William Blake, as a libertarian and political writer interested in Romantic values ​​regarding the freedom of the human spirit and freedom, wrote his "Songs of Innocence and Experience ” in an attempt to attack the corrupt political systems and institutions of the era in which he was writing, during the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment; in his songs, Blake proposes rebellion against such systems, as well as defining his ideal of utopia within his "Songs of Innocence", with the virtues of "mercy, pity, peace and love" found in "The Divine Image" which aptly sums up Blake's image of Utopia, with such virtues clearly nowhere to be found in the corrupt society that Blake describes in his "Songs of Experience" in poems such as "London" and "Maundy Thursday ". Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay A topic of Blake's social and political protest within his "Songs of Innocence and Experience" is that of the church, as if he himself were a Christian, he can be seen attacking the distorted version of religion that supports destructive ideologies who exploit and harm the vulnerable, ignoring traditional values ​​of charity and mercy and instead allowing racism and the suffering of children, as seen in "The Little Black Boy". ' and 'Maundy Thursday' respectively. In "The Divine Image", the speaker (presumably Blake's voice or the expression of Blake's thoughts), personifies the virtues of "Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love" and states that these are "God, our Father dear", suggesting that God himself is the personification of these virtues, these qualities are what we should aspire to within humanity, creating a link between God and humanity as all prayers to "Mercy, Mercy, Peace and Love" should be directed not only to God but to the 'divine human form'; through this, Blake can be seen to emphasize the superlative importance of these qualities of the heart within humanity and protest against those religious followers who act hypocritically by allowing children such as those in "The Chimney Sweep" or "Maundy Thursday" to suffer while those of power and the hierarchical church allow such vast inequalities within society. Blake's "Songs of Innocence" can be seen to create a utopia, much like More's, where the virtues of mercy, piety, peace and love are abundant and then shown to be lacking in the world described in his "Songs of experience" who criticize and protest against the corrupt authorities of his time, proposing a proposal for rebellion to establish a more idealized and liberated state. In "The Shepherd", for example, the character of the shepherd can be interpreted as a God-like figure as he acts similarly towards his sheep as the omnibenevolent God of the Bible can be seen acting towards humanity, showing love. towards his sheep as "his tongue will be full of praise", suggesting that he takes a caring and supportive role towards his "sweet lot", along with "peace" which figures prominently in the poem as the shepherd he is described as being "watchful" towards his sheep "while they are at peace,/for they know when their shepherd is near", alluding to a relationship between the shepherd and his sheep in which the sheep put faith in the shepherd as their protector and loving father figure: just like the loving image of God emphasized by Blake. In this way, then, the virtues of mercy, piety, peace and love outlined in "The Divine Image" can be seen to play a role in Blake's description of a utopian society and in his ideal image of religion as a frontunited and loving. between humanity and God, which in turn lends itself to setting up his proposal for rebellion in the "Songs of Innocence and Experience". It can also be seen that Blake explores the virtues of mercy, pity, peace and love in his "Songs of Innocence" poem "The Little Black Boy", in which a black child who has experienced racial prejudice describes a conversation with his mother who assures him that his "soul is white" and that one day he will go to heaven where God will show him "love". In the poem, the boy's mother can be seen showing him all four qualities of mercy, pity, peace and love as outlined in "The Divine Image" while the boy describes how he "took me in his lap and kissed me" demonstrating an act loving and motherly showing pity towards the boy who feels as if he is "devoid of light", alluding to God's love as "light" as an image is often used by Blake to refer to the presence of God, suggesting that the boy feels that God does not love him in the same way as the English children around him, who are instead depicted as "angels", and therefore automatically shown love from God. The boy's mother then goes on to lovingly assure the boy that he is just as, if not more, worthy of God's love as other children as he lent himself to "endure the rays of love" that caused "the black bodies and this sunburnt face', working to instill a sense of mental peace in the child who before being told this showed anguish at having been separated from the 'English child' and seen by him as 'deprived of light'. The depiction of God presented by Blake through the mother's loving voice in the poem further displays these virtues, as he is said to have said "come out of the grove, my love and care, / And around my golden tent like lambs rejoice", with the 'image of a 'grove' as a small woodland suggesting a confined, shaded area where perhaps the downtrodden such as the 'little black boy' metaphorically reside as they are removed from the rest of society, and the gentle tone paired with the imperative of ' come out' showing the caring and fatherly nature of God while lovingly, showing mercy towards those who have resided in the 'grove', calls upon the oppressed to 'like lambs rejoice' in his 'love' and care", the image of the "lamb ” is one found throughout Blake's poetry as a symbol of innocence and purity. Since racial prejudice is at the heart of Blake's social and political protest, therefore, the depiction of God as a loving father figure who shows mercy and love particularly towards everyone regardless of their race, as demonstrated in "The Little Black Boy", acts as a form of protest against the conservative and racist views of the government of its time and acts as a proposed rebellion against those who perceive children whites as superior to black children because in the eyes of God, Blake illustrates, individuals of all races are perceived as equal and are equally worthy of each other's love. Mercy, pity, peace and love can be further seen as apt descriptions of Blake's proposal for his rebellion when looking at his political ideologies, along with his depictions of these virtues within his poetry. Blake was politically a radical libertarian, who admired Thomas Paine and can be seen to draw from his ideas regarding the defense of equal political rights and the attack on hierarchical government and monarchy as set out in his 1790 novel "The Rights of 'man", and to a certain extent the attack on the contradictory claims made by the Christian Church in its "The Age of Reason". These virtues are pertinent throughout his "Songs of Innocence," through, ad’.