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William Blake - The Lamb , The Tyger

This Newsletter is dedicated to the profound and complex genius of William Blake (1757–1827). Blake was not merely a poet; he was a visionary artist, engraver, and printmaker whose work defied the conventional boundaries of his era. Operating largely outside the mainstream literary and artistic circles of late 18th and early 19th century London, Blake created a deeply symbolic and personal mythology, integrating text and image in a manner that was utterly unique. His philosophy was built on a fierce opposition to rigid institutional control, whether religious, political, or artistic, and a celebration of imaginative freedom. To understand Blake’s poetry, one must appreciate his methods: he invented a technique called illuminated printing, whereby he etched his poems and accompanying illustrations onto copper plates, printed them, and then hand-coloured each page. This process ensured that every copy was a unique work of art, where the visual and textual elements were inseparable and of equal importance. This newsletter will delve into two of his most famous and contrasting poems from his seminal collections, Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794): "The Lamb" and "The Tyger."

The Poem – "The Lamb"

Text of the Poem:

Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee

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.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.

Analysis of the Poem
Summary:

"The Lamb" is a poem from Songs of Innocence. It takes the form of a gentle, catechistic dialogue between a child and a lamb. The child poses two simple questions to the lamb: "Who made thee?" and "Dost thou know who made thee?" The poem then proceeds to answer these questions, describing the gifts bestowed upon the lamb by its creator: life, sustenance, a soft fleece, and a tender voice. The second stanza reveals the answer: the creator is God, who in the Christian tradition is embodied in the meek and mild form of Jesus Christ, the "Lamb of God." The poem concludes with a blessing, reinforcing a sense of benevolent, protective love that unites the child, the animal, and the divine.

Style and Form:

1. Form: The poem is comprised of two stanzas (groups of lines forming a metrical unit) of ten lines each.
2. Rhyme Scheme: It employs a simple and song-like AABB rhyme scheme (thee/thee, feed/mead, delight/bright, voice/rejoice). This nursery-rhyme quality reinforces the theme of childlike innocence.
3. Meter: The poem is written in trochaic meter (a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, e.g., "Lit-tle Lamb"), which creates a gentle, rocking rhythm, reminiscent of a lullaby. This is often softened further by a catalectic final foot (omitting the final unstressed syllable), which gives the lines a tender, incomplete feel.
4. Diction: The language is simple, repetitive, and soft, using words like "softest," "tender," "meek," "mild," and "rejoice." The repeated questions and answers mimic the pattern of a child’s learning or a religious catechism.

Critical Appreciation and Literary Terms:

1. Symbolism: This is a literary device where a person, object, or event represents a larger idea. The lamb is a potent symbol of innocence, purity, vulnerability, and gentleness. It is also a direct allusion (a brief reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical or cultural significance) to Jesus Christ, referred to in the Bible as the "Lamb of God" who takes away the sins of the world.
2. Theme: The central theme (the central topic or idea explored in a text) is divine creation and innocence. The poem presents a world view that is secure, benevolent, and easily understandable. The creator is presented as a loving, knowable, and gentle figure.
3. Imagery: Blake uses imagery (language that appeals to the senses) that is pastoral and serene: the "stream," "mead" (meadow), and "vales" (valleys) create a peaceful, idyllic setting.
4. Speaker: The persona or speaker of the poem is a child, whose voice embodies the state of innocence—a state of trust, naivety, and unfiltered joy within Blake’s philosophical system.

The Poem – "The Tyger"

Text of the Poem:

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Analysis of "The Tyger"

Summary:
"The Tyger," from Songs of Experience, is a stark contrast to "The Lamb." It is a series of awe-struck, fearful questions addressed to a tiger, a creature of immense power and beauty. The speaker is not a child but an experienced observer, bewildered by the paradox of creation. How could the same divine power that created the gentle lamb also forge this terrifying, fiery predator? The poem does not provide answers but instead explores the process of this fearsome creation through imagery of a blacksmith's forge (hammer, chain, furnace, anvil). It culminates in the central, unanswerable question: "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"

Style and Form:

1. Form: The poem consists of six quatrains (stanzas of four lines each).
2. Rhyme Scheme: Like "The Lamb," it uses a regular AABB rhyme scheme, but the effect is utterly different. Here, the rhythm is pounding, forceful, and relentless, mirroring the beating of a hammer on an anvil.
3. Meter: The poem is primarily in trochaic tetrameter (four trochaic feet per line: Ty-ger! Ty-ger! burn-ing bright). This creates a powerful, marching rhythm that embodies the tiger's fierce energy.
4. Diction: The language is explosive and intense, filled with words evoking awe, fear, and industrial creation: "burning," "fearful," "dread," "dare," "hammer," "chain," "furnace," "anvil." The repetition of the opening stanza with the crucial change from "Could" to "Dare" intensifies the poem's terrifying wonder.

