Comparison of the Poems The Tyger and The Lamb Essay

Comparison of the Poems The Tyger and The Lamb In William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience we are confronted with a powerful juxtaposition of nature. The innocuous ‘lamb’ and the ferocious ‘Tyger’ are designed to be interpreted in comparison with each other. Both creatures innovatively define childhood, they provide a contrast between youthful innocence and the experience of age contaminating it. ‘The Lamb’ is simplistic in vocabulary and style, Blake uses childish repetitions nostalgic of children’s nursery rhymes. â€Å"Little Lamb I’ll tell thee, Little Lamb I’ll tell thee:â€Å" This childish concept is significant as the reader is informed in the second stanza that the voice of the poem is of a child: ‘I a child †¦show more content†¦The image of a wild animal existing in the shadows of ‘the night’ proposes that it is the beastly alter-egos, or parts of our personality that we would preferably keep hidden in our dreams rather than appear in the light of day. With experience humans recognise the floors in their personality whether it be jealousy, arrogance etc. Children are at the beginning process of learning, and are naà ¯ve of their attributes as they are stil on the path of discovery. The Lamb symbolically represents the endearing curiosity that is commonly associated with that of a child’s. A child is inquisitive in spirit, often asking questions and expecting answers like the poem ‘The Lamb’. This poem implies that children possess an untainted conception of creation and an adoration for all things celes tial: â€Å"Gave thee clothing of delight, /Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice,† Questioning in ‘The Tyger’ differs from ‘The Lamb’, it consists of rhetorical questions directed at the ‘Tyger,’ though they are much directed at the reader. The poem questions the identity of the creator and discusses how the ‘Tyger’ could have been created. The fact that there are no answers in ‘The Tyger’ adheres to the complexity of adult life differentiating from ‘The Lamb’ where answers are provided. The Tyger is a creature both cruel and awe-inspiring to humans, it is this duplicity that makes the poem ambiguous: ‘What immortal hand or eye,/ Could frameShow MoreRelatedComparison of Two Poems: the Tyger and the Lamb844 Words   |  4 PagesI chose to do the comparison between ‘The Tyger’ and ‘The Lamb’ because they both have similar themes but are concerned with very different aspects of life. ‘The Tyger’ concentrates on the dangers to be faced in life and nature while ‘The Lamb’ celebrates nature as seen through the innocent eyes of a child. Blake examines different, almost opposite or contradictory ideas about the natural world, its creatures and their Creator. William Blake is the narrator of both poems which emphasizes hisRead MoreThe Contrasting World Views in William Blake’s â€Å"the Lamb† and â€Å"the Tyger†941 Words   |  4 PagesThe Contrasting World Views in William Blake’s â€Å"The Lamb† and â€Å"The Tyger† A person’s view of the world is very situational, depending on their life experiences and their religious beliefs. William Blake examines two different world views in the poems â€Å"The Lamb,† and â€Å"The Tyger.† These poems were written as a pairing which were shown in Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience respectively. While the first poem deals with a view of the world as innocent and beautiful, the other suggestsRead MoreThe Lamb and the Tyger Essay1437 Words   |  6 PagesThe Tyger and The Lamb by William Blake, written in 1794 included both of these poems in his collection Songs of Innocence and Song of Experience, takes readers on a journey of faith. Through a cycle of unanswered questions, William Blake motivates the readers to question God. These two poems are meant to be interpreted in a comparison and contrast. They share two different perspectives, those being innocence and experience. To Blake, innocence is not better than experience. Both states haveRead More, Allusion, And Symbolism In The Tyger By William Blake771 Words   |  4 PagesIn the poem â€Å"The Tyger† by William Blake, the use of rhyme, repetition, allusion, and symbolism all help the reader understand the theme and what was going through the authors thoughts while writing. William Blake was a mystic poet who channeled his thoughts and questions to write poems. He questioned the creator of both the Tyger and lamb, how could the same God create a destructive creature like the Tyger and on the other hand create a gentle animal, the lamb. This ties into the theme of theRead MoreWilliam Blake s The Lamb And The Tyger1493 Words   |  6 Pages(1794). Two standout poems, â€Å"The Lamb† and â€Å"The Tyger,† respectively taken from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, demonstrate Blake’s meditation on how innocence and experience in life create a binary and complementary relationship that is observable in our outer world as well as in our inner being. As one of the titles in his Songs of Innocence, William Blake chooses the lamb, naturally gentle and docile, as a representative of the concept of innocence. In Blake’s poem, a child shepherd addressesRead MoreWilliam Blake in Contrast of Songs of Innocence and of Experience1452 Words   |  6 PagesEN 222-Intro to British Lit. II April 21, 2012 William Blake in contrast of Songs of Innocence and of Experience William Blake, an engraver, exemplified his passion for children through his many poems. Blake lived in London most of his life and many fellow literati viewed him as eccentric. He claimed to have interactions with angels and prophets, which had a great influence on his outlook of life. Blake believed all prominent entities, those being church, state, and government had become sick withRead MoreEssay about The Tyger1558 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Tyger†- Magnificence of a Tiger Many of the creatures of the world have exquisite and beautiful characteristics in their appearance which puts us in a state of awe and wonder. According to the speaker in â€Å"The Tyger†, the tiger is a creature with an admirable appearance and leaves the speaker in awe and amazement. â€Å"The Tyger† consists of a series of rhetorical questions that attempt to reconstruct the process of the formidable animal’s creation (Explanation of: The Tyger by WilliamRead MoreEssay on The Symmetry: A World with Both Lamb and Tiger1063 Words   |  5 Pagespain and terror? The Tyger by William Blake, written in 1794 and included in his collection Songs of Innocence and Experience, takes readers on a journey of faith. Through a cycle of unanswered questions, William Blake motivates the readers to question God. Blake sees a necessity for balance in the world, and suggests to the readers that God created a world with a balance of good and evil so that humanity can see goodness more clearly through contrast and comparison. This theme is achievedRead MoreWilliam Blake : The Common Symbolism Of The Lamb1677 Words   |  7 Pagesand mild lamb, and the child can clearly make that inference. â€Å"Little Lamb I’ll tell thee, Little Lamb I’ll tell thee! He is called by thy name† (Blake 723). The previous quote described that Christ was a lamb, and every person was a young lamb admired by God at one time. â€Å"The Lamb† was part of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and the viewpoint was from a child’s perspective. The child recognized the lamb’s gentleness and generosity. As a result, the lamb was symbolic of Christ, the lamb of God. BlakeRead MoreComparison between the Tyger and the Lamb518 Words   |  2 PagesComparison between the Tyger and the Lamb The Tyger and the Lamb were printed five years apart within two separate collections of poems. The Lamb was within Songs of Innocence (1789), and the Tyger was within Songs of Experience (1794). The two collections came together to be Songs of Innocence and of Experience Showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. This should be viewed as significant because the revised name itself shows the two poems contradictions. The two poems display contrasting