Cruelty has a human heart,
And Jealousy a human face;
Terror the human form divine,
And Secresy the human dress.
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Looking at the world today,
the suffering in every part,
who could argue if I say
Cruelty has a human heart?
Those who feel deprived complain
of those who have a softer place,
Envy has a human brain
And Jealousy a human face.
The grapes of wrath are yearly pressed
and yield their crop of bitter wine,
Destruction lies within our breast,
Terror the human form divine.
The truth considered indiscreet,
he fears the words he can't confess;
the tongue of man is all Deceit,
And Secresy the human dress.
Author notes
Text: http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/31-William-Blake-A-Divine-Image
Glosa form: http://www.noggs.dsl.pipex.com/vf/glose.htm
In a list
Agree or disagree?
Comments
1 - 15 of 15
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An excellent play off the original. Unfortunately, the human face is still the same after the centuries. Chilling! Patricia
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OooH I like it.
A new face on this transplant.
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Awesome, gripping, excellent!!
This is so gripping it steals away the self to another place where one is fearfull yet, commited to tread... to understand... to dwell... certainly, I was lost in this spell you cast!! Excellent write brava!! Two thumbs up!!
Congratulations poet!!
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This is a negative view of humanity, which we will agree with at times; at others, we hope for better. Thank you for your appreciation, Myst.
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There is one thing to be said for the human condition: its grief has produced poems through the ages, hence the spelling of Secresy. Today's poems will provide a bumper crop of original spelling, if not thought.
I am impressed by the smooth way the single borrowed line each time fits into its new setting, transplanted there with no rootshock at all!
Had you not provided the initial quatrain, I would merely have asked if that key word was a typo!
A superb job!
Terry
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Thank you Terry, I enjoyed fitting the lines in, and I am happy you recognize the effort. I have started calling the glosa form a "muse transfusion".
Today's poems in print are a different matter from what we see here. Very few poems are recalled a century later.
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very good; I like this. Thanks Blake. (I feel like Elizabeth Smart calling out to his sunflowers.) Thought maybe "enough" could be "just" in the final stanza.
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The truth considered indiscreet,
he fears the words he can't confess;
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Thank you Marcy.
That is a true bump in the meter, and I must think some more about the whole stanza. Duress is a great rhyme for dress, but "just duress" or "due duress" does not have the sense of compulsion that I want.
It's funny that Blake's verse applies to people we know, but not to the ones we like.
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Your poem is exceptional in meaning and style, it read intelligently and in an accomplished manner, meant as high praise since most I read fall far short of each.
Of course they should seem to have human attributes, they are after-all human traits. I wouldn't feel comfortable dressing up any other creature in them. I'm certainly not ready to say an animal kills out of cruelty or has any concept of jealousy. Any attempt is akin to a pathetic fallacy.
Humans are such fantastic savages, both beautiful and hideous, mainly all potential with little fulfillment. Still enchanted with things devoid of logic and common sense, believing in things best forgotten a thousand years ago, and still ruled by passion, greed and self-love.
Someone forgot to fill up the empty vessel.
That's not only what I divined from your poem, but also what I believe.
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Thank you for your thoughtful and interesting comment. It is a sad fact that human nature has a shadow. What can we do, except own it and strive to overcome it? It seems more difficult than it is, the shadow always lies on the ground.
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I agree
"The truth is seldom thought discreet"
Yet I must reveal it soon or be in duress
For my compliment kept secret not undressed
Would miss its chance to applaud this poetic feat
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Thank you dear, that is a lovely compliment.
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I agree!
You have spoken my heart ... I often tell people: do not blame GOD for things YOU do wrong ... Men kill men. Being it by word or by sword. Children are taught to be compulsive about "success" and in the process step on others to get to the top; cruelty, jealousy, secresy, and fear all carry the face of the "divine" human.
Lovely flow, and use of language throughout. I read this with such admiration for your skills, Poetess.
Love
Myra
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Thank you Myra! It has been so from the first days, that humans try to shift the blame to someone else, instead of correcting the problem. A mistake is not such a bad thing, until it is hidden.
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