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Nature vs. Industry as shown in "The Lamb" and "the Tyger"


            The two poems, "The Lamb" and "The Tyger," both by William Blake, can be analyzed and applied in many different ways. The similarities as well as the differences in the two poems offer the reader a rainbow of possible meanings. One of the meanings that I feel most strongly about is the conflict that the two poems present between nature and industry. .
             Nature has long been a source of inspiration for mankind, especially in the arts of painting, photography, and poetry. The natural human draw to nature comes strongly from its purity, serenity, peacefulness and beauty. "The Lamb" is a poem that gives off an air of placidity with its flowing rhyme, child-like repetition, and soothing imagery. Describing the lamb as having "clothing of delight, softest clothing, woolly bright" really emphasizes the purity and gloriousness of the subject. Later in the poem, Blake compares the lamb with Jesus Christ, The son of the Father whom himself created the lamb, and all that is beautiful and innocent. The lamb is a symbol of simplicity at its finest, uncorrupted and perfect.
             "The Tyger", in strong contrast to "The Lamb," is mysterious and malevolent, offering hints of destruction and doom. The opening lines of the poem "Tyger, Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night," shows early on in the poem that this "tiger" is capable of destroying the forests, which themselves are a beautiful part of nature. The motif of fire continues steadily throughout the poem, asking what horrible being is capable of wielding such a power. .
             The fourth stanza of "the Tyger reads,.
             "What the hammer? What the chain?.
             In what furnace was thy brain?.
             What the anvil? What dread grasp.
             Dare its deadly terrors clasp?".
             This stanza introduces many elements that may represent the rise of industry. Hammers, anvils, chains, and furnaces are all tools of industry, and in particular were all used in making the weapons in Blake's time.


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