The poems "The Lamb" and "The Tyger", both written by William Blake, have narrators who question and speak to two different animals. The difference between the two poems is the animals that they are named after and the interaction of both narrators with them. The narrators are especially interesting because they appear to be the same person, but engage the lamb with courtesy while fearing the tyger.
From the levels of diction and syntax of the two poems, it is apparent that both the narrator of "The Lamb" and "The Tyger" are the same person. The sentence, "Little Lamb, who made thee?" ("The Lamb" 1), shares a similar syntax structure to the sentence, "What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" ("The Tyger" 3-4). In both sentences, the narrator asks the Lamb and the understood Tyger who made them while following the same subject-verb-object pattern. The narrator also asks both animals this particular question repeatedly throughout both poems. By doing so, Blake shows that both narrators follow a similar thought pattern and are likely to be the same person. They also use similar wording, such as the word thee and similar rhymes such as, "Gave thee clothing of delight,/ Softest clothing wooly bright;" ("The Lamb" 5-6), and also, "Tyger! Tyger! burning bright/ In the forest of the night," ("The Tyger" 1-2).
Both poems have a common theme involving a creator. In "The Lamb" the speaker gives credit to the creator for making of the lamb. They often praise the lamb and compares the creator, the lamb, and them self by stating, "We are called by his name" ("The Lamb" 19). The tone seems to be of a condescending nature because the narrator asks the lamb who created it. The narrator knows the answer to their own question, suggesting that they see the lamb as an innocent animal.
This is not the case in "The Tyger". The narrator appears to fear or respect the creature as they describe it with grim words such as "burning bright", "fearful" and "dread". Another contrast to "The Lamb" is that while the narrator also questions who made the Tyger, the narrator genuinely does not know the answer. But perhaps the narrator does know the answer and denies it when they state, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" ("The Tyger" 20).
Wow I loved it.. I love how you break things down and the quotes that you named are the same ones I picked up on. It is amazing how the common thread is who made them. The Lamb is so gentle and the Tyger its predator. I would say that the narrator denies knowing who made it also in "The Tyger" good job !!
ReplyDeleteI thought these poems were interesting because it is the same narrator giving different expressions to two animals, but in the same way (I hope that isn’t too confusing). It’s like you pointed out, William Blake wrote these poems in the same way. Just one is bright and soft, while the other one is dark and scary. I like the line from “The Tiger” that says, “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” (20). It shows that there is definitely a connection between the two. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteReading this made me understand the poems a little better with some perspective. I picked up on the differences through acknowledging "burning bright". After that i really could not decipher whatever meanings the writer was trying to portray. Nice response, made me think about the poem with more depth.
ReplyDeleteYour post is interesting in the way of the narrator's participation in the poem. I do not understand the subject-verb-object pattern. What is its importance in the poem and how it helps to the author express his insights. Also, you mention that the poems are about two animals, but I would like to know what simbolize each one of them in the poem because I believe that these animal are related with the author's feeling about some circunstances of that period. Blake was a pre and romantic author, so could you help us to find some expression of that time in the poems, maybe it could help to understand the meaning of the poems, and describe the importance of the narrator and the symbols in the poems. I really like your post, my questions are only to comprehend better this poet.
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