A Creator of Innocence and Terror?
Could there be a creator that has the audacity to create one creature so pure, gentle, and innocent then, in turn, create another creature of a hideous nature, so terrifying that one could be driven to insanity just by thinking upon it? In William Blake’s poems “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” he describes such a creator as this. The reader will find that there are several similarities between the two poems, but in these similarities there are also various differences.
In William Blake’s poem “The Lamb” the speaker begins with the ultimate question, “Little Lamb, who made thee?/ Dost though know who made thee?/” (Blake lines 1-2). The speaker then continues to elaborate on the question in a playful, innocent, singsong manner describing the kindness and thoughtfulness that the creator put in to producing this ever so gentle lamb. The tone of this poem is soft and lulling, the tender, calm rhyme scheme puts the reader in a soothing, dreamlike state. “The words and images presented - stream, mead, delight, softest, tender and rejoice - are positive and pastoral. One can picture a lamb frolicking in the green grass…” (Smith).
In the second stanza the speaker restates the question, then proudly the speaker declares, “Little Lamb I’ll tell thee,/ Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!/” (Blake lines 11-12). Allusions to Christianity blossom in the poem at this point as the speaker states that the creator of this lamb is called by the same name. In Christianity, Jesus Christ is referred to as the lamb of God and/or the Sheppard, His followers are also referred to as His flock. The speaker then proceeds to state that he and the lamb are one and the same, ending the poem with “Little Lamb God bless thee./ Little Lamb God bless thee./(Blake lines 19-20) this invokes reassurance in the reader.
William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” also asks the ultimate question “What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?/” (Blake lines 3-4). The tone of this poem is more of a horrific nature. The speaker seems as if he is trying to escape this horrendous beast, the reader can almost feel the panic and terror that the speaker seems to be going through. “Blake creates this effect by drawing on several poetic devices”(Furr). The first of these is trochaic meter, which gives the poem an underlying beat or chant like quality.
In the poem there are sheep and goats which in comparison are followers of god and non followers. The sheep represented people who were loyal to god, who always led the right road and if they so much sinned, they would ask god for forgiveness. Goats were people who did not have faith
In the poem, "The Lamb," from Songs of Innocence, William Blake asks the little lamb, "Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee?" (1351). It is here where the author purposely questions the reader and leaves the reader, wandering for an answer to that precise question. The author then continues by leading the reader to an indirect possible answer to his question by saying "Little Lamb I'll tell thee! / He is called by thy name, / For he calls himself a Lamb" and proceeds a line later with "He became a little child; / I a child & thou a lamb." It is apparent that he doesn't exactly give a direct answer. He mentions in an roundabout way that the lamb's creator calls himself a Lamb and that he became a little child. This vague background provides an idea who the creator actually is, but not enough to somehow match the creator with God from the biblical texts. And, since the information is vague, the reader really can't come to a narrowed conclusion because the answer itself depends on the reader's beliefs and experiences and so therefore leaves the true answer to the question still unanswered.
William Blake, was born in 1757 and died in 1827, created the poems “The Lamb,” “The Tyger,” and Proverbs of Hell. Blake grew up in a poor environment. He studied to become an Engraver and a professional artist. His engraving took part in the Romanticism era. The Romanticism is a movement that developed during the 18th and early 19th century as a reaction against the Restoration and Enlightenment periods focuses on logic and reason. Blake’s poetry would focus on imagination. When Blake created his work, it gained very little attention. Blake’s artistic and poetic vision consists in his creations. Blake was against the Church of England because he thought the doctrines were being misused as a form of social control, it meant the people were taught to be passively obedient and accept oppression, poverty, and inequality. In Blake’s poems “The Lamb,” “The Tyger,” and Proverbs of Hell, he shows that good requires evil in order to exist through imagery animals and man.
In “The lamb” the short poem describes the lamb’s wool and soft voice as a representation of a meek child. In “The Tyger” the poem outline the beauty and fear the tiger gives people and challenges if the same creator could have made the lamb and the tiger because they are so different. The author asks, “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”(Blake, 691) which probably means that whomever made the tiger would have to have a different outlook on life that he or she could create such a beautiful monster. In contrast to the lamb which looks pretty and soft and acts the same way. Whereas, a tiger is majestically beautiful but is also an unsafe predator who hunts meek animals in order
middle of paper ... ... Through symbolism and reference, Blake’s “The Tyger” effectively portrays civilized human existence. Although “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” appear to be fairly different in subject matter, both poems include a deep, indirect portrayal of Rousseau’s noble savage myth. Also, both poems include a variety of romantic ideals.
In conclusion these two poems by William Blake are both deep and have hidden meanings, they both use imagery, repetition, alliteration and ryming couplets as well as biblical references to create a vivid pictures in the readers head. But these poems do differ in many ways such as the structure, theme and way it is written. The Tyger appeals to me most as it has more hidden meanings than the Lamb and the Lamb is boring and as if written by a child (for effect). In this essay I have analysed, contrasted and compared the two poems The Tyger and The Lamb to the best of my ability detailing the poetic devices used and the underlying meanings.
