Compare and contrast the poems The Tyger and The Donkey and

Compare and contrast the poems The Tyger and The Donkey and

discuss which poet gives us the clearest depiction of humanity.

William Blake is a wealthy, upper-class writer who separates himself

from the rest of the wealthy community. Blake has a hate for the

techniques used by many of the wealthy, company owners who gain and

capitalise through cheap and expendable labour, supplied by the

ever-growing poverty in the country. Blake makes a point to try and

reveal this industrial savagery through his work. "The Tyger" is

presented as a metaphorical approach to the struggle between the rich

and the poor; good and evil. The several references to good and evil

reinforce this idea and meaning.

"The Tyger" holds one great metaphorical element, which is, what

created the tiger? Good or evil? It raises many theories for the

tiger's existence but the main point is to show that there is good and

evil in everyone and everything. Blake shows us how something so

beautiful can really be both beautiful but still retain a certain

ferocity and savagery. Such as the wealthy factory owners of the 18th

century, they offered a well-paid job and good employment benefits,

but that was all just a façade. The truth was cramped and dangerous

working conditions, low pay and long hours; yet the people continued

to labour in these factories at their own expense, while the wealthy

owner sat back and watched workers toil and cash flow. The metaphor

for this is like temptation, desperation and greed can lead people to

be fooled, though true these people weren't greedy yet they were

desperate for money to survive, although they could not judge

correctly for themselves and became entrapped in the businessman's

deception. Just like "The T...

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...tent, the final stanza sums up everything within the poem, after

all the questions it comes to a conclusion in the form of a final

question:

"What immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry?"

"The Donkey" has a unique rhythm, one that also relates to the animal

being referred to. The rhyme pattern imitates the donkeys walk,

1-2-1-2, this concept isn't easily recognised, but to notice it, shows

the depth of the poem. Chesterton either included this simply by

chance or meant to do it, which shows a strong backbone to his

writings.

Both poems are similar in many respects and both writers share common

ideas, the use of animals to portray ideas and the views they have

about human kind. Both "The Tyger" and "The Donkey" show elements of

each other, and this is reflected in the writer, two great minds, with

great mindsets on life and human kind.