Blake, William human abstract
... 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. (Lines 1-8) Analyzing these two stanzas shows that Blake believes selfishness is the cause of mankind's problems. Selfishness causes man to "make somebody poor." Selfishness also breaks down peace caused by mutual fear. Selfishness is the seed, the start of the tree. The selfishness found in every man leads to his cruelty towards others. Blake explains cruelty as being human nature, therefore being inescapable. Cruelty's snare prevents man from thinking freely. He is trapped. Although pity and mercy seem to be compassionate words, they are in fact based in selfishness. Pity shows remorse for an action. Or does it? In this poem, pity is the result of making somebody "poor." Pity would be abolished if someone was not always being made "poor." Pity is a feeling that arises after causing harm to another or seeing another hurt. However, pity is meaningless if nothing is done to help the other person and correct the situation. It is clear in "The Human Abstract," that this is the case. Both pity and mercy would cease to exist if man wasn't constantly hurting man. The fact that it does exist shows how trapped man is in cruelty's snare. He is incapable of not doing harm unto others. In his inability to overcome his innate cruelty, man looks to spirituality for guidance. In line nine Blake writes, "He [Cruelty] sits down with holy fears (line 9),". The holy fears spoken of refer to the church. However, the church is not able to give man the help he needs to combat cruelty. Man cannot escape cruelty's snare. He is distraught by the realization that not even the church can help him. "And [Cruelty] waters the ground with tears: (line 10)". When man realizes that it is his nature to be...