William Blake focused on biblical images in the majority of his poetry and prose. Much of his well-known work comes from the two compilations Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. The poems in these compilations reflect Blake's metamorphosis in thought as he grew from innocent to experienced. An example of this metamorphosis is the two poems The Divine Image and A Divine Image. The former preceded the latter by one year.
This essay provides a Reader-Response based analysis of William Blake’s “The Tyger.” Following a brief overview of Reader-Response theory, where the subjects of the reader serve to give meaning to text, the essay begins focusing on the contradiction and the division that lives within the tiger itself. Blake’s “Tyger” is simultaneously a beautiful and ferocious creature. From this, the essay moves forward by examining the multiple references to symmetry made by Blake in “The Tyger,” and proposes that these are an overall collection that contains many of the tiger’s contradictions. Moving forward, the essay proposes, within the context of a secondary literature that debates the realism of Blake’s portrayal of the tiger, that while Blake does not represent an accurate tiger in his poem, this is largely irrelevant as the work is focused not on the tiger as an actual animal, but rather on the tiger as a myth of nature. With all of the above in mind, the essay concludes by noting that “The Tyger” is especially open to Reader-Response analyses because of its open-ended portrayal of the tiger as well as its openness to divergent interpretations.
By using syntax and a dreary tone, “The Tyger” by William Blake reveals how everyone has their fears. In line 8, Blake says,”What the hand, dare seize the fire.” Instead of phrasing it in a normal, generic manner, he states the subject, hand, before
William Blake’s 1793 poem “The Tyger” has many interpretations, but its main purpose is to question God as a creator. Its poetic techniques generate a vivid picture that encourages the reader to see the Tyger as a horrifying and terrible being. The speaker addresses the question of whether or not the same God who made the lamb, a gentle creature, could have also formed the Tyger and all its darkness. This issue is addressed through many poetic devices including rhyme, repetition, allusion, and symbolism, all of which show up throughout the poem and are combined to create a strong image of the Tyger and a less than thorough interpretation of its maker.
William Blake was born and raised in London from 1757 to 1827. Throughout his early years, Blake experienced many strange and unusual visions, claiming to have seen “angels and ghostly monks” (Moore). For those reasons, William Blake decided to write about mystical beings and Gods. Two examples of the poet expressing his point of view are seen in “The Tyger” and “The Lamb.” Both poems demonstrate how the world is and to sharpen one’s perception. People perceive the world in their own outlook, often times judging things before they even know the deeper meaning of its inner personification. Blake’s wondrous questions actually make an acceptable point because he questions whether God created the tiger with the same intentions as he did with the lamb.
The idea of intentional flaws may be perplexing at first, but Blake is subconsciously mimicking and following the mold that God has created. Innocence and evil, good and bad exists in many aspects. From the imperfect symmetry of the poem’s form to the incongruent harmony between the poem and the illustration, they all emphasize the idea that good and evil exist simultaneously. It is only with an imperfect world is one able to gather knowledge, make mistakes, and gain experience. It all comes full circle when looking back at the collection, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, that the poem The Tyger is derived from. Without both evil and good, the author would not have had the ability to identify with experience, and the poem The Tyger would not be the
giving the tiger an even more awe-inspiring quality. The stanza finishes with "Did he who made the lamb make thee?" Which gives the idea of disbelief at the prospect of a creator making a harmless pleasant creature such as the lamb and a dangerous mighty and awful creature like the tiger. b) Explore the ways Blake uses imagery and repetition in this poem. The most obvious repetition in this poem is the "Tiger"!
The sublime is the feeling of delightful horror associated with powerful, large objects that produce both a feeling of awe and fear. Blake alludes to the “fearful symmetry” (4) of the Tyger in order to create the sublime feeling that the creature is both daunting but exquisite. The sublime quality develops further when Blake asks “What dread hand? & what dread feet?” (12). Implementing the word “dread” adds to the frightening tone of the poem, creating a sense of wonder and mystery that derives from the sublime. Blake uses the sublime notion to allow the readers to process the enormity of both the Tyger and its creator, helping develop the poet’s main question; what “immortal hand or eye” (3) could be so powerful to create a formidable creature like the Tyger? The poem “The Tyger” is complexified by the unusual spelling Blake chose for the word “tiger”. The purpose of the alternative spelling is to enhance the complexity of divine creation, Blake’s main concern throughout the poem. The spelling of “Tyger” is also employed to suggest to the reader that the Tyger discussed in the poem is a different, darker beast than the jungle tiger. Humanity, the devil, or sinful actions themselves could all be argued as the “Tyger” Blake refers to. Blake himself does not explain why he misspelled the word, adding to the unanswered questions, which the entire poem consists of,
William Blake - The Lamb William Blake's "The Lamb" is an attempt to bring life's ultimate. questions through the voice of a child-like speaker. The poem is structured with the question as the first stanza and the answer as the second stanza. Blake initially introduces a naive child asking simple questions but later dives into deep philosophical theories regarding life and creation as the child in turn tries to answer those exact questions. Please contact me for more information.