Analysis of Blake’s Attitude Toward God & Religion via "the Lamb" and "the Tiger"
William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience pairs "The Lamb" and "The Tyger" as contrasting archetypes, revealing his complex view of God: God is both a benevolent creator of purity (innocence) and a powerful, even awe-inspiring maker of darkness (experience), and true faith requires embracing both sides of divine duality, rather than clinging to one-sided religious dogma.
1. The Lamb: Symbol of Innocent Benevolence & Traditional Religious Warmth
Core Images & Implied Meanings
• Physical traits: Soft wool, mild eyes, gentle nature—all embody purity, tenderness, and harmlessness, representing the "innocent" side of creation (children, virtue, divine mercy).
• Divine connection: The poem directly links the lamb to God: "He is called by thy name, / For he calls himself a Lamb" (lines 13-14). Here, God is framed as the "Lamb of God" (a Christian symbol of Jesus’ sacrifice and compassion), aligning with traditional religious narratives of a loving, merciful deity who cares for weak, pure beings.
• Tone: Gentle, childlike, and reverent—Blake uses simple language and a lullaby-like rhythm to reflect the naive, uncomplicated faith of innocence, where God is a kind, accessible protector.
Implication for Religion
"The Lamb" mirrors the comforting, moralistic side of organized religion: it emphasizes divine love, purity, and obedience, catering to human desire for a benevolent creator who brings peace and goodness.
2. The Tyger: Symbol of Powerful Mystery & Divine Duality
Core Images & Implied Meanings
• Physical traits: Burning eyes, "fearful symmetry," sharp claws, fiery origin ("In the forests of the night" "What the anvil? what the hammer?" lines 2/13)—all convey power, danger, mystery, and even darkness, representing the "experienced" side of creation (passion, strength, suffering, and the harshness of reality).
• Divine questioning: The poem’s core is a series of awe-struck, even uneasy questions about God’s creation of the tiger: "What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" "Did he smile his work to see? / Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" (lines 1-2/23-24). Blake challenges the one-dimensional view of God as only merciful—he forces readers to confront: if God made the gentle lamb, why also the fearsome tiger?
• Tone: Grand, intense, and contemplative—full of wonder and subtle unease, reflecting the complexity of faith when faced with life’s harshness and mystery.
Implication for Religion
"The Tyger" subverts traditional religious simplicity: it exposes the limitations of viewing God as merely kind, arguing that divinity includes power, mystery, and even "ferocity." It rejects rigid religious dogma that ignores life’s duality (good/evil, purity/passion, mercy/strength).
3. Blake’s Overall Attitude Toward God & Religion
Blake does not deny God—instead, he redefines divine nature as dual and holistic, merging the lamb’s benevolence with the tiger’s power. His critique is not of God itself, but of organized religion’s narrowness: traditional faith often glorifies innocence (the lamb) while suppressing or ignoring experience (the tiger), reducing God to a simplistic, moralistic figure.
For Blake, true spirituality requires accepting that God’s creation contains both light and darkness, purity and passion. The two poems together argue that faith must embrace life’s full complexity—only then can one understand the true depth of divine creation, rather than being confined by rigid religious doctrines that oversimplify God and human experience.
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