Poetry: Poems by Blake

Given / Context: The two poems are 'The Divine Image' from *Songs of Innocence* and 'The Human Abstract' from *Songs of Experience* — Blake's companion pieces.

Relationship in Content:
The two poems are mirror images of each other — one is the positive, idealistic vision and the other is its dark, ironic counterpart. 'The Divine Image' celebrates the divine qualities — Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love — as they exist in their pure, uncorrupted form in the human being. 'The Human Abstract' shows how these very same virtues, when filtered through the fallen human mind, become instruments of cruelty, hypocrisy, and oppression.

Human Being in Song of Innocence ('The Divine Image'):
In the state of innocence, the human being is depicted as noble and divine. Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love are presented as both human and divine virtues. The human form is seen as the dwelling place of God — "And all must love the human form, / In heathen, Turk, or Jew." The human being is essentially good, compassionate, and at one with the divine.

Human Being in Song of Experience ('The Human Abstract'):
In the state of experience, the human being is depicted as fallen, corrupt, and self-serving. The same virtues are shown to be built upon suffering and exploitation. For example, Mercy exists only because someone is kept poor; Pity exists only because someone is kept wretched. Cruelty, Humility, and Mystery grow in the human brain like a poisonous tree, eventually ensnaring even the Gods.

Both Aspects in an Average Human Being:
Yes, both aspects coexist in an average human being. Every person has the capacity for genuine compassion, love, and peace (the innocent side), but also the tendency to rationalise selfishness, to use virtue as a mask for control, and to harbour cruelty (the experienced side). Blake suggests that the tension between these two states defines the human condition. The ideal is to recognise and overcome the fallen, corrupted state and return to wholeness.

Given: These lines are from 'The Divine Image' in *Songs of Innocence*.

Concept: Blake uses the literary device of personification and the theological idea of the Incarnation (God taking human form) to argue that divine virtues are inseparable from humanity.

Explanation:

- "Mercy has a human heart" — The heart is the seat of emotion and feeling. Mercy, the quality of compassion and forgiveness, resides in the human heart. It is not an abstract concept but a felt, lived experience. When we show mercy, we act from the deepest part of our emotional being.

- "Pity a human face" — The face is what we turn toward another person in recognition and empathy. Pity (in Blake's positive, innocent sense — genuine empathy, not condescension) is expressed through the human face — through tears, through a look of concern, through the act of seeing and acknowledging another's suffering.

- "Love, the human form divine" — Love is embodied in the entire human form. Blake calls it "divine" because he believes the human body itself is sacred when animated by love. This echoes the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation — God becoming human — suggesting that love makes the human form godlike.

- "Peace, the human dress" — Dress or clothing is the outermost layer, what we present to the world. Peace is the garment of humanity — it is the condition in which human beings ideally clothe themselves and present themselves to one another and to the world.

Overall Significance: Blake is arguing that God and the divine virtues are not remote or abstract — they are fully present in the human being. To pray to God for Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love is, in essence, to pray to the best qualities within humanity itself. The divine and the human are one.

Given: The distortion of virtues is the central theme of 'The Human Abstract' from *Songs of Experience*.

Concept: Blake shows that in the fallen, experienced state, virtues are no longer genuine but are constructed upon — and therefore perpetuate — suffering and inequality.

Explanation of Distortion:

1. Mercy is distorted because it presupposes that someone must remain poor and wretched for another to show mercy. "Pity would be no more / If we did not make somebody poor." Mercy, instead of eliminating suffering, actually depends on its continuation. It becomes a tool of the powerful to feel virtuous while maintaining the conditions that cause suffering.

2. Pity similarly requires the existence of misery. "And Mercy no more could be / If all were as happy as we." Pity, in the experienced world, is not genuine empathy but a self-congratulatory emotion that requires an inferior, suffering 'other.' It reinforces hierarchy rather than dissolving it.

3. Peace is distorted through the growth of Cruelty and Humility. Cruelty knits a snare and spreads its baits with care. False humility ("Humility takes its root / Underneath his foot") is used as a weapon — a pretence of meekness that conceals the desire for control and dominance.

4. Love is distorted through Mystery — organised religion and dogma that mystify and obscure truth. The tree of Mystery grows in the human brain, bearing the fruit of Deceit, and eventually the Raven (a symbol of death and ill omen) makes his nest in it. Love becomes possessive, controlling, and ultimately deadly.

Conclusion: In the human brain — the seat of rationalisation and self-deception — all four virtues are inverted. They become instruments of oppression, hypocrisy, and cruelty. Blake suggests that the fallen human mind corrupts even the most beautiful ideals.

Given: Blake's overarching vision of humanity — innocent wholeness, experienced fallenness, and the need for redemption.

Concept: Blake's *Songs of Innocence* and *Songs of Experience* together represent "the two contrary states of the human soul." They are not simply about childhood and adulthood but about two modes of perceiving and being in the world.

