A Divine Image: Notes

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This poem was replaced by The Human Abstract in the Songs of Experience, as a counterpart to The Divine Image in the Songs of Innocence. As such it directly opposes the view of humanity presented in the Songs of Innocence poem: Man, created in God's image, is seen here in terms of Cruelty, Jealousy, Terror and Secrecy, and characterised by images of fire, emptiness and coldness. As a Songs of Experience poem, however, it is the human (and therefore divine) form as seen from the vantage point of Experience, rather than being Blake's last word on human nature!

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