The Lamb Diction

William Blake was a well known poet that was prominent in writing poems that involved his religious faith. William Blake is known for writing the book “Songs of Innocence and Experience”. In this book, Blake discusses his Christian beliefs and ideals towards life. The book “Songs of Innocence and Experience” is broken down into two sections, one called “Songs of Innocence” and the other called “Songs of Experience”. “Songs of Innocence” contains the poem “ The Lamb” and “ Song of Experience” contains the poem “The Tyger”. These two poems are linked to each other by the disparate depiction of God and the allusion given in the latter poem. Both poems are polar opposites in tone, imagery, and organization. I believe that in these two poems
Blake’s diction conveys readers to feel a sense of danger and intensity.The lamb is effortlessly created by God,the lamb was basically pampered into existence. The tiger is intensely created by God like a metal object being forged by a blacksmith. Blake is unsure if he should sympathize with the tiger or condemn it. He questions the tiger on its fearful looks and manners. Blake in the poem says this “Tyger! Tyger! burning bright in the forests of the night:What immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” (Tyger 21-24). William Blake completely knows about the lamb’s origin, but with the tiger’s origin he is uncertain. All Blake desires is to know if the tiger is hostile by nature or by experience? While searching for answers in this poem, this leads him to shift his focus on why the tiger is this way to who would dare create this fearful and vicious tiger. With this shift it brings a change in many aspects of his writing. The tone goes from being light to dark, the imagery goes from delightful to frightful, and the rhyme scheme is more complex in “ The
This idea is supported in these lines “Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat what dread hand? & what dread feet?” (Tyger 10-13). Unlike the poem “ The Lamb”, Blake does not find an answer to his question in “The Tyger”. I believe that the tiger is a representation of human beings as we age. As we gain experience throughout life, our impurity increases. We develop these flaws, but this does not mean that we are despicable beings.
The lamb represents a human beings youthful innocence and the tiger represents human beings becoming more impure throughout their life .Although the tiger has qualities that are associated with savagery and evil, truly it is not. It is an entity that evolved to survive in this world. It is ferocious, but it is also strong. The tiger is feared, but it is never afraid. The tiger should be looked at as another beauty created from God, even though it is not