Innocence and experiance in Blakes A divine image
...rganised religion in particular. The institutions which man creates eradicate individualism. Most of Blake’s experience collection corresponds to a similar poem in the songs of innocence. Blake has a cynical approach to the effects of experience. More than anything Blake’s experiences have made him devalue mankind. In the Motto to the songs of innocence and experience Blake states ‘all his good friends show their private ends’ which is a very derogatory impression of adult friendship. This changed perception is evident in much of his work but particularly in ‘The Divine Image’ and ‘A Divine Image’. The Divine image is one the songs of innocence and as a result portrays a far more hopeful and idealised impression of the human race. The poem focus’s on four main divine qualities that Blake believed were present in all human beings. ‘Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love’ The language in The Divine image is far more heavenly using terms like ‘virtues of delight’ this contrasts the hellish images created by ‘fiery forge’ and ‘furnace sealed’ which are used in A Divine Image. The titles alone show a marked difference in tone. The use of ‘the’ implies a specific divine image of importance. Where as the use of ‘a’ implies a more generalised image perhaps one of many. The change of indefinite article in each title infringes on the importance of the aforementioned ‘divine image’. Perhaps this pertains that a once definite and concrete perception of mankind has been revealed to be more transient and therefore deserves a more ambiguous title. The line ‘Where Mercy, Love and Pity dwell, there God is dwelling too’ implies that any human who has these qualities in their character must also have something of God within themselves. The repetition of these qualities in each verse emphasises their importance and in fact each quality is related to part of the human form. ‘Mercy has a human heart’ and ‘Pity a human face’. By contrast in ‘A Divine Image’ the characterisitics associated with each part of the body are vastly altered. In songs of experience Mercy has been replaced for cruelty and pity for jealousy. There is nothing heavenly about ‘A Divine...