1、The lamb 1 “The Lamb“ is a poem by William Blake, published in Songs of Innocence in 1789. Like many of Blakes works, the poem is about Christianity. The whole collection is pervaded with a breath of simplicity and fancy.Poetic structure 1 rhyme scheme: AA BB CC DD AA AA EF GG FE AA“The Lamb” has tw
2、o stanzas, each containing five rhymed couplets.2 The layout is set up by two stanzas with the refrain: “Little Lamb who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee?“In the first stanza, the speaker wonders who the lambs creator is; the answer lies at the end of the poem. Here we find a physical descrip
3、tion of the lamb, seen as a pure and gentle creature. In the second stanza, the lamb is compared with the infant Jesus, as well as between the lamb and the speakers soul. In the last two lines the speaker identifies the creator: God.Rhetorical devices1 The poem begins with the question, “Little Lamb
4、, who made thee?” The speaker, a child, asks the lamb about its origins: how it came into being, how it acquired its particular manner of feeding, its “clothing” of wool, its “tender voice.”2 In the next stanza, the speaker attempts a riddling answer to his own question: the lamb was made by one who
5、 “calls himself a Lamb,” one who resembles in his gentleness both the child and the lamb. Repetition in the first and last couplet of each stanza makes these lines into a refrain, and helps to give the poem its song-like quality. The flowing soft vowel sounds contribute to this effect, and also sugg
6、est the bleating of a lamb or the lisping character of a childs chant.Theme1 The lamb is a common metaphor for Jesus Christ, who is also called the “The Lamb of God“2 Blake in the songs of innocence，with childish lifes point of view，shows a full of love and kindness, compassion and happy world. The
7、poem has just 20 lines, but depicts the character of gentleness vividly. 3 The poets description about the lambs kindness and gentleness, aims to express their feeling of life and nature, and the yearning for the universe and harmonious understanding.4 He not only sings praise of gentle lamb, but al
8、so the mystical power that can create the lamb. Here the God, Jesus and the Lamb are just the one thing. The TygerTyger! Tyger! burning brightIn the forests of the night,What im mortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry?Analysis: In the this verse, the author compares the fierceness of a ti
9、ger to a burning presence in dark forests. He wonders what immortal power could create such a fearful beast.* Line 1 is an example of synecdoche(提喻), a literary device used when a part represents the whole or the whole represents a part. In line 1 “Tyger! Tyger! burning bright“ alludes to the predat
10、ors eyes. In what distant deeps or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?On what wings dare he as pireWhat the hand, dare seize the fire?Analysis: Here the poet compares the burning eyes of the tiger to distant fire that only someone with wings could reach. The poet wonders where such a powerful fire co
11、uld have comeAnd what shoulder, and what art,Could twist the sinews of thy heartAnd when thy heart began to beat,What dread hand？and what dread feet?Analysis: In the third stanza we have a metaphor giving us a vision a skillful and powerful blacksmith creating the tigers beating heart awakening a po
12、werful beast. The phrase “.twist the sinews of thy heart“ is also an allusion to a hardheartedness that a beast of prey must have towards the creatures it kills.What the hammer? what the chain?In what furnace was thy brain?What the anvil? what dread graspDare its deadly terrors clasp?Analysis: This
13、verse continues the allusion to a creator, who, having made the fearsome beast, must confront with the sheer terror of a tigers natureWhen the stars threw down their spears,And wa terd hea ven with their tears,Did he smile his work to see?Did he who made the Lamb make thee?Analysis: In the fifth sta
14、nza,the author, with beautiful rhetoric (personification),describes a marvelous creation process likening starlight to a symbolic destructive process.The author wonders whether the creator of the fierce and predatory tiger could make the docile, gentle lamb. He sees a conflict between the creation o
15、f heartless, burning predator and its potential victim, the lamb.Tyger! Tyger! burning brightIn the forests of the nightWhat im mortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?Analysis: The final verse is but a reprise, almost a chorus. It serves the purpose of repeating the wondrous question of
16、the tigers creation and gives the reader another chance to enjoy the rhetorical and already answered question, “What immortal hand or eye?“The answer lies in the readers interpretation of creation: Did God create the fearsome along with the gentle? Why does He allow the tiger to burn in the dark for
17、est, while the lamb gambols in the glen under the stars of that very creation? The author leaves it up to the reader to decide. The important thing is the question, not the answer.Background information: The Tyger“ is a poem by the English poet William Blake. It was published as part of his collecti
18、on Songs of Experience in 1794. The Cambridge Companion to William Blake (2003) calls it “the most anthologized poem in English.“解析题目：His choice of “tyger“ has usually been interpreted as being for effect, perhaps to render an “exotic or alien quality of the beast“, or because its not really about a
19、 “tiger“ at all, but a metaphor.The Meter: trochee tetrameter. (the poem is in trochaic tetrameter)The poem is comprised of six quatrains (A quatrain is a four-line stanza) in rhymed couplets. The Rhyme Scheme： aa bb with a near rhyme(近似韵) ending the first and last stanzas, drawing attention to the
20、tigers “fearful symmetry.“Rhetorical devices 1 Repetition of “Tyger“ in line 1, “dare“ in lines 7 (powerful force with terror, mystery and violence eg: fearful symmetry, dread hand, obscure in symbolic meaning) (2)the fire imagery symbolizes trials (3) the forest of the night represents unknown real
21、ms or challenges; (4) the blacksmith represents the Creator; (5) the fearful symmetry symbolizes the existence of both good and evil, the knowledge that there is opposition in all things, a rather fearful symmetry indeed. * SymbolsThe Lamb: GodDistant Deeps: Hell The Tiger: Evil (or Satan) Skies: He
22、aven 4 Metaphor: Compare the tigers eyes to fire. 5 Anaphora: Repetition of what at the beginning of sentences or clauses. (首语重复法) Example: What dread hand and what dread feet? / What the hammer? what the chain?Theme The poem is more about the creator of the tiger than it is about the tiger itself.
