These are two poems written by William Blake. The Lamb and The Tyger. William was a very religious person (biography online). In these poems the ultimate question is how can God who is the creator of all that is great; create two things that are so different from each other.
In The Lamb William Blake uses a biblical allusion to Christ being the lamb. When we think of a lamb, we think of something soft and gentle, something that will not harm you. You see Christ as such in the bible. Christ was referred to as the lamb of God several times in the New Testament. He is meek and mild(line 15). These are also words used in the bible to describe Jesus. God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit are all in one. God could not come down to earth in spirit form. He became a little child (line 16). On Christmas, a child was born to serve the world and he was call Christ. In the early years people used lamb for sacrifices to their gods. In the bible it is said that Jesus was crucified on the cross for our sins. This means he sacrificed he life for us. In this case he could be referred to as the lamb. In the second stanza, when using the word He the first letters are capitalized. This is because he is addressing a supreme being. God. In this entire poem he uses imagery and metaphor to describe Christ. Also he sues an AA-BB rhyme in the first stanza.
On the other hand we know that there is evil, which is always represented by lucifer. Biblical allusion to lucifer as the tyger. A tiger is a big wild animal that can hurt or even kill. The forest is also dark, quiet and harbors a lot of wild animal. This is the creator saying that lusifer is evil. In the bible hell is describe as a large fire that will burn till eternity. The poem is talking about fire and burning. The word chains also used symbolizes restrains. In the bible it is said that if you commit sin you shall go to hell and burn forever. He than goes on to pose the question Did he who made the lamb make thee?(Line 20). How could he make such a wonderful thing as the lamb then make a bad thing like the tyger. In the bible we see that god created all the angle. At some point due to greed, lucifer decided to drift away. He then became the head of hell. So it is possible that God made the Tyger, but with the best of intentions. The poem also uses imagery and metaphor to describe lucifer as The Tyger.
The two poems relate to each other in many ways. The same author wrote them both. These are religious poems about what was created by the creator. Did he who made the lamb make thee He created good and bad. The first stanza in both poems has an AA-BB rhythm. They both use imagery and metaphors. They both use an animal to describe subjects in the bible.
They also appear to be opposite of each other. In The Lamb he uses words like mead delight, tender voice and water. These words indicate that the setting is one that is peaceful and attractive. A place one would like to be in. On the other hand he uses words fire, dark, chain and fear. So we see that the setting here is one that is ugly fearful and dark. No one wants to be here.
In the lamb question are as in the first stanza about the lamb and answers are given in the second stanza. So we know who the lamb is and what he represents. In the tiger questions are asked but no answers given. We are left wondering who the tiger really is.
In conclusion we see that William Blake addresses the realities of life in his poems. There is good and evil in life and even if we still have questions about why God would create both we just need to continue to make the right choices in life
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