William Blake's

"The Tyger" and "The Lamb"

from

Songs of Innocence and of Experience, copy Z

	"The Lamb" from Songs of Innocence		"The Tyger" from Songs of Experience
	Little Lamb who made thee   Dost thou know who made thee Gave thee life & bid thee feed. By the stream & o'er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice:   Little Lamb who made thee   Dost thou know who made thee   Little Lamb I'll tell thee,   Little Lamb I'll tell thee: He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb: He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child: I a child & thou a lamb, We are called by his name.   Little Lamb God bless thee.   Little Lamb God bless thee.		Tyger Tyger. burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes! On what wings dare he aspire! What the hand, dare sieze the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? 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? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger, Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Questions

1. Blake's two poems “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” are most often interpreted together. Why?

2. What kind of poetry do the titles of these poems suggest (descriptive? nursery rhymes? allegorical? religious?)? In what sense are the titles similar/different?

3. Compare the speakers in the two poems. How do you know that the speakers differ in age and experience? Compare the two addressees.

4. Analyse the imagery used in the two poems (consider sounds, colours, shapes, light, texture, temperature and other components of the settings). What makes the poetic world of “The Lamb” pastoral? What distinguishes the world of “The Tyger” from that of “The Lamb” (what other settings are added to the initial “forests of the night”)? Which of the two poetic worlds is larger, tougher, less familiar, more dangerous? Why?

5. What makes us suspect that the poem touches upon some religious paradoxes? What are they (compare God of the Old Testament with His New Testament Incarnation)? How do the symbols of the Lamb and the Tyger suit the religious content? What do they symbolise? Why cannot we read these figures as simple allegories?

6. Do the questions opening the poems fulfill or disappoint the expectations produced by the titles (“Little Lamb who made thee?/ Dost thou know who made thee?”; “What immortal hand or eye,/Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”)? How do the questions change the main point of interest in the poems? Do they directly concern the title figures?

7. Are the opening questions answered in both poems? Are the answers to these questions simple? What makes you think they are/they are not? Compare the number and the complexity of the questions in both poems?

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