Versedays: The Divine Image by William Blake

I was thinking the other day that our blog is lacking a little something. And that is poetry! When Lifewordsmith was launched it was meant to introduce readers to both prose as well as verse. But somewhere along the way, our busy lives forgot the beauty of poetry.

So now one day a week Lifewordsmith will publish a poem that has caught our attention in some way and share it with you readers along with our thoughts. We have chosen Thursday as our poetry day as it's the day of the week when people are almost nearing the weekend and yet there is one more day of work/college/school, anything, to go. A good poem always makes passing the day easier and jives things up a bit in our otherwise routine lives. So here is the first poem - Thursdays are now Versedays! :)

A Divine Image

by

William Blake

Cruelty has a human heart,
And Jealousy a human face;
Terror the human form divine,
And secrecy the human dress.

The human dress is forged iron,
The human form a fiery forge,
The human face a furnace seal'd,
The human heart its hungry gorge.

We all know Blake for his most famous poem, "Tyger Tyger burning bright," which was perhaps a staple in our English books during our schooldays. Now I must tell you that I am not a great analyzer of poetry, and I don't understand its layers many times. But I love the sound of it, the play of words and lyrical quality. The Divine Image fit perfectly in my understanding. I loved its pithiness and the way Blake addresses the different emotions among humans - Jealousy, Cruelty and Terror. And of course the strong symbolism for which, Blake is known. Wikipedia has a summarized explanation. But I would love to hear insights from those of you who know poetry better than me. :)

The image is that of an engraved plate from the original published version of Blakes "Songs of Innocence" from which The Divine Image is taken.

Image Credit: Openlearn