University of Prishtina Faculty of Philology English Department

SEMINAR PAPER
Topic: Compare and Contrast William Blakes poems The Tyger and The Lamb

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William Blake, a writer and artist from the 19th century is considered as a seminal figure of the Romantic Age. With his techniques of writing he has influenced many authors, he has always been considered as a major poet and an original thinker. His poems have a very important place in the English literature. His most famous poems The Tyger and The Lamb will be discussed in this paper.

William Blake William Blake was born in London, United Kingdom; although he was a voracious reader and an intelligent person, he left school at the early age of ten to attend the Henry Pars Drawing Academy for five years. Despite the fact that he adored to draw, he as well was very fond of writing poetry. He started to write poetry at the age of twelve, and later on his friends helped him to publish his first work called The poetical Sketches. However, he had to give it up, because of financial problems, so at the end he became an engraver. For a time Blake wrote and draw only for pleasure, but in the other hand he made his living with engraving. In which occupation he became better every day; so he started an experiment in which he wanted to create his first illustrated book. He achieved to do such in the year 1788, when he created Songs of Innocence. Apart from this book, he also published: The book of Thel; The marriage of Heaven and Hell and Songs of Experience. Blake was influenced by the society he lived in, so he very often mirrored the society in which he lived in his writings (Lambert, 2013). 0Living near the end of a century, born in a period of imperialistic wars, coming to maturity during the American Revolution and to the full bloom of his genius during the French Revolution, aware of impending economic change and sick to the bone of ruling hypocrisy, he viewed the events of his own days as the fulfilment of prophecy (Hagstrum,1964)

Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience Blake in most of his writing was anxious with good and evil, as well his strong religious beliefs. It would be impossible to talk about Blakes works, without focusing on the 'Songs of Innocence and Experience', the most important of all his works. Blake's Songs of Innocence
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and Experience which where published in the year 1794, introduced the reader to two different opposites. First, it is the innocent, pastoral world of childhood, and then it is the adult world of evil. The best examples of these two extremes are the two poems, which are being discussed in this paper about. The poem: "The Lamb" which represents one world, the world of meek virtue; and "The Tyger" exhibits the opposing, the evil (Songs of innocence, 2008). However the collection as a whole, explores the different perspectives people encounter in this world. What can be noticed in this collection is that even though it is created by two works; Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience; yet many of the poems fall into pairs, so the same situation or problem is seen through the eyes of innocence first and then experience. The Songs of Innocence deal with the nave hopes and fears of children, and their innocent spirit, while they continue to grow old and enter into adulthood. In this collection, some of the poems are written from the perspective of children (such as the poem The Lamb) while others are about children as seen from an adult perspective. Moreover, The Songs of Experience follow a different form, in general makes a comparison of how people lament the ways in which the cruel experiences of adulthood destroy what is good in innocence, it also articulates the drawbacks of the innocent perspective ( such as the poem "The Tyger"). Finally, the form of The Songs of Innocence and Experience is simple and very often even direct. However, the language and the rhythms have been carefully chosen, whereas the meaning or the ideas that the pomes convey are very often misleadingly complex.

The poems: The Tyger The Tyger is a lyric poem consisting of six four-line stanzas. With the rhyme scheme AA BB CC DD AA AA EF GG FE AA. The poem focuses on the nature of God and his creation; in general the poem is more about the creator of the tyger rather than it is about the tiger
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itself. Through out the poem it is reviled the fact that the God who created the Tyger is the same with the one who created the lamb. The poem is mostly made of rhetorical questions (William Blakes, 2012; Moore, 2004).

Analyses of the poem

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? From the first stanza it can be noticed that the speaker is addressing a Tyger. The repetition of the word Tyger in this stanza and as well as in the entire poem, gives a more powerful sense to the poem. The speaker describes the appearance of the Tyger, how its orange fur, which looks like flame makes light in the forest during nights. In a way he expresses admiration for this special and powerful creature, at the same time the speaker wonders who had been that mighty creator who has chosen so carefully all these qualities for the Tyger. Whose hand or eye created that amazing creature, which has no fear? Many rhetorical questions have been asked during the poem, yet they have never been answered. In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare sieze the fire? The second stanza opens again with a question; the speaker has his doubts about the creator of this Tyger. He wonders whether this Tyger was created in distant deeps which stands for hell; or whether it was created in the skies-heaven. The speaker then assumes that maybe the creator had wings, yet, even if it is true, how is it possible that the creator got so close to the fire in which the Tyger was created. How did the creator endured the heat of this fire while creating the Tyger? And what shoulder, & what art. Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
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And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? The speaker goes on with his rhetorical questions. He wants to know who had been so powerful to create a creature such as the Tyger. Who is the one who had such a creative imagination to create it? Then when the Tyger was created, and its heart begun to beat, which person was it that would stand in front of its creation and fear its hand and feet.

What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? What dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

The fourth stanza continues with the rhetorical questions about the creation of the Tyger. The speaker wonders about the kind of tools the creator had used to build the Tyger? What kind of chain had he used to stop the Tyger of moving? The speaker wants to know every detail, he wants to know about the anvil on which the creator hammered out his creation? After all, how had the creator such courage to grasp the Tyger? How dared he to do such?

