Title: The Lamb and Tiger

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The Tiger and The LambIntroduction

Despite the fact that human beings have a passion for understanding Gods mind, their minds cannot fathom the puzzling creation of a lamb and a tiger. The Lamb and The Tyger are two poems written by one author known as William Blake. The Tyger was originally published in the Songs of Experience collection in 1794. The Lamb, on the other hand, was published earlier in the Songs of Innocence collection in 1789. However, modern anthologies printed the two poems together in the Songs of Innocence collection (Glancy 113). The two poems depict contrasting points of view, which raise several unresolved questions. Blake expresses two different ways in which people experience the world: the sensitive side and the insensitive side. The lamb is used to represent a humble and an innocent creature, while the tiger represents a harsh, tainted, and a powerful creature. Thus, the author uses the two animals to express the nature of humanity by describing how people change from innocent children that God created to tainted and resentful people. This paper analyzes the similarities and differences between the two poems: The Lamb and The Tiger.Similarities and Differences between The Lamb and The TigerThe two poems stand for a body of useful knowledge that addresses the readers directly despite a lack of voice in the poems. The terms used by the author serve as an avenue for communication between the poet and the readers, which help the readers, create a comprehensive mental picture of the poet following the questions proposed by the writer. To start with, lines 3 and 4 of The Lamb compare with lines 1 and 2 of The Tyger. This is derived from the fact that when lines 1 and 2 of The Lamb are read after lines 3 and 4 of The Tyger, they form one key question: Who created the lamb and the tiger? At this point, it is obvious to the readers that the two poems are meant to be compared. The author uses the lamb and the tiger to represent the state of the human soul. The lamb represents a soul that is full of mildness, innocence, and beauty, while the tiger represents a soul that is full of power. Even though the two states of the human soul are different, they have a relationship with each other, since every person depicts innocence when he/she is young, and experience when he/she grows up. Hence, the poets main idea is to find a balance between the two states of the human soul: experience and innocence.

The two poems bring into play a number of questions that are aimed at attracting the attention of the readers. Though these questions are phrased differently, they express the same meaning: in The Lamb, the author questions, Little lamb, who made thee? while in The Tiger, the author questions, Did He who made the lamb make thee? In addition to this, the author makes sure that he presents his point of view by using the most suitable adjectives to describe the tiger as well as the lamb. The adjectives that describe the tiger include immortal, dread, bright, and fearful, while the terms delight and tender describe the lamb (Blake 13).. These adjectives help the readers to create a mental picture of creativity from the tiger, and peace and tranquility from the lamb. Both poems bring into play alliteration, meaning that words in a particular line start with a common consonant. In The Tyger, the poem applies alliteration /f/ for the words frame and fearful (Blake 71). In The Lamb, the poem applies alliteration /h/ for the words he and himself in line 14 (Blake 13). Both poems also utilize consonance, meaning that words in a given line end with a common consonant. In The Tyger consonant /t/ is applied in line 5 for the words what and distant (Blake 71). In The Lamb, consonant /t/ is applied in line 6 for the words softest and bright (Blake 13).

The Tyger brings into play imagery that helps to create mental pictures to the minds of the readers. In lines 13 and 14, the poem applies words that describe industrial revolution, which include furnaces, hammers, as well as chains. These lines reveal that as human beings grow up, they come across a revolution that violates their innocence. This experience is made of tools that are associated with super hot metal that emanates from the fire. The Lamb, on the other hand, utilizes a symbol in line 20, which represents Jesus Christ, the lamb, which represents purity. In Christianity, Jesus is considered the last sacrificial lamb. This makes the author to question whether God who created the lamb created the tiger as well. This implies that God is both kind and alarming

The tone of the two poems is different. The Lamb describes the qualities of the lamb by using a soft tone that is positive to convey to the readers that the lambs formation makes the vales rejoice. The Tiger, on the other hand, describes the qualities of the tiger by using a tone that seems negative and harsh, as the author questions whether the tiger was created in heaven or hell. Blake is thus concerned with how the creator used his artistry and strength to stand before the tiger and create it, Did He smile His work to see?and What immortal hand or eyedare frame thy fearful symmetry? The author, however, does not depict any contempt pertaining to the tigers formation.

Even though the author asks questions in the first stanza of The Lamb, he seems aware that God created the lamb in the second stanza. He compares the qualities of the lamb to Gods qualities, and concludes that the lamb symbolizes God. This shows that the author favors the lamb from the onset of the poet, but he also acknowledges the tiger as the poem advances. The author is convinced that the lamb is a symbol of God and the tiger represents the works of God. The way the two poems end describes that Gods ways are mysterious, and this makes the author unable to comprehended Gods creation (Gillham 74-75).Conclusion

Though The Tiger and The Lamb express contrast at the beginning of the poems, the two poems have a similarity in the sense that both the lamb and the tiger are part of Gods creation (Blake 71). The lamb is childish and represents the entire wondrous things in life, while the tiger represents the horrors that befall the earth. This leaves the readers with an unanswered query concerning Gods puzzling ways in creation. The poet achieves this by being in a close contact with the readers through using poetic tools, which include symbol, repetition, alliteration, imagery, consonance, and rhythms to stress on main points and to make the poems more interesting. These poetic tools help the readers to embrace the writers point of view by creating a mental picture of whatever idea the writer is presenting.Works CitedBlake, William. Songs of Innocence and of Experience. East Lansing, MI: Filiquarian Publishing, LLC., 2007. Print.

Gillham, D. William Blake. London: Cambridge University Press, 1973. Print.

Glancy, Ruth. Thematic Guide to British Poetry. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2002. Print.