What Does The Tyger Mean

Beauty and the Beast People who read literature have different opinions and perceptions about what the piece of work could be about. There are several different ways to look at a poem or story and think of the endless possibilities of what the message could be or what point the author is trying to get across to the readers. The poems “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” I believe are both coming from a religious standpoint. The author William Blake attempts to show both the beautiful, and dark side of religion. When it comes to religion, there is a huge diversity of cultures and beliefs. Everybody has a different out look on religion and how it applies to life. It is the same way with William Blake. Blake was a very religious author and included some …show more content…
Blake uses several biblical terms in his writing such as “God bless thee” and repeatedly refers to whom the poem is about as “He” as if the individual Blake is speaking of is a greater being. William even goes as far as saying “He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb”, which is a quote directly from the Holy Bible. The Bible also uses a lamb as a symbol of purity and kindness and even in several different metaphors and stories with the disciples. Blake also talks about how “He”, or in other words, God, pleases us by giving us what we need. Blake states “Gave thee life and & bid thee feed”, “Gave thee clothing of delight”. William even says “Gave thee such a tender voice” which translates to Will saying that God even gave us the ability to be kind and to love one another. Therefore, in Willams poem “The Lamb” he shows that God is a wonderful being and that God gives to us what we need to be happy in this world. Blake shows the purity and love that God has for us in his …show more content…
He asks how could God create such beauty but then completely corrupt it with the evil that also comes with it. William says “And what shoulder, and what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart?” which converts to him saying that what kind of thing could try to take away someones strength or faith. Blake goes on to say “What the hammer, what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain?” which he is saying that was God full of rage when we made all the terrible things that he did? How could the great and loving God be the reason for all the bad in the world? How could he do this to his own creation? This is how Blake feels and what he expresses in “The Tyger”. He uses the tiger to represent all the bad and all the harm that has to be dealt with in life. So in conclusion, Blake creates to completely polar opposite poems about religion and God. In “The Lamb” he shows all the good God gives and brings into the world. But in “The Tyger” he expresses the bad and evil that God created and lets consume the joy of a lot of purely good things in the world. These two poems are the definition of two different sides and view points on religion that even came from one person, William