Annotated Bibliography: "The Human Abstract" "The Human Abstract" has not received much critical attention on its own. Of the critical interpretations that do exist, many approach the poem by examining its various manifestations in Blake's manuscripts, reading it against "A Divine Image," a poem w hich was never finally published by Blake, or comparing it to its Innocence counterpart, "The Divine Image." Most critics seem to agree that "The Human Abstract" represents a philosophical turning point in The Songs of Innocence and of Expe rience, and in Blake's work as a whole. In 1924, Joseph H. Wicksteed observes that this "difficult" poem, "originally called 'The human Image," represents "Blake's attempt to summarize his philosophy of revolt against the ob ject of worship he found in the mind of his age." He contends that Blake "makes no distinction" between God and Man: "God is Man and Man is God, and either may be good or bad." Placing the poem in context with Blake's work as a whole, Wicksteed argues that, with this poem, "Blake is moving towards the position definitely reached in 'The Marriage,' that Reason, or the abstracting power of the mind, robs life of all its fullness and vigour." He then proceeds with a line-byline reading of the poem. Robert Gleckner briefly treats "The Human Abstract" in his book, The Piper and The Bard, suggesting that "'The Divine Image' of Innocence is perverted in experience to 'The Human Abstract.'" He places the poem i n the didactic landscape of The Songs of Innocence and of Experience, contending that the "rational 'holiness'" in the poem "leads us directly to the 'holiness' of 'Holy Thursday,' the 'heaven' of 'The Chimney Sweeper,' the 'Church' of 'The Littl e Vagabond,' the 'mystery' of 'A Little Boy Lost,' and the 'Christian forbearance' of 'A Poison Tree.'" In a later essay, "William Blake and the Human Abstract," 1961, Gleckner offers a more extensive reading of the poem, paying particular at...
