Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1826)/Songs of Experience/The Human Abstract

Pity would be no more 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.

He sits down with holy fears, And waters the ground with tears; Then Humility takes its root Underneath his foot.

Soon spreads the dismal shade Of Mystery over his head; And the Catterpillar and Fly Feed on the Mystery.

And it bears the fruit of Deceit, Ruddy and sweet to eat; And the Raven his nest has made In its thickest shade.

The Gods of the earth and sea Sought thro' Nature to find this Tree; But their search was all in vain: There grows one in the Human Brain.