadly poison. The opening stanza uses the same grammatical form in each couplet but just substitutes four of the words. Nowhere in the poem does Blake tell us what is growing, although it is probable that he is implying the tree, but what he does make clear is that it is a plant of some kind: the “fears” and “tears” are what is watering the plant, and the “smiles” and “deceitful wiles” are acting as the sunshine which makes it grow. The “foe” eventually steals the single fruit that ultimately grows on the tree; once the “foe” has stolen the apple the “foe” eats it, not aware that it is poisonous: “In the morning glad I see, My foe outstretched beneath the tree”.

This poem is particularly shocking, because it depicts with honesty and the hatred of which man is capable of release upon society. It also shows ways man can conceal his anger from society. The apple in the third stanza bears a resemblance to the story of ‘Adam and Eve’. In ‘Adam and Eve’ the Gods forbid the couple to eat fruit from ‘the tree of knowledge’. The enemy in the poem is waiting until a night, which has “veiled the pole”. The “pole” could simply mean the hemisphere that surrounds the pole. Remarkable as it may seem the perhaps most appalling word in the poem may be “glad”. This is not the innocent form of gladness; it is more the gladness of self-satisfaction. The paramount way to sum up this poem is the wrath and desire to triumph over enemies; it all comes together to show the darker side of society and human nature. Blake has used a variety of ‘technical’ features in this poem including the repetition of “and” or “I” to start a number of lines and also the use of rhyming words in the second stanza such as “fears” and “tears”.

The final poems I will look at in this essay are “The Little Boy Lost” and “The Little Boy Found”.  These poems appear together in ‘Songs of Innocence’. The titles practically give away what the poems are going to be about. In “The Little Boy Lost”, a father leaves behind his tearful child in the dark. But in “The Little Boy Found”, as the child cries, God appears, kisses the child and reunites the child with his tearful mother (who has been looking in vain for the boy). In a different collection of poems by William Blake called “The Songs of Experience” there are two very different poems called “A Little Boy Lost” and “A Little Girl Lost”. They are both horrific, especially “A Little Boy Lost”, in which a priest accuses a boy of blasphemy (for not presenting God with sufficient love), he puts him in a “iron chair” then burns him to death “in a holy place” where “many had been burned before”, while his parents look on and sob. The first half of “The Little Boy Lost” is a cry of alarm from the boy. He asks where his father is going, he tells him to slow down and speak, or otherwise his “little boy” will be lost. Instead of replying the father goes, and the child is left in the dark night. The dew is forming and they boy is in deep mire (mud or boggy ground). As the boy begins to cry the mist clears, perhaps a hint by Blake that something good is about to happen. The reader is not supposed to be anxious or worried at this ending because all the “Songs of Innocence” have happy endings, and also the reader may have seen that there is a second poem called “The Little Boy Found”. In the “The Little Boy Found” we see another hopeful symbol. The boy is being guided by some kind of “wandering light”.

It is possible that it belongs to the father who departed from him, or may suggest that it is some sort of guardian angle or spirit.

As the boy continues to cry, God comes to his side (in white), which suggests his goodness. God is what's more “like a father”, which means he is stepping in as the father of the lost boy, or may suggest that God is the boys real father, possibly more so than the earthly father may be. The father who leaves the boy is contrasted with the Mother who is “pale” with sorrow and weeping (even though Blake may say, “weeping” to refer to the “little boy”). God alone brings the child back to its mother. The mother has no chance of finding the “little boy” without Gods help. This is mainly down to the fact that she has been looking in the wrong place, the “lonely dale”, while the boy has been in the “mire” or “fen”. Overall the poems are showing that although society is sometimes cruel and sometimes fowl; there is always a ‘soft spot’ for children.

In the 5 poems I have reviewed in this essay, there is a connection throughout between the subjects and the ‘deeper truths’ they posses. The Human Abstract and The Poison Tree show “the contrary states of the human soul”, the good, the evil. Though London is obviously about the way people live unhappily together but at a deeper level where “every” person is miserable. Reading the poems you might think Blake has a narrow view of society (due to his restricted use of vocabulary), but this is not the case. He deliberately repeats words, such as “fears” and “tears”. Blake’s overall view on society is that there are a lot of restrictions, but there is a way to break free. That there is always misery, but that is how we’ve chosen to make the world. Blake also thinks that the hierarchy of society take pleasure in looking down at the poor and the needy and seek satisfaction by giving them ‘hand-outs’. Although Blake’s observation isn’t all gloom for example he says in “The Human Abstract” of the “Humility” of society, this is showing that modesty and some things good can shine through the general evil of society.