Monday, January 21, 2008

The Lamb. The Tyger.



.

"The Lamb"

Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly 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 & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
.


"The Tyger"

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests 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, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

.
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 water'd 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?


http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/blake/section1.html


http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/blake/section6.rhtml

7 comments:

Enemy of the Republic said...

It makes me think of the Tyger and the Lamb by Blake.

piktor said...

I was also thinking of The Tyger.

Shimmerrings said...

I always liked Blake, Piktor... and nice tygers!

Shimmerrings said...

er... I mean leopards, lol :o

*itKuPiLLi* said...

Very exciting post!

And I love your leopards, very creative use of colors!

piktor said...

Shimmers,
I changed the title to "Lamb and Tyger" after Enemy's comment.I also posted Blake's two poems for the same reason.

Kirsi,
Thank you. The leopard is a color photocopy of an oil sketch I did for my daughter about 10 years ago.

cathy said...

I'm glad you put the explanation in. For a minute there I thought enemy was losing it. Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience" are incredibly evocative poems.