The tone in ‘The Lamb’ is pensive. As the poem is taken from the ‘Songs of Innocence’ it is comforting and reassuring; the lamb itself being a symbol of spirituality. Also there is a sense of innocence and freedom as the lamb is ‘meek & mild’ likes Jesus, who the Lamb is representing. In ‘The Tyger’ the reader gets a sinister feel because unlike in ‘The Lamb’ where everything is positive and reassuring and the questions are all answered: ‘Little Lamb I’ll tell thee…’, ‘The Tyger’ is not comforting and leaves unanswered questions: ‘what immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?’
The moods of the different poems vary quite vastly. ‘The Lamb’ gives a sense of happiness, joy and pleasure like heaven or a country idyll. This is conveyed by the use of words such as ‘softest’, ‘delight’ and ‘wooly bright’. In ‘The Tyger’ the mood is a lot more sinister and almost frightening as the tiger is seen as a symbol of fear because of its huge power and strength. This is suggested by it being set ‘In the forests of the night;’ Also Blake uses expressions such as ‘dare’, ‘deadly terrors’ and ‘fearful symmetry’ to really illustrate the tyger’s, mysterious and sinister behaviour.
Blake was one of the few poets who still had the voice of a child inside him and was able to express this in his poems. And that is suggested in ‘The Lamb’, where it seems as if it is from the point of view of a child. This is portrayed as it seems only a child will call the lamb ‘Little Lamb,’ and not only that it is clearly indicated in the poem that it is indeed a child: ‘I a child & thou a lamb.’ Both the child and lamb represent innocence. ‘The Tyger’ is a poem in which it is obviously more difficult to tell who the voice is. But we do know that it is probably someone who fears the creature and would not dare to disturb it as the voice itself is speaking of just how ‘fearful’ the tyger is. There are two main possible answers to who the voice is. It could be William Blake himself who has literally and metaphorically created the tyger or it might be God. They are both possibilities and in both Blake is indicating that the tyger is an imagined creature and Blake thinks the human tool of imagination is by far the strongest we have; anything can be thought of, because without imagination we would not grow in knowledge.
‘The Lamb’ is a poem structured through the didactic approach. Blake uses repetition to teach:’ Little Lamb God Bless thee, Little Lamb God Bless thee’. In the first stanza Blake asks questions and in the second he answers them. This indicates that Blake is using catechism to teach the truth; which he thinks is that science and machines are destroying imagination and the feeling of freedom. Seeing that in the time he was living the industrial revolution was taking place and so it was especially a lot of danger and fear for Blake. It was important for people not to forget the use of imagination and get caught up in the world of luxury newly formed by machinery. We know that he is worried about he industrial revolution as in ‘The Tyger’ he mentions the ‘hammer’, ‘chain’ and ‘anvil’, whilst he is trying to capture the tygers wild spirit. In ‘The Tyger’ the first and last stanzas are the same with the exception of on word which changes from ‘could’ to ‘dare’. Also many questions are asked but unlike in ‘The Lamb’ there were no answers because nobody has a definitive answer.
The imagery used in both poems is quite similar. They both have Godly references; ‘He is called by thy name,’ indicates that in a way God is calling his children and that the lamb, will be sacrificed as an offering to God like Jesus sacrificed his life on the cross to forgive our sins. ‘The Lamb’ is written from a traditional orthodox Christian perspective. The employment of the image of the lamb is also regular with Blake’s frequent use of nature imagery to emphasize the importance of a fresh, free open world where innocence and the natural world should be dominant. The tyger unlike the lamb is not comforting; it feels as if it can attack anytime and so the lamb, which is Jesus, is being preyed upon; all tying in with Blake’s complaints about the corruption of the church. Innocence is being preyed upon by experience.
Both poems show use of seemingly simplistic language, as if written for children, and the words and phrases used are very delicate and reflective of a child’s opinion: ‘Softest clothing wooly bright.’ In both poems nature imagery is used, but differently. In ‘The Lamb’ the nature imagery is more pastoral and showing the world Blake had always wanted. In ‘The Tyger’ the imagery is more menacing and threatening. In ‘The Lamb’ the mood is joyful and happy, therefore it is during the day: ‘By the stream & o’er the mead;’ In ‘The Tyger’ the same nature imagery is used but it is set during the night time automatically making it more sinister; ‘…forests of the night’. Also everything in ‘The Lamb’ is pure unlike in ‘The Tyger’ where all the industrialized materials like the ‘anvil’ and ‘furnace’ are talked about. The making of the tyger is a natural thing but why was such a fearsome creature made and who would have the ability to make such a creature? The poem also shows how the machinery was “taking over”: ‘When the stars threw down their spears,’ It is like the angels giving up frustrated that they have been beaten as there is more evil around than good.
The rhythm, tone and because it is from the point of view of a child make ‘The Lamb’ like a lullaby. It has rhyming couplets like ‘delight’ and ‘bright’ and it is because of this that children tend to remember it; again Blake teaches in this way to teach the truth. In the poem ‘The Tyger’ there is a sort of chant to the first two lines: ‘Tyger Tyger burning bright / In the forests of the night.’ The rhythm is very forceful; like the tyger is looking for prey, striding out to stalk. But the word ‘could’ in the last line in the first stanzas has been changed to the word ‘dare’ in the last line of the last stanza. The word alters and there is a sense of disturbance from the expected rhyme. ‘Symmetry’ means prefect balance and yet it does not end up like that. Also ‘eye’ and ‘symmetry’ do not rhyme unlike the other rhyming couplets. This is also to cause confusion and bring about s sense of unease, the same confusion Blake felt through his life and child hood when he had visions and the society around him was changing.
‘The Tyger’ and ‘The Lamb’ are two poems written along the same lines but ending up to be completely different. However both poems show the same beliefs and opinions of William Blake perfectly and emphasize what he wanted everyone to remember and the lesson he wanted everyone to learn. This was that no matter how far man gets with technological advances and no matter how far the industrial revolution takes people; it will never be able to beat down the tool of human imagination, which is by far the strongest, and natures wild spirit, found in creatures such as the ‘fierce’ tyger and ‘meek & mild’ lamb.