Mankind Once Whole and Happy — 'The Divine Image':
In 'The Divine Image,' Blake presents the original, unfallen state of humanity. Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love are perfectly integrated — they are simultaneously human and divine. Every human being, regardless of religion or race ("heathen, Turk, or Jew"), carries the divine image. There is no discord, no hierarchy, no exploitation. God, the human being, and the virtues are one unified whole. This is the state of innocence — not naïve ignorance, but a state of spiritual wholeness and harmony.

Mankind Fallen into Discord and Tyranny — 'The Human Abstract':
In 'The Human Abstract,' Blake depicts the fallen state. The same virtues have been corrupted by the rationalising, self-serving human brain. Society is built on inequality (the poor are kept poor so the rich can feel merciful). Religion becomes "Mystery" — a tool of control and mystification. Cruelty, Humility (false), and Deceit grow like a poisonous tree. The Gods of earth and sea search for this tree of corruption in Nature but cannot find it — it grows only "in the Human Brain." This is the state of experience — of tyranny, both political (the oppression of the poor, of chimney sweepers, of soldiers) and spiritual (organised religion suppressing free thought and joy).

The Need for Rescue:
Blake implies that humanity must be rescued from this fallen state. The very fact that he writes both sets of poems — showing both the ideal and the corrupt — is an act of prophetic vision. By exposing how virtues are distorted, he calls upon the reader to recognise the corruption and strive to return to the original wholeness. The rescue lies in human consciousness — in seeing through the "mind-forged manacles" (as he writes elsewhere) and reclaiming the divine image that resides in every human being.

Conclusion: The two poems together form a complete Blakean argument: humanity has the capacity for divine goodness (Innocence) but has fallen into self-created systems of oppression and hypocrisy (Experience). True redemption lies in recognising this fall and consciously working to restore the original unity of the human and the divine.

Observation: In 'The Divine Image' and 'The Human Abstract,' Blake capitalises words such as *Mercy, Pity, Peace, Love, Cruelty, Humility, Mystery, Deceit, Raven, Gods, Nature, Tree, Human Brain*, etc.

Reasons for Capitalisation:

1. Personification: The most important reason is that Blake personifies these abstract qualities, treating them as living beings or characters. In the 18th century, it was a common poetic convention to capitalise personified abstractions (e.g., *Mercy* walks among us, *Pity* has a human face). Capitalisation signals to the reader that these are not merely adjectives or common nouns but active, almost mythological forces.

2. Theological / Philosophical Importance: Blake capitalises virtues like *Mercy, Pity, Peace,* and *Love* to elevate them to the status of divine attributes — qualities that belong equally to God and to the ideal human being. The capitalisation underscores their sacred significance.

3. 18th-Century Convention: In Blake's era (late 18th century), it was standard practice in English writing to capitalise all nouns, not just proper nouns. Blake follows and extends this convention, but uses it with deliberate artistic intent.

4. Emphasis and Contrast: By capitalising both the positive virtues (*Mercy, Love*) and the negative forces (*Cruelty, Mystery, Deceit*), Blake draws attention to the contrast between the two poems and the two states of the human soul. The capitalisation gives equal weight to both, suggesting that in the fallen world, the negative forces have become just as powerful and 'real' as the divine virtues.

Conclusion: The capitalisation is both a period convention and a deliberate artistic choice by Blake to personify, elevate, and draw attention to the key concepts that drive his philosophical and poetic argument.

Given: We are asked to count syllables in the lines of 'The Divine Image' and identify the metrical pattern.

Syllable Count — First Stanza:

$$\text{"To Mer-cy, Pi-ty, Peace, and Love"} = 8 \text{ syllables}$$
$$\text{"All pray in their dis-tress"} = 6 \text{ syllables}$$
$$\text{"And to these vir-tues of de-light"} = 8 \text{ syllables}$$
$$\text{"Re-turn their thank-ful-ness."} = 6 \text{ syllables}$$

Pattern Observed:
The lines alternate between 8 syllables and 6 syllables. This is the pattern of the Common Metre (also called the Ballad Metre), which follows the scheme: 8–6–8–6 syllables per stanza.

Metrical Foot:
As stated, two syllables make one foot. The pattern here is iambic — the first syllable of each foot is unstressed (u) and the second syllable is stressed (/):

$$u\;/\;\;u\;/\;\;u\;/\;\;u\;/$$
$$\text{to MER | cy PI | ty PEACE | and LOVE} \quad (4 \text{ iambic feet} = \text{iambic tetrameter})$$

$$u\;/\;\;u\;/\;\;u\;/$$
$$\text{all PRAY | in THEIR | dis TRESS} \quad (3 \text{ iambic feet} = \text{iambic trimeter})$$

Conclusion:
The poem is written in iambic tetrameter (8 syllables, 4 feet) alternating with iambic trimeter (6 syllables, 3 feet) — the classic Common Metre or Ballad Metre. This metre gives the poem a simple, song-like, hymn-like quality, which is entirely appropriate since Blake modelled his *Songs of Innocence* on the simple hymns written for children by Isaac Watts. The regularity and musicality of the metre reinforce the poem's message of harmony and divine order.