Songs of Innocence & Experience (1789)

The Lamb – William Blake ( )

Form * 2 stanzas made up of couplets (rhyming pairs) (aa-bb-cc-dd-aa) and (aa-ef-gg-fe-aa) * refrain is repetition of 1st 2 lines * The poem was intended to be sung. The original medley is lost. Vaughn Williams and John Tavener set it to music again

Content 1st stanza Starts with a question : Who is the lamb’s creator ? Speaker is a child who talks to a lamb (simple language) Rural and Descriptive (a stream to drink water, a meadow to eat grass, white, soft, wooly lamb

Reading

Content 2 nd stanza Gives an (abstract) answer: The lamb was made by someone who calls himself a lamb, one who resembles in his gentleness both the child and the lamb

The lamb is a symbol of : innocence (tabula rasa) religion (agnus dei) Jesus Christ

Songs of Experience

The Tyger – William Blake

Form Six stanzas of two rhyming pairs (couplets) each (aa-bb) The last stanza is the same as the first one

Content The first stanza also starts with the question who is the tiger’s creator ? The speaker who speaks more complicated than the innocent child addresses the tiger The following stanzas elaborate on this question and finally in the 5 th stanza the speaker wonders whether the creator of the lamb has also created the tiger

Content 1 st stanza : fierce look; the tiger’s fearful eyes glowing in the dark Where does the fire come from ? The immortal hand / eye are the creator’s 2 nd stanza : In what waters or skies is about the tiger, the 3 rd and 4 th lines are about the creator again. Is the creator Icarus ? (the guy who wanted to fly to heaven but his wings melted) or is he Prometheus ( who stole the fire from the gods and gave it to man) ?

Content 3 rd stanza : shoulder = powerful, art = skillful refer to the creator (metaphor blacksmith ?) twist …. refers to the hard heartedness of the beast of prey towards the animal it kills heart began to beat : A powerful beast awakes dread = dreaded /dreadful ? (creator)

Content 4 th stanza : the hammer, chain, furnace and anvil are all instruments used by a blacksmith to create. The creator must be strong and not afraid to create such a fearful animal Fire is an instrument of creation 5 th stanza : stars stand for cold reason, sun for inspiration, moon for love. Are the stars fallen angels ? Lucifer ?

Content All questions are not answered. The riddle of the universe ? How to reconcile good and evil ? Juxtaposition of the pastoral world (innocent childhood) against the adult world of corruption and repression lamb = nature tiger = industrialization, energy prey versus predator

Conclusion Both poems question the Christian Belief that God is good. If God is responsible for creating both good ( lamb) and evil ( tiger) how can he be good and moral ? It is difficult to reconcile both images. William Blake was an important predecessor of the Romantic Period. Social criticism = French Revolution