Lamb And Tyger Essay

1 Samantha Ames Professor Belyi Composition 2 2 April 2019

Symbols of Lambs and Tygers William Blake’s works, “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” use symbols of nature to question the Christian traditional idea that God is always benevolent. They both support religious themes that propel the nature of many of his works. “The Lamb” shows the part of religion and God’s creation that one can admire. While “The Tyger” shows the part of God’s power that causes people to question God’s piety. People are like sheep, following. Blake illustrates how people give credit to religion for anything that is alive. People are glad to say that their benevolent God made sheep because they are “meek and mild” (line 15). He uses the sheep as the subject because in Christianity a sheep symbolizes Jesus and God. This is key because he can allow his readers to understand how God creates in his image. Meaning, that humans have characteristics of himself and so do other animals, including the sinister image of “The Tyger”. This being said he ties these animal anecdotes to God’s own traits. Meek and mild and “deadly terrors” (line 16). This illustrates the themes of questioning tradition and God. Not only do the animal’s in both poems give way to religion but the settings also symbolize the juxtaposing ideas of goodness and darkness in religious themes. In “The Lamb” Blake paints a rather peaceful and lovely image by describing “By the stream & o'er the

2 mead”(line 4). This is meant to represent the idea that god creates heavenly, lovely things. That there can be no evil where this gentle sheep roams. By using such imagery it shows that God’s will is to create goodness. The speaker allows the audience to visualize a docile creature which God has“Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice” (lines 5-7) Knowing that the sheep symbolizes all life created by God, it shows that God will provide well for all that lives. Yet, a completely different idea arises when the speaker questions the merits of a God that would create a lamb and also a Tyger. Blake uses questions heavily in “The Tyger” along with words that have a darker, more evil or mysterious connotation, “In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes?” (lines 5-6). These so-called deeps and skies symbolize heaven and hell. The speaker acknowledges that it would be more likely for evil to be born from hell, but knowing that God created everything he questions if evil was also born from him, too. The fire in the eyes also is meant to represent evil lurking within a living being, or some dark force from hell controlling it. Fire is a common symbol used to express something that came from the depths of hell. To express the deadly nature of evil and the constant questioning of creation in Blake’s “The Tyger” the speaker echoes “In the forests of the night”(line 2 and 22). This nighttime forest where this said creature is to be found is meant to symbolize the parts of God’s creations that Christians overlook, the evil in the world and the creatures that would kill and eat the “meek and mild” lamb. That being said, these symbols of nature are used to express the questioning of God’s true benevolence or lack thereof.

3 Works Cited Blake, William. "The Lamb." Songs of Innocence. 1789. Print. ---. “The Tyger.” Songs of Innocence. 1789. Print.