The Divine Image and A Divine Image: William Blake's Religious Gnostic Perspectives

Abstract

It is well known that most of poems in Song of Innocence (1789) are contrary images to some of the in Songs of Experiences (1794). Both collections share two states of human souls. However, in some of the poems, William Blake distinguishes them by giving identical titles, as in The Devine Image and A Divine image or by giving completely different titles. This technique in Blake's songs gives clues to his intention to provide his readers with the direct shift from innocence to experience, from the universal view of the world to that limited, self-centered one. Moreover, in these two poems, the poet's condemnation of the tyranny of religion and the Church appears directly. It appears through his depiction of the existence of God in humans through the coexistence and disappearance of particular virtues. This paper will, first, shed light on the parallel between the two poems and how they interact with/build on/contrast one another. Second, it will shed light on William Blake's religious outlook in revolt to initialized Christianity.