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   arwallace Teacher
   High School - 9th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   Before reading "The Tyger", I would strongly suggest reading "The Lamb", also by Blake.  “The Lamb” by William Blake is a direct commentary of God. The speaker repeatedly asks the lamb, who is described in favorable and, what we would call, cute terms, who made him. The speaker describes the lamb’s voice and disposition as sweet and kind. These descriptions move on to make an allusion to Jesus in the second stanza. The lamb itself has often been a reference to Jesus in literature. The speaker points out that God (of whom Jesus is a part of) came back to earth as a baby.

   Think of “The Tyger” as a companion to “The Lamb”. Again, the speaker asks who has made the tiger, even going so far as to ask if it is possible that the same immortal being made the lamb. The purpose of this poem is more wondrous than the lamb. There are dark allusions to the fire of the tiger’s eyes and the dark, far place it was created in. There is also a beauty in the fearsome tiger which identified by the speaker. The speaker is commenting, overall, on the far reaching and diverse creations of God.

    

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   Posted by arwallace on Wednesday April 8, 2009 at 4:05 PM