some poem, just like the innocence of a child. It asks the question, who made thee? But it also answers that question, God. The poem gives the impression that God is generous and loving. He created the Lamb (child), giving him clothing, food and a tender voice. The child is called by God’s name, which is lamb. Possibly implying that God and child are one, for in true innocence, God is there. This is religion at its purist form. God is found inside the individual, not the organization. It has not being contaminated by human institutions yet. The Tyger is the reverse state of the soul, once experience has become a part of the picture. This is a powerful and formidable poem. The tiger, itself, is a dangerous but beautiful creature, that could possibly be representing an adult, just as the lamb was a child. Again, this poem also asks the question, who made thee? It questions, who or what God dare to make such a beast? Blake never states that it is God, but rather an immortal hand. It leads the reader to believe that this is possible a different God or one that has been altered from His original childlike innocence portrayed in The Lamb. The imagery used in the poem creates a picture of God as blacksmith: “seize the fire”, “twist the sinews”, “hammer”, “chain”, “furnace”, and “anvil”. This is no longer the same God that created the lamb to have someone after his own image; this God is using hard manual labor to create a beast of “fearful symmetry”. The poem asks,” Did he who make the Lamb make thee?” It might be the same God that made the lamb, but He is not the same. Humans in organized religion have tainted this God. He is no longer a loving and pure God, but a hard and judgmental one. The state of innocence, once lost through experience, is never possible to regain. As in The Lamb, God is one in the same with the ch...
