The poems “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” juxtapose the innocent world of childhood to the adult world of darkness and evil. Blake concerns himself with the portrayal of how two different parts of the human soul aid the progression of humanity. This mirrors Blake’s belief that humanity would be at greater advantage of it acknowledged the balance of creation. Blake voices this idea through use of personification as shown in “The Lamb” where the narrator refers to the lamb’s bleat as a “tender voice”. The use of personification adds interest to the poem and shows how innocence, originally exclusive to childhood, aids the imagination.
Its "fearful symmetry" (4) makes the animal seem so exotic. These two contrasting animals first set the mood for the poems. When reading these two poems aloud, one can notice the differences in the two poems just by the sound of them. "The Lamb" has a singsong nursery rhyme cadence to it. The lines flow together very smoothly and calmly.
The lines “He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child” shows that the creator of the lamb and the child is a kind and beautiful god. He is able to make such wonderful creatures on the earth in his own image, and these creatures are seen as innocent, and wonderful. The worldview in this poem is that God is wonderful because he is able to create such innocent and wonderful beings on the earth (such as lambs, and children). This can also be seen in the tone of the poem. It appears has a very song like quality to it when the poem is read.
This is evident in the poem ‘The Garden of Love’. This poem from Experience does begin with an idyllic setting in the first stanza, but the hypocrisy of the Church and this society is clearly shown through the last two stanzas. The first verse illustrates the rural setting with the ‘Chapel...built in the midst’. This is the idyllic setting for the Church as it is ‘on the green’. The use of diction with ‘green’ and ‘love’ perhaps illustrate the supposed view of the Church, whereby it is supposed to be innocent.
The Lamb and The Tyger address the same subject: the conception of God. Consider the two different representations of God as presented in each poem, how do the views of God differ? Support your argument with evidence from the poems. Oscar Alexander-Jones In ‘The Lamb’, God represents God in the form of the Lamb, which is typically used to represent Jesus. The poem itself is written in simple, singsong verse, perhaps intending to reflect the simple mind of the child.
“And then my heart with pleasure fills and dances with the daffodils”.... “Mechanical mastodons munching the red earth”: such contrasting views of our environment. Daffodils is a poem in which Wordsworth explores the great pleasure that the environment can bring you in times when you feel down. At the beginning of the poem the poet feels lonely, but once he is immersed in the natural environment his mood changes to one of cheerfulness, lightheartedness and joyousness. ‘In such a jocund company’. Not only does his mood show us his great pleasure, but the rhythm used too.
The image of a lamb may depict vulnerability and rebirth and, as this has connotations with new life and purity which links to childhood innocence, therefore foreshadows his vision of a child ‘on a cloud’ – also signifying religious imagery as the child can be interpreted as a cherub figure. However the presence of the ‘lamb’ may suggest sacrifice, especially of nature which Blake may link to the key of happiness, and the disregard for the environment and religion society will indulge to feed its growing appreciation of materialism and wealth. The ‘cloud’ also introduces the sense of a temporary condition as it could disperse thus alike the state of childhood innocence. The tone of the poem changes within the fourth stanza as the child ‘vanished from sight’ showing the change from innocence to experience. The change implies that Blake believes society is losing sight of religion which emphasises the importance of nature.
* Rhyme Rhyme is where a word or words at the end of a line have a similar sound, eg “Mary had a little lamb its fleece was white as snow, And everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.” The words “snow” and “go” rhyme. * Repetition Repetition of words or phrases is often used in poems and songs. This is used for emphasis. * Figurative language Figurative language is used to create an image in a person’s mind through their imagination. The images may appeal to one or more of our senses, that is visual (sight), aural (sound), oral (taste), tactile (touch) and olfactory (smell).
What the hammer? what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp! When the stars threw down their spears And water’d heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see?
The Lamb’s simple AABB structure gives it a song or lullaby tune, which adds to its innocent and free flowing nature. Another example of this is the poem’s two stanzas, which also adds an element of free flowing nature in the poem. The Lamb is written as a conversation between the speaker, a child, and the lamb. The rhyming of the poem is quite happy and sweet, with words such as ‘delight,’ ‘bright’ and ‘rejoice.’ The structure of this simple and happy poem represents what Blake wishes the world was like in his time, even though he knew that was impossible. On the other hand, The Tyger’s form, with is six quatrains is much more rigid and structured.