Compare and contrast the poems

Brendan Mullan S2B

Compare and contrast the poems “The Tyger” and “The Donkey” and discuss which poet gives us the clearest depiction of humanity.

William Blake is a wealthy, upper-class writer who separates himself from the rest of the wealthy community. Blake has a hate for the techniques used by many of the wealthy, company owners who gain and capitalise through cheap and expendable labour, supplied by the ever-growing poverty in the country. Blake makes a point to try and reveal this industrial savagery through his work. “The Tyger” is presented as a metaphorical approach to the struggle between the rich and the poor; good and evil. The several references to good and evil reinforce this idea and meaning.

“The Tyger” holds one great metaphorical element, which is, what created the tiger? Good or evil? It raises many theories for the tiger’s existence but the main point is to show that there is good and evil in everyone and everything. Blake shows us how something so beautiful can really be both beautiful but still retain a certain ferocity and savagery. Such as the wealthy factory owners of the 18th century, they offered a well-paid job and good employment benefits, but that was all just a façade. The truth was cramped and dangerous working conditions, low pay and long hours; yet the people continued to labour in these factories at their own expense, while the wealthy owner sat back and watched workers toil and cash flow. The metaphor for this is like temptation, desperation and greed can lead people to be fooled, though true these people weren’t greedy yet they were desperate for money to survive, although they could not judge correctly for themselves and became entrapped in the businessman’s deception. Just like “The Tyger” “The Donkey” shows this same view but not in the perception of good and evil but in the view of deception and ill judgement. “The Donkey” scolds us for judging in looks alone, seeing a donkey as nothing more than a dumb, ugly tool for use on whim, it teaches the reader that looks can be deceiving and to take one look at something and judge it before even trying to learn more about it is ignorance and foolishness. Chesterton, like Blake is trying to teach the world as lesson, he is trying to tell people to open their eyes to world and things around them, instead of ignoring them and dwelling in narcissism and selfishness. He is saying, try to see the world through the eyes of others, learn about new things, and learn never to misjudge someone or something mainly on first impressions.

“The Tyger” presents a lot of imagery ranging from that of the tiger itself to that of its origin. Blake through his language aids us in creating a mental image of his poem stanza by stanza. Blake gives us rhetorical questions, which gradually introduce and draw us into the poem, giving us images of each theory such as:

“In what distant deeps or skies”

Gives us an image of perhaps heaven and hell, or simply the sky and the earth or perhaps even thinking in terms of the human mind. Which area of the brain conceived such a ...

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“In what distant deeps or skies”

Gives us an image of perhaps heaven and hell, or simply the sky and the earth or perhaps even thinking in terms of the human mind. Which area of the brain conceived such a creature, the dark and mysterious less used part or the commonly used area, which is constantly exposed to multitudes of thoughts, images and feelings. Which part could create a creature of such stature and ferocity yet allows certain elegance. As with “The Donkey” Chesterton provides our minds with fuel to create our own perceptions of his poem and visualise the events taking place inside, behind the words and to the deeper meaning, which the poem was created for such as:

“With monstrous head and sickening cry”

This line makes the reader imagine perhaps a monster, feared and hated but it is not the true meaning, Chesterton is not the narrator here as Blake is in “The Tyger” but The Donkey is the one talking, it is what is talking to us about itself, and in the first 3 stanzas The Donkey derides itself showing that like us, it has emotions and it has self esteem despite the absence of any, as it comments on itself.

“The Tyger” is full of rhetorical questions, which are directed at 2 main figures, the reader and the creator of the tiger. It’s asking is if we know the answer and barraging our minds to make us think about the questions being asked and to analyse them. Ever stanza contains a question or several and each asks of the same answer, but in different contexts. Who created the tiger or what? For example:

“What the hand dare seize the fire?”

And

“What the hammer?”

They both ask what could create such a thing but with different context “hand” and “hammer” which is also asking whether the tiger was hand crafted or forged, which implies to what kind of tool could create this animal? The questions raise even more questions. “The Donkey” contains no visible rhetorical questions but it does have one:

“Some moment when the moon was blood, then surely I was born”

This may not be a direct question but it is saying to us that it doesn’t know either when it was born or when its species was created; it is indirectly asking the question because it yearns for an answer. The use of rhetorical questions in both poems is significant, it engages the reader and keeps the reader interested, when the poem engages the reader a bond is formed between thought and text, the reader can then be fully immersed in the poem and form an understanding of the poems meaning.

Both poems have a distinct rhythm, “The Tyger” is fast paced and flows seamlessly, it almost mimics the pace of a tiger as it chases its prey, speed and fluid movement; carefully timed and perfectly executed, but in another sense it could mimic thoughts, rushing through someone’s head, perhaps the tiger’s creator or the tiger itself. “The Tyger” also has some elements of repetition for example:

“Tyger, Tyger burning bright”

And the repetition of the first stanza with a slight change to end the poem and this change is quite significant because of the poems content, the final stanza sums up everything within the poem, after all the questions it comes to a conclusion in the form of a final question:

“What immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry?”

“The Donkey” has a unique rhythm, one that also relates to the animal being referred to. The rhyme pattern imitates the donkeys walk, 1-2-1-2, this concept isn’t easily recognised, but to notice it, shows the depth of the poem. Chesterton either included this simply by chance or meant to do it, which shows a strong backbone to his writings.

Both poems are similar in many respects and both writers share common ideas, the use of animals to portray ideas and the views they have about human kind. Both “The Tyger” and “The Donkey” show elements of each other, and this is reflected in the writer, two great minds, with great mindsets on life and human kind.