23、The poet was at a loss to explain how the same God who made the lamb could make the tiger. So, the theme is: humans are incapable of fully understanding the mind of God and the mystery of his handiwork. COMPARISON between the lamb and the tyger 1 “The Tyger“ is the sister poem to “The Lamb“ “Songs o
24、f Innocence”, a reflection of similar ideas from a different perspective, but it focuses more on goodness than evil.2 Both are creation poems 3 Structure of the “The Lamb” is more obviously singular when compared with the complexity of “The Tiger,” whose complexity is achieved through layered questi
25、ons without answers, while the Lamb poses a simple, singular question and then directly answers it.The sick rose O Rose, thou art sick. 啊 玫瑰 你病了The invisible worm 那看不见的虫That flies in the night 在夜里飞翔In the howling storm 在呼啸的暴风雨中Has found out thy bed 发现了你深红色Of crimson joy, 快活的床And his dark secret love
26、 他黑色的秘恋Does thy life destroy. 摧毁了你我的生命Analysisrhyme scheme: abcb (2 quatrains or 2 stanzas)images: rose, worm, storm, bed1 Line 1: The form of address“O rose“is called an apostrophe. The rose here could be a metaphor for love or passion2 Line 2-3: “Invisible“ might be a metaphor for the worms quiet
27、act of destruction.3 Line 4: The speaker mentions a “howling storm,“ which gives the poem a more ominous tone. “Howling“ reminds us of dogs or wolves; the sounds of those animals are here a metaphor for the storm4 Line 5-6: “Bed“ might refer to a plot of ground in which the rose is growing, which it
28、s not a literal bed with pillows, but a metaphor for the plot of ground. Or bed can refer to the roses petals, which is a place where insects rest or sleep. In addition, the worm manages to worm his way into the roses bed, which suggests some kind of sexual act.5 Lines 7-8: The speaker describes how
29、 the worm “destroys“ the rose with his “dark secret love.“ It is an example of personification, where human characteristics or emotions (love) are attributed to non-human things (namely the worm).The Rose The rose exists as a beautiful object that has become infected by a worm; also as a literary ro
30、se, the conventional symbol of love. It symbolizes innocence, nature and even pre-industrial England fall under this more encompassing category. The speaker opens by apostrophizing the rose, immediately setting a tone of despair that is intensified by the epithet of “sick”. The rose resides in a “be
31、d”, which is a pun denoting both a flower bed and a human one. The sexual undertones are elevated by the evocation of “crimson joy”, which is almost paradox as the said color is distinctly sinister, often used to describe the appearance of blood and therefore tying into the poems suggestions of deat
32、h. A literal death is not suggested, however, but a figurative one, as the roses life is irreparably “destroyed“The Worm The worm, meanwhile, symbolizes the destruction of this unspoiled state, its appearance evoking biblical images of the serpent in Eden. Worms are usually earthbound, and symbolize
33、 death and decay, therefore suggesting that it symbolizes something more sinister than death - in this case, the fall of mankind. The “bed” into which the worm creeps denotes both the natural flowerbed and also the lovers bed. The rose is sick, and the poem implies that love is sick as well, and it can also refer to the moral corruption. The “crimson joy” and the “dark secret love” imply both sexual pleasure and shame, which Blake thought was perverted and unhealthy.