Critical Appreciation and Literary Terms:

1. The Sublime: This is a key concept in Romanticism. Unlike beauty, which is harmonious and pleasing, the sublime is the quality of immense, awe-inspiring power that evokes a mixture of terror, wonder, and astonishment. The tiger is the perfect embodiment of the sublime—its beauty is "fearful."
2. Symbolism: The tiger symbolises experience, energy, force, revolution, and even the darker, more terrifying aspects of the divine creative power. Some critics interpret it as a symbol of the violent energy of the French Revolution or of the sublime power of the artist's imagination.
3. Themes: The central theme is the nature of creation and the character of the Creator. The poem explores the dichotomy between good and evil, innocence and experience, and the terrifying, dualistic nature of God, who can be both a gentle shepherd and a mighty, inscrutable blacksmith.
4. Imagery: The dominant imagery is of fire ("burning bright," "fire of thine eyes," "furnace") and industrial creation ("hammer," "chain," "anvil," "furnace"). This forges a vision of God not as a pastoral shepherd but as a mighty, relentless artisan working in a cosmic smithy.
5. Allusion: The line "When the stars threw down their spears" is a possible allusion to the war in heaven between the angels led by Michael and those led by the rebellious Lucifer (Satan), as described in Milton's Paradise Lost. This reinforces the connection between the tiger and powerful, rebellious, or fallen forces.
6. Rhetorical Questions: The poem is built entirely on a series of rhetorical questions (questions asked for effect rather than to elicit an answer). Their function is to express overwhelming awe and to highlight the unanswerable mystery at the heart of existence.

Multiple Choice Questions-

1. What was the name of the innovative printing technique developed by William Blake?
a) Etching
b) Illuminated Printing
c) Lithography
d) Woodblock Printing

Ans- b) Illuminated Printing

2. From which of Blake's collections is the poem "The Lamb" taken?
a) Songs of Experience
b) The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
c) Poetical Sketches
d) Songs of Innocence 

Ans- d) Songs of Innocence

3. In the poem "The Tyger," the speaker wonders in what "distant deeps or skies" the fire of the tiger's eyes burnt. This is most commonly interpreted as a reference to:
a) The sea and the clouds
b) Heaven and Hell
c) England and France
d) The past and the future

Ans- b) Heaven and Hell

4. What is the primary metre used in the poem "The Lamb"?
a) Iambic Pentameter
b) Trochaic Meter
c) Anapestic Meter
d) Free Verse

Ans-b) Trochaic Meter  

5. According to the biography, which of the following was NOT a contemporary thinker that William Blake associated with?
a) Mary Wollstonecraft
b) Thomas Paine
c) Samuel Taylor Coleridge
d) William Godwin

Ans- c) Samuel Taylor Coleridge

6. The central, unresolved question posed in "The Tyger" is:
a) "What immortal hand or eye, / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"
b) "On what wings dare he aspire?"
c) "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"
d) "In what furnace was thy brain?"

Ans- c) "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"

7. In "The Lamb," the speaker reveals that the creator is called by the lamb's name because:
a) The creator is also innocent and meek.
b) The creator is also a powerful animal.
c) The lamb is a symbol of the devil.
d) The creator lives in a pasture

Ans- a) The creator is also innocent and meek.

8. The biography mentions that Blake's artistic leanings were influenced early on by sketching in which location?
a) The Royal Academy of Arts
b) The British Museum
c) The London Zoo
d) Westminster Abbey

Ans- d) Westminster Abbey

9. Which of the following best describes the dominant imagery used in "The Tyger" to describe the act of creation?
a) Pastoral and agricultural (e.g., planting, shepherding)
b) Industrial and artisanal (e.g., blacksmith's forge)
c) Academic and scholarly (e.g., writing, reading)
d) Natural and organic (e.g., growth, evolution)

Ans- b) Industrial and artisanal (e.g., blacksmith's forge)

10. Blake's first book of poetry, funded by Harriet Matthew and John Flaxman, was titled:
a) Songs of Innocence
b) The Book of Urizen
c) Poetical Sketches
d) Jerusalem

Ans- c) Poetical Sketches