Songs of Innocence and of Experience represent The Tyger The Lamb

only a fragment of his total poetic production,

but illustrate his major themes and his style. The Subject and theme: The Tiger = a symbol Subject and theme: The Lamb = a symbol of suffering innocence and
two parts of the collection are complementary, of God's power in creation Jesus Christ.
in fact there is a dual vision of life. Key images: The tiger seen by Blake's Key image: The Lamb seen through the eyes of a child.
Externally the state of Innocence represents poetic imagination: "fearful symmetry"; Technical features:
the condition of man in the Eden before his Fall. "burning bright...fire"; repeated questions, directed to the lamb, but easier to answer than those
Internally it refers to the condition of the child "hammer...chain...furnace...anvil". addressed to the tiger;
who hasn’t yet know what evil is. The inner state Technical features: answers given in the second stanza;
of Innocence is represented by many images like repeated (rhetorical) questions; idyllic setting of "stream and mead"
the Child or the Lamb. Moreover there is a the Tyger is addressed directly; contrasts with "forests of night" (exotic and dangerous) in The Tyger;
society based on good feelings like love and fast and hammering rhythm; suggests Biblical book of Psalms especially the 23rd psalm, with its "green
generosity. the Creator compared to a blacksmith; pastures";
In the world of Experience, which is the world the poet fascinated by the divine artistry as well as making The Lamb, God becomes like The Lamb: Jesus is both
of adults, people are selfish and incapable of the "Good Shepherd" and "The Lamb of God".
spontaneity, while society presents inequalities Like the Passover Lamb, He is sacrificed to redeem mankind.
and exploitation between men. This world is
represented by symbols such as the Tiger.
IMAGINATION AND THE POET
In human soul these two states coexist:
Blake considered imagination as the means through which Man could
innocence is an ideal to be struggled for in a
know the world. Imagination, or “the Divine Vision”, means “to see more,
corrupt and wicked world.
beyond material reality, into the life of things”. God, the child and the poet
To this dual vision of life corresponds a dual
share this power of vision, which is also the power of creating things.
vision of God: in the first collection the Lamb is
Therefore the poet becomes a sort of prophet who can see more deeply
the symbol of God’s innocence and a
into reality and who also tries to warn men of the evils of society.
demonstration of his love for his creatures, while
in Songs of Experience the Tiger is a powerful
symbol of energy which question the nature of
God and the value of his creation. “COMPLEMENTARY OPPOSITES” AND SYMBOLISM
His Christianity was not liturgical or moralistic. He believed in the reality of a spiritual
world, but he regarded Christianity and the Church as responsible for the
fragmentation of consciousness and the dualism characterising man’s life. To this
INFLUENCES ON BLAKE’S WORKS dualistic view he substituted a vision made up not of “contraries”, but of
His production was a reaction against the HIS INTEREST IN SOCIAL PROBLEMS “complementary opposites”. He affirmed: “Without Contraries there is no
values of the previous Age of Reason, his poetry Blake was concerned with the political and Progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate are necessary
was truly Romantic in its triumph of social problems of his time: he supported the to Human existence”. The possibility of progress, of achieving the knowledge of what we
imagination. His rebellious attitude was the abolition of slavery and shared other intellectuals’ are, is set in the tension between opposite states of mind.
result of several influences. He shared the social enthusiasm for the egalitarian principles of the In such a dualistic world, Blake does not encourage us to remain innocent, he suggests
and political ideas of left-wing radicals like French Revolution. He believed in revolution as that naïve innocence must of necessity pass through and assimilate the opposite state of
Paine and Godwin, Mary Shelley’s father. He purifying violence necessary for the redemption of experience and reach the third state called “higher innocence,” which transcends the
followed the assertions of intellectuals like man. Later, disillusioned, he focused his first two states to arrive at perfection.
Voltaire and Diderot that the individual had a attention on the evil consequences of the The two states coexist not only in the human being but also in the figure of the Creator
right to freedom and happiness outside the Industrial Revolution: the injustices caused by who can be at the same time the God of love and innocence and the God of energy.
restrictions of conventional morality and a materialistic attitude and the commercial His poems present a very simple structure and a highly individual use of symbols. He
religion. Finally, he became a visionary and exploitation of human beings. In his poems he employed a central group of related symbols: the child, the father and Christ,
believed in the illuminating power of his sympathised with the victims of industrial society representing the states of innocence, experience and a “higher innocence”.
visions. The most important literary influence such as children and prostitutes, as well as with He produced his collections of poems by the method of “illuminated printing”: each
in his life was the Bible, because it presented a the victims of institutional oppression such as page was an engraving of a text surrounded by images in watercolor. The text and the
total vision of the world and its history. orphans and soldiers. drawings were meant to illustrate and intensify each other’s meaning.