Intro: Traveling through life, perception and perspective are bound to change. As it can be inferred that the same speaker narrates both The Lamb and The Tiger by William Blake, the varying stances about his creator have changed, indicating a shift in his maturity and perception of life. In The Lamb, the playful and innocent tone of the poem reflects the naivety and admiration the speaker feels towards his creator. In contrast, the speaker is more skeptical of his creator in The Tiger, questioning the darkness and fear that has been created on Earth.
BP1: The cheerful and childish tone towards the creator in The Lamb contrasts the fear and betrayal felt by the speaker in The Tiger. In The Lamb, the simple verses are short and rhyme in an "a,a,b,b" rhyme scheme. The speaker asks the lamb, "Little lamb, who made thee? / Dost thou know who made thee" (1-2). The innocence and sincerity of this question, which begins the poem, helps to set the tone as light and playful. The speaker talks to the lamb throughout the poem, and Blake most likely chose a lamb as the object of the poem because of its gentle and docile connotation. In contrast, the speaker is also talking to an animal in The Tiger, but the tiger has a dangerous and aggressive connotation. The Tiger begins, "Tiger! Tiger! burning bright / In the forests of the night" (1-2). The exclamation points after the word tiger heighten the sense of insecurity and fear the speaker feels towards the tiger. Again, the verses are short, simple, and have the same "a,a,b,b" rhyme scheme, demonstrating how such a simple question about life can have such divergent perspectives. However, the tone of The Tiger is a lot darker, including words such as "fire" and "deadly terrors." Whereas in The Lamb the cheerful tone indicates the blissful admiration the speaker feels towards his creator, in The Tiger, the speaker is fearful of some of the creations and skeptical about the motives of his creator.
BP2: The contrasting characterizations of the creator demonstrate how he can be seen as a friendly companion or a laborious blacksmith. In The Lamb, the speaker considers his creator to be harmless and relatable: "For he call himself a Lamb; / He is meek and he is mild, / He became a little child; / I a child and thou a lamb" (14-17). The speaker finds comfort in his humble creator, and he is not the least bit intimidated by his power. The speaker is fond of his creator, and has no reason to fear the presence that is as mild as a lamb. In contrast, the speaker in The Tiger characterizes the creator as a cold blacksmith forging his metal creations: "And when thy heart began to beat, / What dread hand forged thy dread feet" (11-12). By comparing his creator to a blacksmith, the speaker is demonstrating the disconnect between the forged heart and his own beating heart. The speaker is fearful of the power of his creator, and he is taken aback by the darkness that has been created. The speaker asks the tiger, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" (20), because he is so astounded, and slightly betrayed, that the creator that has made such gentle beauty has also made such danger and darkness. The speaker in The Lamb feels that his creator is very gentle and relatable; however, the speaker in The Tiger feels disconnected and astounded to uncover the darkness and terror that lurks around his creator.
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