When the stars threw down their spears, And water'd heaven with their tears, Did He smile His work to see? Did He who made the lamb make thee?

When the Tyger was created, it begun its domination over the other animals, and not just the animals even the nature gave up upon the great power of the Tyger. As explained in the fifth stanza, even the stars cannot compete with the Tyger, they give up rather than fighting with this beast. In the other hand, the speaker can not get his focus away from the creator. He wonders more about the creator rather then the Tyger itself. This is the reason why in the last two lines of the fifth stanza, the speaker wonders if the creator after having seen his creation is he happy about what he had created. Can he smile with satisfaction upon his work?

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However, above all the speaker wonders if the person who created Tyger is the same as the one who created the Lamb. So, is the person who created good and evil the same one?

Tiger, tiger, burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry

The author repeats the first stanza again in the end of the poem. However, there can be noticed a slight difference, since the last line of the first stanza was: Could frame thy fearful symmetry? Whereas, in this last stanza it is changed into: Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?. The reason why the author changed the line was because he is not interested anymore to know if it is possible to create something like the Tyger ; but he wants answers to his questions as who dared to create such a powerful and frightful creature?

Figures of speech: Different figures of speech have been used (Michael, 2003), such as:

Alliteration: Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright (line 1); Could frame thy fearful symmetry? (line 4);

Anaphor: What dread hands? & what dread feet? What the hammer? What the chain? (lines 12-13);

Metaphor: burnt the fire of thine eyes (line 6)

Allusion:

immortal hand or eye (God or Satan) (line

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distant deeps or skies (Hell or Heaven) (line 5); When the stars threw down their spears (line 17) (a reference to the battle in Heaven between God and the rebel angels.)

Symbols:

The Tyger- Evil (Satan)

The Lamb- Goodness (God)

Anastrophe: Tyger! Tyger! (line 1) Themes:

The evil exist! Many things exist in this world: powerful and meek; but there exist fearful and evil things too! In this poem Blake realizes that God is the one who made the creatures in this world. However, he wants to confuse us with his philosophical beliefs about religion, claiming that God who created the Lamb also created the fearful Tyger, he includes Satan as a possible creator while trying to state his own ideas about it through the many rhetorical questions.

The mystery of creation and creator Blakes poem The Tyger is more about the creator of this Tyger rather then it is about the Tyger. The speaker wonders about the creator of the Tyger, he wants to know if the person who created Tyger is the same as the one who created the Lamb. At the end it is suggested that God created everything, even humans, but he did not gave them everything, because human are lacking of the capacity to be able to understand the mind of God and as well to be able to figure about the mystery of his handiwork.

The Lamb Blakes meditation poem The Lamb consists of two stanzas each of five rhymed couplets. With the rhyme scheme is AA BB CC DD EE FF GG HH II JJ AA BB. It can be noticed that the first two lines of each stanza are repeated in the end of each stanza; which gives the poem the song-like quality. This poem is part of the Songs of Innocence; it is the song of an
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innocent child, who wonders about the creation of the Lamb. The first stanza is rural and descriptive, while the second focuses on abstract spiritual matters (Lorcher, 2013) Analyses of the poem: Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee Gave thee life & bid thee feed. By the stream & o'er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice! Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee.

This is the first stanza of the poem, where a child asked many questions, whereas in the second stanza these questions will be answered. A curious child asks about the creation of the Lamb, he is addressing the Lamb, asking the Lamb personally if it knows who has made it. The child asks the lamb who is the person that gave it life and gave it food. Who is that person that offered so many joys to the lamb, while the lamb wanders in meads and streams? The child describes the lamb as wearing the softest woolly ever. The child claims that the lamb as such a loving voice, as loving as when even the valley hear it are full of joy and happiness. The last two lines of his stanza are the same as the two first ones, in a way it is like a refrain of the first stanza.

Little Lamb I'll tell thee, Little Lamb I'll tell thee! He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb:
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He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child: I a child & thou a lamb, We are called by his name. Little Lamb God bless thee. Little Lamb God bless thee.

The second stanza contains as well five coupled lines; in the second stanza the child answers his own questions. In the first two lines we have the repetition of the same lines; the child says that he is the one who will give answers to his own questions. The child states that the creator of the lamb is a person who calls himself a Lamb. The Lamb of course is a symbol of Jesus. The traditional image of Jesus as a lamb emphasises the Christian values of gentleness, meekness and peace. The child addresses the lamb as meek and mild, just as an innocent child, just as the he himself, this is the reason why he thinks that he can as well be called a Lamb. At the end, the child states that the lamb is blessed, that is has the blessing of God, and he repeats it twice, as being totally convinced about it.

