Misconceptions

The poems I have chosen to analyze are “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” by William Blake. Blake’s opinions about humanity are quite special as well as his visions of Christ and Christianity because he believed in God but not in the church. After reading and comparing the two poems, initially I thought Blake was trying to identify good and evil. Then I saw it more as describing Jesus as the lamb and the devil as the tyger. The Lamb of God being a well-known alias of Jesus made that determination fairly easy. The tyger, not so much. Lastly, I thought of it as God creating good and evil and our path of life intertwining between the two. Is it possible that God created both good and evil for a reason? Blake also does a great job creating a misconception or openness as to who the created the lamb and the tyger. In the poems “The Lamb” and “The Tyger”, Blake illustrates man’s shift from innocence to experience. “The Lamb” depicts purity and the perfect Christian. And, “The Tyger” describes how one can steer away from the teachings of Christianity. First, I will describe how “The Lamb” is illustrated as pureness and innocence. “The Lamb” is broken into two stanzas. The first asking questions about who made the lamb and the second answering the question, who made the Lamb? In the first four lines of “The Lamb” the speaker seems be naïve as to who is the creator of the lamb. The speaker says: Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? Gave thee life & bid thee feed, By the stream & o’er the mead; (1-4) While being naïve, one may also be quite serious when proposing these questions. It seems to be a very easy answer but yet some may still question who the real creator is. Could this just be the innocence in the person? I believe it is. The person may have not experienced anything to understand that Jesus is the creator of the lamb. This reminds me of my younger self growing up in church, attending bible study and Sunday school every week. I knew who Jesus was and that I should follow in his path, but I could not tell you that he was a reason I was created. Later in the poem in the second stanza, the speaker seems to know the answers to the questions. The speaker says: 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. (11-18) Knowing who the creator is exemplifies that this person has some type of Christian faith. It also shows that this person is innocent and believes in Christianity. I believe the lamb is an illustration of a child that is growing but, has not faced trials and tribulations or the many experiences that life brings us, allowing it to still maintain its innocence. …show more content…
I believe that the reference to the tyger is merely a representation of the devil or evilness based on how tigers are perceived in society. Tigers are known to be very strong, untamed, fearless animals that prey on what it desires. These characteristics are those similar to the devil. In the New Living Translation of the bible, 1 Peter 5:8 says “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (Holy Bible, NLT) It is the devils job to prey on believers of Christ and trick them into sin. A job which he does so …show more content…
As we grow and learn different things through our experiences of life, we learn that we are vulnerable and that makes us capable of falling short of God’s will. These poems also give the idea that we need both good and evil for balance. It also proposes the question, why did God make both innocence and evil? Ultimately, the lamb representing the pureness and innocence of man and the tyger representing evil and temptations, goes to show how man’s sin can evolve from the purest form to what could be depicted as evil or the devilish way of