The Lamb and The Tyger

The poems “The Lamb” from Songs of Innocence and “The Tyger” from Songs of Experience form a diptych that demonstrates the contrast between Blake’s two collections of poems.   Both poems evoke the enigma of God.  However, ‘The Tyger” emphasizes the existential dread of being unable to identify our maker or his intent while the speaker in “The Lamb” recognizes God as defined by religious teachings.  Therefore, “The Lamb” is marked by conclusive statements whereas the speaker in “The Tyger” continues to question the nature and logic of God until the poem’s end.

            “The Lamb” begins with a query – “Little Lamb, who made thee?” (1)  The question is delicately phrased, as if the speaker is addressing a child.  The speaker’s gentle phrasing, as well as the repetition of the question for emphasis, serves to stress that the lamb is dependent on the speaker for knowledge and explicit delivery.  The opening question of “The Lamb” stands in stark contrast to the opening of “The Tyger.”  The speaker calls out to the tiger with an exclamation, as if he is addressing the animal from a distance.  Moreover, the speaker specifies that he is viewing the tiger afar, for the animal is “burning bright in the forests of the night” like a beacon.  This is because in “The Tyger,” Blake uses its central animal as an analogy for God and his mystery – God’s intentions are as obscured and potentially dangerous as the tiger’s. For example, the eyes of the tiger are said to be connected to “distant deeps or skies,” (5) a reference to the unknown of the universe.  Blake asks who “dare seize” the “fire” of the Tiger’s eyes (8).  The inability of the speaker to “seize” the “fire” reflects the incapacity of humans to understand the universe in which we live.  We cannot approach the “fire” in the tiger’s eyes because it is against our logic to approach a tiger, just as it is not in our nature to understand the work of God. Whereas in “The Lamb,” the speaker is the one with the great knowledge, the tiger in “The Tyger” is the God-like superior.

            The speaker in “The Tyger” expresses genuine curiosity toward God’s logic.  The opening stanza of “The Tyger” ends with the speaker asking “What immortal hand or eye, / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” (4)  The speaker is questioning what trait of God’s nature enables him to control the tiger (to effectively “domesticate” the animal) on Earth. The speaker also asks the tiger, “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” (20) This phrase expresses the speaker’s surprise that God could produce such wholly different animals.  It is seemingly illogical to imagine that the tiger and lamb sprung from the same mind.  The speaker in “The Tyger” also tries to use human logic to define the tiger, despite the fact that like God the tiger cannot be judged by the same standards as humans.  For example, the speaker asks what the tiger dreads and what art could potentially affect him (9-12).  However, the tiger is impenetrable, unknowable – like the mysterious Creator of all things.  The speaker in “The Lamb” does not have the same inquisitive streak, for the speaker is able to answer the question of God’s nature using religious teachings.  The confidence of the speaker is seen in the exclamation, “Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!” (11)  The speaker characterizes God as “meek” and “mild" (15).  Moreover, the speaker specifies how the lamb may identify with God, for he “calls himself a Lamb" (14).  The Lamb offers a comforting alternative to the God of unknowable nature that is presented in “The Tyger.”  “The Lamb” emphasizes that God is just like his creations (specifically, humans), and therefore does not have the potentially dangerous mysteriousness of the tiger. 

            Both poems focus on different aspects of God’s creations that are conducive to the overall arcs of the poems.  “The Tyger” evokes the “hammer” and the “chain,” the causes of the tiger’s bondage by humans (13).  Meanwhile, “The Lamb” stresses God’s gift to the subject of the lamb – for instance, the “clothing” and “tender voice” that has been bestowed upon the lamb (5).  Implicit in the focus of “The Tyger” on the negative aspects of a tiger’s existence is the question of why God would allow for such terrible pain and domination by humans to take place.  Meanwhile, “The Lamb” would have its subject and its readers simply appreciate and accept the great gifts of God.  “The Lamb” views God as a wholly compassionate force, while “The Tyger” views the cosmic entity as more of a complex figure.

            Finally, the tone of the two pieces can also be derived from the different uses of symmetry.  The repetition of lines in “The Lamb” has a singsong quality that evokes a church call-and-response.  Meanwhile, “The Tyger” does not resolve any of its inquiries.  Blake reiterates the first stanza at the end of the poem, articulating that nothing has changed.

            “The Lamb” belongs in Songs of Innocence because the goal of the speaker is to satisfy the subject of “the lamb” (and the reader) with a simplistic outlook on the world that is conveyed through straightforward aphorisms.  Meanwhile, “The Tyger” is written from the perspective of a more knowledgeable individual who has noted the falseness in oversimplified interpretations of God.  “The Lamb” is meant to shield children from the complexity of the world, while “The Tyger” makes no such concessions.  “The Tyger” is able to revel in its darkness, and the pain of not knowing our place in the universe whereas “The Lamb” offers an easy balm in the form of religious teachings.

Calvin and Hobbes picture from staphanpastis.wordpress.com