Poetry is one of the basic art in literature. Through poems, poets mirror our daily lives. In such spontaneous artwork, poets may end up writing poems with similar concerns. In that way, poetry is viewed as a creative production of economic, socio-political, and reality commentary on particular issues affecting society. Poets often write strong opinions about more sensitive issues in society. In recent centuries, poets have utilized various thematic concerns as well as other literary devices which have made the message reach the audience but also through a touching way. William Blake, in his two poems, The Lamb and The Tyger, articulates similar concerns. The pertinent issues of innocence, fragility, and evil are brought out in the two poems. This paper thus aims to critically analyze some of the poetic textual criticisms in the two poems as a way of bringing out the concerns, symbols, or any other devices that appear in the two poems.
William Blake, in the two poems, “The Tyger” and the “The Lamb” celebrates two contrary states of humankind: experience and innocence. The poet features antithetical animals. Symbolically, the animals represent peace harmony, unity ad goodness. However, the other animal represents the darker part of the world. For instance, In the Lamb, the poet paints the innocence and divinity of not merely a child but also the humblest and most harmless creature in the universe, the lamb. Given the sweet and beautiful nature of the lamb, the child questions whether it knows who created it.
On the other hand, “The Tyger” demonstrates the effects of experience on the state of a child. The poets show how childlike innocence can be destroyed when certain destructive forces are put in its place. Such a destructive force is believed to break the free life of a child and thereby replace it with a cold, dark trait. As such, the poet pinpoints that experience can destroy one’s innocence. Nonetheless, God creates certain fierce forces, the tiger, which restores the mind of innocence.
The poet, therefore, through effective use of language and other poetic devices brings out the two main concerns addressed in the poems. The comparison in the two poems is achieved through the integration of various styles, rhythmic aspects like the sound patterns, distribution of lines in each stanza, and repetition among others.
To begin with, the poet utilizes various sound devices like alliteration, consonance, and rhyme to create rhythm and make the work memorable. Both poems utilize alliteration where words in various lines start with similar consonant sounds. For example, in the poem, the Tyger, the words frame and fame in line 4 are alliterative because of the sound /f/. Also, in The Lamb, the sound /h/ is quite alliterative in the words he and himself in line 14. Moreover, consonance is extensively used in both poems whereby words in certain lines end with a similar consonant. For instance, in The Tyger, the sound /t/ in the words, what and distant in line 5. Similarly, in The Lamb, the sound /t/ demonstrates the influence of consonance as in the words softest and bright in line 6. Additionally, both poems follow a simple rhyme scheme of AABB. In “The Lamb” the rhyme scheme is “–thee, feed” and “mind and child.” A similar rhyme is evident in The Tyger, for example, throughout the poem the rhyme revolves around, “heart, beat,” and “bright, night” By keeping the rhyme scheme so simple, Blake conveys the tone of innocence like that of a child. Again, the deliberate use of such sound effects helps the poet achieve rhythm in the poem.
The other outstanding critical concern that can be foregrounded in the poem is the tone and mood. In both poems, Blake brings to the reader’s attention a dignified and ardent tone through a sharp contrast between life experiences and innocence. Also, there exists a great variation in mood. The Lamb gives a sense of joy and happiness. The lamb’s innocent and playful nature makes it creates an ecstatic mood. Contrastingly, a more sinister mood is realized in the poem, the Tyger. The aspect that the poem conveys is darkness through Tyger’s wonders, the poem solicits fear and power.
Interestingly, it is important to take note that both poems utilize similar poetic devices, although at different ends. For example, there is the use of symbolism. The poem uses symbolism whereby the tiger represents fear and mystery while the lamb symbolizes morality and innocence. An apostrophe is another device used. In “Tyger burning bright” (1) and” Little Lamb” the two personas speak to the two animals as if they are fellow humans whom they can directly address. Again, the poet uses repetition in both poems. In the Lamb, the line “Doust thou know who made thee” (2,10) is repeated twice thus answering the question. The poem, the Tiger also utilizes repetition in lines (1-4), “Tyger, Tyger, burning bright (1, 21) / in the forests of the night…” (2, 21) through repetition, the poet emphasizes the main message of the poem thus making it more appealing to the reader’s emotions through the refrain.
In conclusion, Blake through his idiosyncratic freedom utilizes various poetic devices to bring out the main concerns of the two poems, innocence, and experience. In addition, other devices like diction, mood, and tone help bring out the scope of the poem as well as the subject matter. The poet thus exemplifies in delivering his deliberate albeit metaphorically the need for innocence over evil acts.
Works Cited
Blake, William. “The Tyger by William Blake.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43687/the-tyger.
Accessed 21 May 2023.
Blake, William. “The Lamb by William Blake.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43687/the-tyger.
Accessed 21 May 2023.
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