Two Poems

The Divine Image

To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
All pray in their distress;
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.

For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is God, our father dear,
And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is Man, his child and care.

For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face,
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.

Then every man, of every dime
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine,
Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.

And all must love the human form,
In heathen, turk, or jew;
Where Mercy, Love & Pity dwell
There God is dwelling too.

-William Blake (1757 - 1827), Songs of Innocence

A Divine Image

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 sealed,
The human heart its hungry gorge.

-William Blake (1757 - 1827), Songs of Experience

I came across these while learning some music yesterday, and they made me pause for thought. We hold so much potential for greatness as humans. We also seem to have the potential to achieve amazing acts of atrocity, violence, hate, and ugliness. It seems that the choice is up to us, no? I found both tremendous responsibility and freedom in this little reminder that we create our own reality.