Many poems written by the same author often have similar themes. The authors usually believe in something very
strongly and their poems usually reflect such a nature. Sometimes poets reflect aspects of their
personal life in their poems. In the
poems "The Lamb" and "The Tiger", by William Blake, the
poet discusses similar themes in both.
In the poem "The Lamb", I
interpret that William Blake discusses many points questioning creation and
religion. He describes the lamb as being
an object of innocence and fragility when he says "Gave thee clothing of
delight, Softest clothing, woolly,
bright; Gave thee such a tender
voice" (line 5). "Blake
develops an elaborate personal mythology that underlies virtually all symbolism
and ideas in his work." (Shilstone, p.223) Blake discusses that the
creator of the lamb is also calls Himself a Lamb. With this he brings religious significance
into the poem. It the New Testament,
Jesus of Nazareth is referred as God's Lamb.
There are a few themes developed in
"The Lamb." Blake describes
the lamb as symbol of childhood innocence.
He also questions about how the lamb was brought into existence, which
mentions another theme of divine intervention and how all creatures were
created. The poem is nothing but one
wondering question to another (Harmon, p. 361).
"The Tiger" by William Blake
describes the tiger as being an symbol of evil.
This is displayed when Blake says "What an anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors
clasp?" By repeating variations of
the word "dread" in the poem, he emphasizes the evil of tiger and the
evil this tiger possesses. The mighty
beast is whole world of experience outside ourselves, a world of igneous
creation and destruction, faced with a terrifying beauty (Harmon, p.360). This poem also contains the theme of creation
in that it also mentions the Lamb. The
narrator questions, "Did he who make the Lamb make thee?" (line 20)
Both poems contain many similarities
according to their themes. "The
Tiger" was taken from a collection of poems by Blake called The Songs of
Experience. These poems focus on evil
and the importance of understanding the evil around in hope of attaining a
state of innocence. "In The Songs
of Innocence Blake suggests that by recapturing the imagination and wonderment
of childhood, we could achieve the goal of self-awareness... the poems thus
present views of the world as filtered through the eyes and mind of a
child." (Literature, The English Tradition, p. 606) Thou can also infer that evil can bring forth
the loss of innocence. Therefore, one
existing similarity is that they both concern the loss of innocence. Many poems from each set are companion pieces
to each other. "The Lamb" is
an emblem of innocence, corresponding to "The Tiger" as the emblem of
experience. (Harmon, p. 365)
Another shared theme between the two
works, "The Tiger" and "The Lamb", is the theme of creation
and divine intervention. In both poems
Blake questions multiple times about how each was created. In "The Lamb", Blake suggests that
the lamb was created by a godlike being.
In "The Tiger" Blake questions if the tiger was created by the
same being that created the lamb. Such
curiosity is a common theme to both poems.
Thus, through the information discussed,
it can be seen that there exists a common comparison in two separate works by
William Blake. The themes of both poems
are in conjunction with each other.
Therefore, according to theme it can be proven that there exists
significant similarities in these works by William Blake.
Works Cited
1. William Harmon, Top 500 Poems (Mew York:
Columbia University Press, 1992)
2. Frederick W. Shilstone, British Poetry
(Middletown, NY: N&N Publishing Company, 1988)
3. Literature; The English Tradition, Prentic
Hall, New Jersey, 1991.
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