William Blake's " The Tiger" and "The Lamb" are two great poems about two totally different things. The two poems display many differences in all elements of poetry. The poems are written with two very different tones and subjects but do retain some similarities. Recognizing the differences between these poems makes their meanings more understandable.
" The Lamb," by William Blake, is written in a childlike, innocent tone. This is expressed when Blake writes "I a child and thou a lamb." (Blake 17). Blake is using the lamb as a symbol for God and creates images of the lamb by the steam and in the meadows by writing, "By the stream and o"er the meadow" (Blake 4). Blake uses an understatement in line five of the poem in writing, "gave me clothing of delight." Here I believe that Blake is not just talking about the wool that the lamb provides as clothing but also that he is referring to all the wonderful things that God gives one. Blake's use of tone imagery, and figure of speech helps the reader gain the total meaning of the poem. .
"The Tiger," by William Blake, is written in a dark and more experienced tone, meaning the writer is no longer young and innocent. William Blake describes the tiger as being evil when he writes "What the hammer? What the chain, in what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? What dead grasp, dare it deadly terrors clasp?" in lines thirteen through sixteen. Blake emphasizes the evil of the tiger by using dark and deadly words such as deadly, dark, chains, furnace, and burning bright, which are all symbols that can be related to the devil. Figure of speech and imagery is obvious when Blake writes in line twenty-one "Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright!" Blake uses burning bright as a way of stating still on fire from the reigns of hell and therefore giving the reader an image of the devil. AS with the poem "The Lamb" all the elements used in "The Tiger" are necessary for the total meaning of the poem.
