In William Blake’s “Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, the Songs of Experience are written as a dim contrast to the bright and upbeat emotions encapsulated in the Songs of Innocence. In “The Lamb”, the author presents a very naïve character to the reader in a poem with very simple structure.
“Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee Gave thee life & bid thee feed” (ln 1-3)
The voice in the poem speaks to the lamb as if speaking to a child. The voice bombards the lamb with questions as if he were seeking some sort of response from the lamb to show maybe that the lamb is aware of its surroundings. But in the second stanza it seems that all of this bombardment was rhetorical; because he goes on to answer the questions for the lamb, as if he is saying “I know you don’t know the answers, you are just a child, I’ll tell you.” Then at the end of the poem the voice goes on to praise the Lord for making such a beautiful creature.
The Lamb’s counterpart is “The Tyger.” All of the good and white light put into the lamb is evened out by the evil and darkness that is in the Tyger. The voice in “The Tyger” is not one of a gleeful teacher, but one of a confused admirer.
“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 mak e thee?”(ln 17-20)
The voice is amazed that such a foul creature could possibly be crafted by the same hands that made the lamb. When I read “The Tyger” I visualize this black smoking tiger with burning eyes, it is a very satanic image. And when I imagine the lamb, it is this fluffy pure white lamb just frolicking in the green grass. The voice in both “The Tyger” and “The Lamb” is the same person, and now later in his days he has come to find that God has made both Lamb and Tyger and he is confused, because he has been under the impression that God was a loving, merciful God, not a cruel God that would craft such things as the Tyger.
I think that the voice in both “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” is upset because everything that he learned in his innocence has now come to be questioned as he has gained experience. I would say to this voice, would the Lamb be so great if there were not a Tyger to contrast it? If we did not have the bad, we would not have the good, the good would just be normal, expected. In order to enjoy the good, one must have experienced the bad aswell.
2 comments:
Andrew,
Glad to see you are finally posting to your blog. Unfortunately, by waiting until the deadline you will not be able to benefit from any feedback from me on your writing.
THis post has a good focus and makes some interesting comparisons and contrasts between "The Lamb" and "The Tyger." I don't know why you think the speaker is the same in both poems, but at different ages, though. What textual support is there for such a claim?
i didnt focus in on these two poems of Blakes, but your contrast was very interesting
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