The Tyger and the Lamb
The Creator Who Dared
When I first read “The Lamb”, I initially concluded that Blake was referring to Jesus Christ throughout the whole poem. I had heard that some think Blake may just have been describing an actual lamb – I think there may be some justification for that in the first half, but we’ll get to that in a moment. My reflections about the Christian interpretation changed immediately when I read “The Tyger”. In my opinion, Blake’s religious points of view as portrayed in his works, “The Tyger” and “The Lamb”, stand in staunch contrast to the Biblical Christian worldview.
“The Lamb” is an innocent poem that seemingly depicts the Biblical Jesus Christ. My initial thought about the first portion referring to Christ as the Little Lamb was incorrect. I later came to the conclusion that there are three characters in “The Lamb”: the narrator, the Little Lamb, and the Creator. The narrator identifies himself as a child: “I a child and thou a lamb” (Falkner, 282). In the first half the narrator poses the question: “Little Lamb who made thee/Dost thou know who made thee” (Falkner, 282). In the second half he identifies the Creator: “He is called by thy name/For he calls himself a Lamb” (Falkner, 282). The Lamb is the Creator of the Little Lamb. The Lamb who created the Little Lamb is representative of Christ and is identified as meek and mild.
By comparison, “The Tyger” depicts a fascinating character list: again, an unknown narrator, then you are presented with the created being, characterized as fearful, symmetric, and therefore beautiful – interesting that Lucifer was a beautiful being in the Bible. However, note the third-person perspective: “On what wings dare he aspire” (Falkner, 283)! This is the creator! What contrast to that of the Creator in “The Lamb”!
In “The Tyger”, Blake sought to entertain the question: What does the undeniable existence of evil and violence in the world tell us about the nature of God?
When the stars threw down their spears
And
When I first read “The Lamb”, I initially concluded that Blake was referring to Jesus Christ throughout the whole poem. I had heard that some think Blake may just have been describing an actual lamb – I think there may be some justification for that in the first half, but we’ll get to that in a moment. My reflections about the Christian interpretation changed immediately when I read “The Tyger”. In my opinion, Blake’s religious points of view as portrayed in his works, “The Tyger” and “The Lamb”, stand in staunch contrast to the Biblical Christian worldview.
“The Lamb” is an innocent poem that seemingly depicts the Biblical Jesus Christ. My initial thought about the first portion referring to Christ as the Little Lamb was incorrect. I later came to the conclusion that there are three characters in “The Lamb”: the narrator, the Little Lamb, and the Creator. The narrator identifies himself as a child: “I a child and thou a lamb” (Falkner, 282). In the first half the narrator poses the question: “Little Lamb who made thee/Dost thou know who made thee” (Falkner, 282). In the second half he identifies the Creator: “He is called by thy name/For he calls himself a Lamb” (Falkner, 282). The Lamb is the Creator of the Little Lamb. The Lamb who created the Little Lamb is representative of Christ and is identified as meek and mild.
By comparison, “The Tyger” depicts a fascinating character list: again, an unknown narrator, then you are presented with the created being, characterized as fearful, symmetric, and therefore beautiful – interesting that Lucifer was a beautiful being in the Bible. However, note the third-person perspective: “On what wings dare he aspire” (Falkner, 283)! This is the creator! What contrast to that of the Creator in “The Lamb”!
In “The Tyger”, Blake sought to entertain the question: What does the undeniable existence of evil and violence in the world tell us about the nature of God?
When the stars threw down their spears
And