William Blake the Lamb Vs. The Tyger Compare and Contrast Term Paper

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Blake Poems

William Blake, who lived from 1757 to1827, was a deeply religious man who originally trained as an artist, studying first painting and then engraving. He believed that he had received visions of angels in which he held conversations with the angels. He had other visions as well, both of monks and of other historical figures (The Literature Network). His sense of mystery about religion is evident in his poems, which reflect religious beliefs of the day that both good and bad were present in the world. His poem "The Lamb" represents the spiritual good in the world, while his poem "The Tyger" (or "The Tiger") reflects his belief that dark and dangerous entities also walk the Earth.

In these two poems, Blake shows that he sees a clear distinction between good and evil. This is interesting given that he took up engraving as a trade, because engraving involves positive and negative space: the metal is either there, or not there. There are no real shades of gray in engraving, and any impression of a shade of gray is an illusion created by black and white from negative and positive space on a piece of metal. His poems "The Lamb" and "The tyger," placed side by side, show just such extremes. He describes the lamb in the sweetest of terms:

"Does thou know who made thee,

Gave thee life, and bid thee feed

By the stream and o'er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing, woolly, bright;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice?"

When he talks of the tiger, however, his tone changes completely.

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Just as he has wondered how the wonderfully sweet lamb was created, he now wonders how something as fearful as the tiger has been created:

"In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?"

We can guess the answer from his deep religious conviction: the same God that made the meek lamb has created the tiger that can strike terror into any man's heart.

He rhetorically asks, "Little lamb, who made thee? Does thou know who made thee?" And then states that the lamb was made by "He calls [who] Himself a Lamb. He is meek, and He is mild, He became a little child." In Blake's view, God has made the lamb in his likeness as the child Jesus.

But where, then, does the tiger come from? Blake doesn't leave us wondering. Again he asks a rhetorical question:

"When the stars threw down their spears,

And watered heaven with their tears,

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"

While the poems were not written together, Blake has invited us to consider them….....

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