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A Divine Image

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A Divine Image

A Divine Image is a poem by William Blake from Songs of Experience, not to be confused with "The Divine Image" from Songs of Innocence. The poem only appeared in copy BB of the combined Songs of Innocence and of Experience.

Ralph Vaughan Williams set the poem to music in his 1958 song cycle Ten Blake Songs, under the title "Cruelty Has a Human Heart".

Full Text

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 seal'd,
The human heart its hungry gorge.

References

A Divine Image Wikipedia