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“The Lamb” by William Blake (1789)
“The Lamb” was first published alongside “Night” in Blake’s Songs of Innocence. Since many of Blake’s poems in this collection are quite short, and since Blake often relies on idiosyncratic metaphors, it is essential to compare his works with one another. In “The Lamb,” Blake draws a fairly traditional connection between Christ and the image of the lamb, which further develops in “Night.” The themes of divine grace and meekness are also explored in this poem. Blake’s speaker states outright that Christ “calls himself a Lamb: / He is meek & he is mild” (Lines 14-15).
“The Tyger” by William Blake (1794)
From the Songs of Experience section of Songs of Innocence and of Experience, “The Tyger” is perhaps Blake’s best known poem. Like many poems in Songs of Experience, “The Tyger” reflects the sentiments of the poems in Songs of Innocence, but colors them in a darker, more mature way. “The Tyger” focuses on a carnivore, an animal that must resort to violence in order to live. The tiger’s “night” (Line 2) is much different than the same time in “Night.” The speaker shows reverence for the tiger but is forced to wonder, “[d]id he who made the Lamb make thee?” (Line 20).
By William Blake
A Poison Tree
A Poison Tree
William Blake
Auguries of Innocence
Auguries of Innocence
William Blake
London
London
William Blake
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
William Blake
The Book of Thel
The Book of Thel
William Blake
The Chimney Sweeper
The Chimney Sweeper
William Blake
The Garden of Love
The Garden of Love
William Blake
The Lamb
The Lamb
William Blake
The Little Boy Found
The Little Boy Found
William Blake
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
William Blake
The Sick Rose
The Sick Rose
William Blake
The Tyger
The Tyger
William Blake