Walking the Wall

William Blake wrote A Divine Image in two forms, one from Songs of Innocence, and one from Songs of Experience–but while Experience is “a” divine image, Innocence is “the” divine image. It is interesting to see the difference and similarities of this one stanza:

Songs of Experience/A Divine Image:

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

Songs of Innocence/The Divine Image

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

According to Celeste Loughman in “The Self in Recoil,” Kenzaburo Oe (Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids) calls for people, while looking in the face of inhumanity, to recoil into the innocence of mercy, pity, peace, and love. She writes that he echoes Sartre’s view that however limited one’s power may be, we are always free to say no.