A Divine Image

It is evident that Mr. Blake has no problem satirizing even his own work. This can be seen in "A Divine Image" and "The Divine Image". "The Divine Image", which is found in Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, is a poem which compares human beings to a divine entity, such as Jesus Christ. William Blake makes a point that qualities such as mercy, pity, peace, and love are naturally found in the human condition. He personifies these traits and compares to the human heart, face, form, and dress. This is pretty positive as you get the sense that Blake really admires the human race. "A Divine Image", however, comes from a different point of view. This latter poem clearly mocks the former. Instead of positive qualities and traits, he uses negative qualities such as cruelty, jealousy, terror, and secrecy to describe human nature. Just like the former poem, he personifies these traits with the human heart, face, form, and dress. He clearly does not regard human beings so highly anymore. This poem is ironic, however, as he is describing how far from divine humans really are in a poem titled simply as "A Divine Image".

London

Not all of William Blake's poems are happy and upbeat. Some are very dark and critical. In my opinion, his "darker", more critical poems are his better poems.
His poem, “London”, which can be found in his collection of poems titled Songs of Innocence and Experience, takes on this perspective. In this poem, the narrator travels through the streets of London, and it is safe to say he is disturbed and a little disgusted by what he sees. He sees a cry in every face he comes across. He sees cries of fears, cries of weakness, and cries of woes. Observing his references to Church and the monarchy, it is quite clear that he sees that these institutions are a part of the big system and structure that are the reason behind the cries of despair heard everywhere. However, he goes further and criticizes the people within this system for allowing themselves to be enslaved and trapped in an infinite loop that won't allow them to break free. This criticism is seen when he talks about "mind-forg'd manacles". Also, when he talks about the harlot, it seems as if he is saying that even at the moment of our birth we are already thrown into this infinite cycle of misery.

The Nurse's Song

Renown poet William Blake has a reputation of using his works as tools to express his social commentary. Some of his commentary are stern and critical. Others, however, are very upbeat and positive. These works give off a "I have hope for humanity" vibe. An example of this would be his poem, "The Nurse's Song". The poem involves a group of young children playing outside in the hills. They are laughing and running around like typical kids do. The sun starts to set and it gets darker and darker. The nurse, who is watching over their fun, asks them to come inside like any concerned adult would. They plead with her to let them stay up and play. She can't say no and lets them play on. The kids shout and scream with joy and happiness and resume their joyous shenanigans. From my perspective, William Blake is telling his readers that there is a special kind of innocence and joy that only little kids can possess. These kids are stress-free and not worried about a single thing in the world. They do not care about the impending nightfall or about the next day may bring. They are only focused on playing in the present. The joy and innocence of kids seems to also harmonize with nature as seen with the references to birds and sheep.

William Blake

As I read through some of the poems constructed by English Romantic poet William Blake, I learn to appreciate him for his simplicity. When reading "A Poison Tree" I found that it was very easy to read and follow along. It alternates between iambic tetrameter and trochaic trimeter and employs a very simple AABB rhyme scheme. This gives the poem a very simple, nursery/"sing-songy" vibe, almost like this was meant for very young audience. This is very misleading as the theme of the poem (which can summed up by the following: without an outlet, anger that is cultivated by fears and lies can turn into a destructive wrath) is pretty dark and definitely not something you would want your four-year old meditating on. What is really impressive to me is that, despite "A Poison Tree" being a relatively simple and easy read, William Blake is still able to intertwine some complex and though-provoking themes and symbols which underlie his intended message. He is able to make a gloomy, dark tone work while still using a "nursery" rhythm. His simplicity may have stemmed off and reflected the simple and meager life he actually lived. He is able to use relatively simple diction to create very creative and expressive ideas. This simplicity is what I appreciate most about William Blake.