Innocence Vs Experience

Innocence and experience can both be interpreted to mean two similar yet opposite things. You can look at innocence as with relating to God, and you can look at experience as with relating to the Devil or anything evil. God is usually a symbol of good things in life as well as the young and innocent. Innocence can be taken as before you go through life and before you really know what to expect from the world. Say, a child who has not matured into a full adult yet. Experience is after this, after you already know what to look for and you have already learned from mistakes. William Blake’s “The Lamb” shows innocence in it’s purest form, showing the good in life. In contrast, Blake’s “The Tyger” shows experience or learning in it’s true form, and can also be taken as the bad deeds in life.

William Blake’s “The Lamb” is a very pure and naive poem; the poet uses meter and rhyme to help show the nursery-rhyme feel to the poem. It almost feels as if a mother is singing the poem to her child. The poet also uses soft words, such as “little lamb,” “softest clothing,” “stream,” “meek,” and “mild”. This in turn causes the speaker’s voice to be very gentle and caring. This helps set the tone of innocence to the poem. “The Lamb” also has a majority of feminine endings, which helps create the softer tone.

Another feature that helps distinguish the innocence of “The Lamb” is the view of the question. The entire poem has a single question, which gives the poem simplicity and meaning. The whole aspect of “who is God” is raised, which brings religion into the theme. A lamb is used to symbolize God, as in the “Lamb of God”. A doe, for example, would not work for the main animal of “The Lamb” because it does not symbolize God or the purity of God. This is a very important aspect of the poem and helps show how innocence is portrayed.

William Blake’s theme of “The Tyger” differs greatly than that from “The Lamb”. The theme of “The Tyger” is revolved around learning and knowledge, as well as curiosity. “The Tyger” follows the same meter and rhyme as “The Lamb”, but this is used to contrast instead of compare. The word usage is very different, however. Blake uses words in “The Tyger” such as “burning,” “fearful,” “burnt,” “dare,” “fire,” “twist,” and “dread”. All of these words have a sharp sound, and help assemble the overall tone of the poem. “The Tyger” is a fierce, intense, and aggressive poem and these characteristics all help create the theme of evil.

“The Tyger” has an theme of evil for an important reason. The evil is referring to the desire of knowledge that humans have. This can also be shown as curiosity. In the bible, knowledge is seen as a sin through