In "The Human Abstract," William Blake essentially summarizes human nature. More specifically, he criticizes what he sees as one of the root causes of humanity's suffering: the corruption and hypocrisy of organized religion. (Blake was particularly critical of the Church of England, which was England's dominant religion during his era.)
The speaker begins with the pointed observation: "Pity would be no more / If we did not make somebody poor." In the Christian tradition, pity—the mix of sorrow and compassion one feels when confronted with another's suffering—is considered a Christian virtue. Yet the speaker's statement suggests that pity can only exist in response to poverty: if the world were more equitable, there would be no need of it. In this way, organized religions like Christianity need poverty and suffering to exist so that believers can prove their virtuousness.
The speaker then follows this statement with a parallel claim:
And Mercy no more could be
If all were as happy as we.
The repetition ("no more," "If") and parallelism bridging the poem's first two sentences emphasize that both are illustrating the same idea. We can only show "Mercy" to those we have the power to punish. If everyone had equal access to the same resources, everyone would be "happy," and there would be no reason for either punishment or leniency. By deeming "Pity" and "Mercy" virtues, the church thus ensures that inequality will continue.
/M/ alliteration ("more," "make," "Mercy," "more") accentuates these opening lines, making them more forceful and memorable. The poem's strong didactic tone, meanwhile, grabs the reader's attention and expresses the speaker's deep conviction.
"The Human Abstract" consists of six quatrains, or four-line stanzas, written in irregular meter. Each stanza can be further divided into two couplets, since the poem follows a strict AABB rhyme scheme. Each couplet is syntactically self-contained (the second line of each stanza ends in a semicolon, dividing the first two lines of the stanza from the last two). As a result, the speaker's ideas are parceled out in short, clear bursts. This structure gives the poem its distinctive, measured pace and helps readers follow its assertions more easily.