Figures of speech: Blake has used different figures of speech in the meditative poem The Lamb, such as: Alliteration: Little Lamb who made thee (line 1)

Assonance: Dost thou know who made thee (line 2

Metaphor: Making all the vales rejoice! (line 8)

Allusion:

Lamb (Christ)

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Repetitions: Little Lamb I'll tell thee,

Little Lamb I'll tell thee!(lines 11-12)

Anaphora:

He is meek & he is mild (line 15)

Anastrophe: Little Lamb (line 11)

Themes: Religion Staring from the title, it is obvious that the poem deals with religion. Since, the word is always in literature related with Christ, which symbolizes purity and innocence. The child is very innocent, and so he believes that the creator of the Lamb is as innocent as the Lamb itself, and as the child is (The Lamb from, 2004). Man and the Natural World In the poem The Lamb, nature is a product created by God, and so is man. In the poem the child describes the nature, with happy valleys and lambs with tender voice. All of these make us think that God is very kind; he has created many miracles in this world. Miracles for which we humans have to be thankful; at the same time he has saved children from being spoiled, he has kept many away of troubles, just as the child who is the speaker in the poem, he is as innocent as the lamb. Youth The child, who is also the speaker of the poem, is very young. The voice of poem is a youthful one, it is full of optimism. This poem is among the Songs of Innocence, which perfectly fits with the theme of the poem. However, the poem contains optimistic opinions of the world from the eyes of an innocent child, who has not seen and heard much about the world.

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The contrasts and similarities of The Tyger and The Lamb

These two poems have been written by the same author, William Blake, however they tend to differ from one another in different aspects. While reading the two poems one after the other I had the feeling as if the first poem The Lamb has been written while the human has not yet come in contact with the evil that exist in this world. At a time when one has many optimistic opinions about the world, considering it a place with only joy and happiness. Whereas The Tyger is written after humans have experienced some of the evil in this world, at a time, they got to understand that not everything in this world is black and white, but that there exist different colours, different people, there exist even the evil (Compare Blakes, 2013). The two poems differ even in the vocabulary used from the author; in The Lamb the author used more simple vocabulary, repeating even several times the same words. While in the other poem, in The Tyger the poet used more complicated vocabulary, yet he repeated several times the word Tyger. What can be noticed as well is that in both of the poems many questions have been asked. However, in The Lamb it is the child who asks continuous questions during the first stanza; and he again himself answers those questions in the second stanza. In the other hand in The Tyger the speakers asks exactly fifteen rhetorical questions; yet being unable to answers himself those questions or anybody else. The themes of the poem differ from one another, in The Lamb the author demonstrates how young children are unspoilt and innocent, how they wonder about the creation of something as meek and pure as a Lamb; it is more about the religion, since the lamb is a symbol of Christ, whom as well was innocent. In the other hand in The Tyger the main theme is that there exist the evil in this world. The speaker does not wonder about the existence of something meek and innocence, such as a lamb, but he wonder about the creator of the most fearful and powerful creature in this world which is this Tyger. In the poem the speaker mentions the word lamb, wondering again if the same person who created the lamb is the same as the one who created the Tyger (Fitzsimmons, 2013). Regarding the figures of speech not so many differences can be
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noticed, in both poems the author repeats some words constantly; the poet uses: metaphor, alliteration, allusion and symbols in the two poems. However, while in the poem The Lamb the word lamb is a symbol for innocence, in the other poem the Tyger is a symbol of something evil. Every poem carries a message in it, and mostly it is a moral message, such as in this chase. God has created humans, and has given them the reason and ability to take their own decisions, to make their own choices. There are two paths in which man can decide in which one to step, which one to chose; there is the good and the evil. In the two poems the author presented these two different ways of living: the innocent (The Lamb) and the evil (The Tyger). However, one must ask how do people reflect themselves, do they reflect as a Lamb or as a Tyger? And after all: How do we become a Lamb? How do we become a Tyger? I believe that the deeds that people do decide whether they reflect as a Lamb or as a Tyger. T

The child who at the same time is the speaker in the poem The Lamb is very innocent, he represent one part of the world; whereas the The Tyger represents the other part of the world, the bad side though.

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References:

Lambert, T. (2013). A short biography of William Blake. Retrieved June 26, 2013 from www.localhistories.org

Songs of innocence and experience (2008). Retrieved June 26, 2013 from www.online-literature.com

William Blakes The Tyger (2012) Retrieved June 26, 2013 from www.bl.uk

The Lamb from Songs of Innocence : William Blake - Summary & Critical Analysis (2004). Retrieved June 26, 2013 from www.bachelorandmaster.com

Michael, J. (2003). The Tyger. Retrieved June 26, 2013 from www.cummingsstudyguides.net

Lorcher, T. (2013). Interpreting William Blakes poetry The Lamb. Retrieved June 26, 2013 from www.brighthumbeducation.com

Moore, A. (2004). Poems by William Blake: study guide. Retrieved June 26, 2013 from www.universalteacher.org.uk

Compare Blakes The Lamb with The Tyger (2013). Retrieved June 26, 2013 from www.aibuenglit.pbworks.com

Fitzsimmons, S. (2013). The Lamb and The Tyger: a closer look at William Blakes. Retrieved June 26 from voices.yahoo.com

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