I also noticed a thread of social consciousness trailing throughout Blake’s poems, even in the ones that didn’t directly focus on the oppressed. For example, “The Divine Image” initially appears to be an uncontroversial poem about Christian values, but Blake concludes the work with an overt message of social commentary in the final lines “And all must love the human form, / in heathen, turk or jew; where Mercy, Love & Pity dwell / There God is dwelling too.” Blake seems to argue that all humans regardless of their religion exalt and crave these virtues while reminding Christians that they supposed to love all of God’s creatures, even those that are different from them. His message is even mirrored in the syntax of the section since traditionally capitalized words denoting religion and nationality are lower case while the importance of universal virtues that transcend these categories are emphasized through capitalization. On the whole Blake’s poems emphasize unity, oneness and caring for all of mankind and I definitely recognize the spirit of the revolution and its values such as harmony and equality throughout his separate works.
I agree that Blake, as a poet, uses his seemingly simple, lyrical poems to convey some more substantive criticisms on various social institutions. If we consider some of his key arguments to be for the" unity, oneness, and caring for all mankind" then do you think in his songs of experience that Blake is commenting on the deterioration of these social institutions? Many of his poems from "Songs of Experience" correspond or are responses to those from "songs of innocence". Thus, it would follow that Blake is attempting to illustrate the deterioration of society through experience and time.
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