Little Lamb, who made thee?

1
Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who
made thee? Gave thee life, and bid thee feed,
By the stream and o'er the mead Gave thee
clothing of delight, Softest clothing, woolly,
bright Gave thee such a tender voice, Making
all the vales rejoice? Little Lamb, who made
thee? Dost thou know who made thee? Little Lamb,
I'll tell thee, ? Little Lamb, I'll tell thee.
? He is called by thy name, ? For He calls
Himself a Lamb. ? He is meek, and He is mild
? He became a little child. ? I a child, and thou
a lamb, ? We are called by His name. ? Little
Lamb, God bless thee! ? Little Lamb, God bless
thee!
The Lamb By William Blake From Songs of
Innocence
2
The Tyger, by William Blake, from Songs of
Experience
What the hammer? what the chain? ? In what
furnace was thy brain? ? What the anvil? what
dread grasp ? Dare its deadly terrors
clasp? When the stars threw down their spears,
? And watered heaven with their tears, ? Did he
smile his work to see? ? Did he who made the lamb
make thee? Tyger! Tyger! burning bright ? In the
forests of the night, ? What immortal hand or eye
? Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forest of the
night What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy
fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies
? Burnt the fire of thine eyes? ? On what wings
dare he aspire? ? What the hand dare seize the
fire? And what shoulder, and what art, ? Could
twist the sinews of thy heart? ? And when thy
heart began to beat, ? What dread hand? and what
dread feet?
3
Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who
made thee? Gave thee life, and bid thee feed,
By the stream and o'er the mead Gave thee
clothing of delight, Softest clothing, woolly,
bright Gave thee such a tender voice, Making
all the vales rejoice? Little Lamb, who made
thee? Dost thou know who made thee? Little Lamb,
I'll tell thee, ? Little Lamb, I'll tell thee.
? He is called by thy name, ? For He calls
Himself a Lamb. ? He is meek, and He is mild
? He became a little child. ? I a child, and thou
a lamb, ? We are called by His name. ? Little
Lamb, God bless thee! ? Little Lamb, God bless
thee!
What do we notice?

• Lots of repetition
• Lamb, He both capitalized
• Perfect a-a-b-b rhyme scheme
• Simple sentence structures, esp. in second stanza
• Second stanza is a confident answer complete
  with exclamation points to the first-stanza
  questions
• Soft, gentle sounds, esp. the frequent l words

4
What do we notice?
What the hammer? what the chain? ? In what
furnace was thy brain? ? What the anvil? what
dread grasp ? Dare its deadly terrors
clasp? When the stars threw down their spears,
? And watered heaven with their tears, ? Did he
smile his work to see? ? Did he who made the lamb
make thee? Tyger! Tyger! burning bright ? In the
forests of the night, ? What immortal hand or eye
? Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forest of the
night What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy
fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies
? Burnt the fire of thine eyes? ? On what wings
dare he aspire? ? What the hand dare seize the
fire? And what shoulder, and what art, ? Could
twist the sinews of thy heart? ? And when thy
heart began to beat, ? What dread hand? and what
dread feet?

• Less repetition, far more questions, even ending
  with a question
• The pronoun he not capitalized this time
• Nearly perfect rhymes, but key, repeated question
  involves a near-rhyme
• Far more complex structures poem overall and
  individual sentences
• Tone is desperate, confused as opposed to joyous
• Harsher sounds forestframefearful
  dreaddaredeadly

5
Overall observations
Tyger
Lamb
Both

• Simple ideas
• Form matches message simple, easy to follow
• Two stanzas makes poem a simple QA format
• Joyous, reverential tone
• Soothing sounds

• Speaker is respectful of both animals
• Each animal is described as nearly perfect
• Both forces (of love/ good and violence/ evil)
  belong in the world
• God appears in both poems, though never named
  perception changes, however

• More complex ideas
• Tone of despair, confusion, fear
• Harsh sounds
• Could frame thy fearful symmetry is difficult
  to say just as tyger is difficult to grasp
• Multiple stanzas allows speaker to examine tyger
  in great depth
• Understanding of tyger follows understanding of
  lamb a person understands good before evil
• Is tyger evil?

6
Thesis topic sentences skeletal outline
In the companion poems The Tyger and The
Lamb, William Blake uses diction, sound and
structure to suggest that the world can appear
beautifully simple or terribly troubling,
depending on ones perspective. Body 1 Simple
vocabulary and sentence structure distinguish
The Lamb from The Tyger, which uses more
complex vocabulary to express more complex
ideas. Body 2 Soft sounds make The Lamb a
gentle, soothing read, in stark contrast to the
harsh sounds that dominate The Tyger. Body 3
Even the forms of the poems are distinct. The
Lamb has a simple, two-stanza structure that
fits the uncomplicated message whereas The
Tyger many stanzas filled with questions to
emphasize its ideas. Conclusion