The Lamb & The Tyger

Some critics may see the two poems of “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” as poems signifying opposite meanings and opposite views of God’s creations, but I see the two poems as representations of equally awesome divine creations. Blake views the lamb as an innocent, soft, tender being and speaks of it almost as a parent would speak of their own child. He points out all of the goodness in the creature and notes that God’s own son was called the lamb and came to the world as a baby.  I was raised in church and as a born again Christian the image of the lamb is a comforting and familiar figure.  Jesus was repeatedly referred to as the Lamb of God and I equate that with innocence, purity and a gentle nature.  When Blake wrote “Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee” I was reminded that I also entered the world as an innocent, pure and gentle child.  Since I wasn’t able to inherit a faith that I received when I was “Born Again,” I also had to rely on someone to tell me who made me.  Once I declared my faith, I knew that God made me and knew my name before I was born.  Knowing that, I was able to read Blake’s writing, “He became a little child: I a child & thou a lamb, We are called by his name.”  That sequence struck a chord with me because that is what my faith tells me.  Jesus became a little child just as I was once a child.  Jesus was called the Lamb of God and I have been called to faith by His name.

The tyger represents experience and is symbolic of a teenager. It still retains some innocence but the tyger has been shaped by society and can be dangerous. The tyger is more active and agile than the lamb. Blake is in awe of the tyger and speaks of the tyger in a similar way to the glowing remarks about the lamb.  If Blake believed the tyger was evil or something that represented a loss of purity, I think his remarks about the tyger would have been critical and wouldn’t have taken on the respectful tones present in the poem. I believe that by speaking of the “fire of thine eyes”, the “sinews of thy heart”, and the furnace in which the tyger’s brain was forged, he is complimenting the creation of the tyger and believes that the same God that created the lamb created the tyger. The fact that Blake uses a capitalized “He” in both poems shows that he is speaking of the same divine being, God.

The parts of this poem that spoke to me the loudest was the “fearful symmetry” description of the tyger.  I know that each person, no matter how good had some bad and no matter how bad has some good characteristics.  The way those forces are balanced and exhibited in our nature are often symmetrical and more often out of balance.  That struggle between the opposing light and dark often demonstrates itself in complex ways just as the tyger’s stripes of alternating light and dark can be displayed in complex designs.  Just as the tyger’s stripes are unique-although similar within the species-my own personal symmetry, or asymmetry, is unique to me.  It might not be as complex and might change from time to time but it can sometimes be “fearful” also.  The same question that Blake asked by writing, What the hammer? What the chain, In what furnace was thy brain?”, I have asked of myself.  Why am I this way?  What forces, what pressures and what impacts have I had in my life’s experiences that have made me the way I am?  Finally, Blake’s question, “And what shoulder & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart?”  I think the very things that move me emotionally are often a riddle to those who see me just as the emotional heartstrings of the tyger are moved by some force invisible to Blake.  That so powerful an animal like the tyger could present such complexity is no different that how we as individuals are also complex and often without simple explanation.  

Blake’s representation of the lamb and the tyger are both done in a way that is complimentary of the maker.  I do not believe that by these two poems Blake is contrasting innocence and experience but merely speaking of different forms of God’s creativity and of human life.  A progression from soft, cuddly and dependent to more aggressive, complex and agile is but one difference between the two.  Although the tyger (teenager/young adult) is aggressive, strong, energetic and potentially dangerous while the lamb (baby/young child) is bright, tender and mild, Blake’s rhetorical question about “Did He who made the lamb make thee?” is clearly answered.  Blake’s “fearful symmetry” seems to extend beyond his description of the tyger and could be said to describe the contrast between the lamb and the tyger.  Finally, Blake finishes “The Tyger” with a final rhetorical question in asking, “What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?”  I think Blake saw that the same immortal hand (God) that created the lamb created the tyger and the same immortal hand that created and blessed the child knew it would grow into a strong adolescent.  It is symmetry and a plan that was divinely planned and worthy of Blake’s awe.