The Human Abstract (poem)

This article is about Poem by William Blake. For the different meanings, see The Human Abstract (disambiguation).

The Human Abstract, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy L, 1795 (Yale Center for British Art)
Copy B, 1789, 1794 (British Museum) The Human Abstract - detail
Copy F, 1789, 1794 (Yale Center for British Art) The Human Abstract - detail
Copy AA, 1826 (The Fitzwilliam Museum) The Human Abstract - detail
The hand painted bottom illustration from Copy Y of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience, printed in 1825. The contrast in colouration with the above copy L demonstrates the uniqueness and variation between Blake's different printings. This copy is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1]

"The Human Abstract" is a poem written by the English poet William Blake. It was published as part of his collection Songs of Experience in 1794.[2] The poem was originally drafted in Blake's notebook and was later revised for as part of publication in Songs of Experience. Critics of the poem have noted it as demonstrative of Blake's metaphysical poetry and its emphasis on the tension between the human and the divine.

  1. ^ Morris Eaves; Robert N. Essick; Joseph Viscomi (eds.). "Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy Y, object 47 (Bentley 47, Erdman 47, Keynes 47) "The Human Abstract"". William Blake Archive. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  2. ^ William Blake. The Complete Poems, ed. Ostriker, Penguin Books, 1977, p.128.