Songs of Innocence and Experience
In William Blake's Songs of Innocence and
Experience, the gentle lamb and the dire tiger
define childhood by setting a contrast between
the innocence of youth and the experience of
age. The Lamb is written with childish repetitions
and a selection of words which could satisfy any
audience under the age of five. Blake applies the
lamb in representation of youthful
immaculateness. The Tyger is hard-featured in
comparison to The Lamb, in respect to word
choice and representation. The Tyger is a poem
in which the author makes many inquiries, almost
chantlike in their reiterations. The question at
hand: could the same creator have made both the
tiger and the lamb? For William Blake, the
answer is a frightening one. The Romantic
Period's affinity towards childhood is epitomized
in the poetry of Blake's Songs of Innocence and
Experience.
"Little Lamb who made thee/ Dost thou know
who made thee (Blake 1-2)." The Lamb's
introductory lines set the style for what follows:
an innocent poem about a amiable lamb and it's
creator. It is divided into two stanzas, the first
containing questions of whom it was who created
such a docile creature with "clothing of delight
(Blake 6)." There are images of the lamb
frolicking in divine meadows and babbling
brooks. The stanza closes with the same inquiry
which it began with. The second stanza begins
with the author claiming to know the lamb's
creator, and he proclaims that he will tell him.
Blake then states that the lamb's creator is none
different then the lamb itself. Jesus Christ is often
described as a lamb, and Blake uses lines such as
"he is meek and he is mild (Blake 15)" to
accomplish this. Blake then makes it clear that
the poem's point of view is from that of a child,
when he says "I a child and thou a lamb (Blake
17)." The poem is one of a child's curiosity,
untainted conception of creation, and love of all
things celestial.
The Lamb's nearly polar opposite is The Tyger.
It's the
Experience, the gentle lamb and the dire tiger
define childhood by setting a contrast between
the innocence of youth and the experience of
age. The Lamb is written with childish repetitions
and a selection of words which could satisfy any
audience under the age of five. Blake applies the
lamb in representation of youthful
immaculateness. The Tyger is hard-featured in
comparison to The Lamb, in respect to word
choice and representation. The Tyger is a poem
in which the author makes many inquiries, almost
chantlike in their reiterations. The question at
hand: could the same creator have made both the
tiger and the lamb? For William Blake, the
answer is a frightening one. The Romantic
Period's affinity towards childhood is epitomized
in the poetry of Blake's Songs of Innocence and
Experience.
"Little Lamb who made thee/ Dost thou know
who made thee (Blake 1-2)." The Lamb's
introductory lines set the style for what follows:
an innocent poem about a amiable lamb and it's
creator. It is divided into two stanzas, the first
containing questions of whom it was who created
such a docile creature with "clothing of delight
(Blake 6)." There are images of the lamb
frolicking in divine meadows and babbling
brooks. The stanza closes with the same inquiry
which it began with. The second stanza begins
with the author claiming to know the lamb's
creator, and he proclaims that he will tell him.
Blake then states that the lamb's creator is none
different then the lamb itself. Jesus Christ is often
described as a lamb, and Blake uses lines such as
"he is meek and he is mild (Blake 15)" to
accomplish this. Blake then makes it clear that
the poem's point of view is from that of a child,
when he says "I a child and thou a lamb (Blake
17)." The poem is one of a child's curiosity,
untainted conception of creation, and love of all
things celestial.
The Lamb's nearly polar opposite is The Tyger.
It's the