Blake Study Guide.doc

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BLAKE STUDY GUIDE

(Concentrating on “The Lamb” and “The Tyger”)

During Blake’s own time, he was not well known !n "act, Blake was not e#en taught as one o"

the great $omantic writers until the second hal" o" the twentieth century Blake was o"ten

classi"ied as a “%re&$omantic,” and that meant two things 'n the one hand it meant that many o"

his %oems were written be"ore the great %oems o" ordsworth and Coleridge Blake’s were late&

eighteenth&century %oems But the term also carried with it a #alue udgment that Blake sim%ly

wasn’t a great $omantic %oet in the way that ordsworth was

Two things changed that* the "irst was that in +-., the Canadian critic /orthro% 0rye %ublished

a book called Fearful Symmetry, and this was really the "irst book to treat Blake as i" he were an

absolutely "irst&rate artist The other thing that hel%ed us disco#er Blake was what ha%%ened inthe late si1ties and early se#enties That was the time o" unrest on college cam%uses, and Blake

s%oke "or many o" that era

Blake is #ery much the most modern and in many ways the most re#olutionary o" the $omantic

writers !n "act, he’s gone "rom being an obscure “%re&$omantic” to being regarded as the

standard by which all the other $omantics are e#aluated This is %articularly true i" you read the

scholarshi% o" the so&called 2ale Critics34arold Bloom and 5eo""rey 4artman in %articular

Blake is seen now as the one $omantic %oet who had con"idence in the com%lete autonomy o"

the human imagination

$emember that he was not well known in his time There is a mo#ing note that Blake wrote in

the margins o" one o" his books* “! am hid” 6#en toward the end o" his li"e, a"ter he’d written all

o" his remarkable works, he saw his destiny as hidden !" he was known, he was thought to be a

lunatic 'ne re#iewer o" Blake’s %oems wrote that “They gi#e "resh %roo" o" the alarming

increase o" the e""ects o" insanity” Charles Lamb, Coleridge’s "riend, wrote at Blake’s death,

“Blake is "led, whither ! know not, to 4ades, or to a madhouse”

To read Blake, you need "irst to reali7e that he is a “#isionary” in a literal sense that goes beyond

the way we use that term to talk about the %oetry o" "igures like ordsworth The title o" 4arold

Bloom’s book The Visionary Company has the general meaning that the $omantics were %oets

who celebrated the imagination They were #isionary %oet&%ro%hets in that general sense



!n ordsworth’s %oetry, there are “s%ots o" time” in which #isions occur, where the %henomenal

world is trans"ormed in some way by the imagination !n Blake’s li"e, the %henomenal world

sometimes com%letely disa%%eared, and he saw #isions that were not reared on the basis o"

em%irical sense data or the e1ternal world Blake’s #ision is o"ten said to be “unmediated”

!" ordsworth wants to e1%erience eternity or the di#ine, rather than see it directly, he sees it

mediated through nature, or mediated through the sensory world Blake, in his li"e, a%%arently

had e1%eriences in which there was no mediation That is, the world as we know it com%letely

disa%%eared "or him, and he saw #isions 4e saw angels in trees 5od s%oke to him Blake said

about his art that he was only the secretary3that the authors were in eternity 4e s%oke o" his

%oems as being dictated to him by s%irits 8o we’re talking about someone as a #isionary in the

literal sense (9t least that’s what Blake tells us 9 ske%tic would %robably balk at the idea: a

%sychiatrist might consider the #isions to be delusions)

Let’s look at a "ew things that Blake wrote about #isions 4e said that he looks through his

cor%oreal eyes, like windows, not with them Thus, he’s always looking with the inner eye o"

imagination 8o "or Blake, the world “out there” (the e1ternal world, the %henomenal world) is a

net, a tra%, a construction that we must see through

'ne e1am%le o" this thinking a%%ears in the “9 ;emorable 0ancy” section o" his %oem “The

;arriage o" 4ea#en and 4ell” Blake writes,

hen ! came home, on the abyss o" the "i#e senses, where a "lat sided stee% "rowns o#er the

%resent world, ! saw a mighty De#il "olded in black clouds, ho#ering on the sides o" the rock

ith corroding "ires he wrote the "ollowing sentence now %ercei#ed by the minds o" men, < read

by them on earth*

4ow do you know but e#’ry Bird that cuts the airy way,

!s an immense world o" delight, clos’d by your senses "i#e=

The main meta%hor here is clear !t’s like what ordsworth says in the “!ntimations 'de”* e

must “obstinately >uestion sense and outward sight” Blake’s meta%hor suggests that we must

burn through “outward sight” with corroding "ires to see the reality beneath, the eternity that’s

behind the %hysical world The corroding "ire o" the imagination eats through the sur"ace to show

us the true reality beneath, according to Blake !t’s kind o" like the idea o" classical scul%ture3



that the statue is already inside the block o" marble !t’s the act o" imagination, o" seeing with

e1%anded eyes, that chi%s the marble away to re#eal the truth and beauty and "orm within

8o "or Blake, the em%hasis is always on the imagination, and on the ability o" the human mind to

construct its own reality !n a %oem called “The 8mile,” Blake wrote, “The eye altering, alters

all” 9nd in a #ery "amous %ro#erb o" the “?ro#erbs o" 4ell” in “The ;arriage o" 4ea#en and

4ell,” he writes, “here ;an is not, /ature is barren”

4ere is a good way to begin to understand the di""erences between Blake and someone like

ordsworth, who would hardly agree that “here ;an is not, /ature is barren” There is "or

ordsworth “a s%irit that rolls through” the natural world and the human s%irit Blake, howe#er,

does not belie#e that Blake attacks what was called /atural $eligion !n the te1t “There is /o

/atural $eligion,” "or e1am%le, he argues that there is no %attern out there, in the natural world,"rom which we can e1tra%olate an understanding o" 5od 0or Blake there’s no di#ine %attern out

there !" we see a di#ine %attern, it’s because we bring that to nature, to the e1ternal world, with

the imagination e %roect it 8o "or Blake, “here man is not, /ature is barren”

Blake also wrote, “!" the doors o" %erce%tion were cleansed, e#erything would a%%ear to man as

it is, in"inite 0or man has closed himsel" u%, until he sees all things through the narrow chinks o"

his ca#ern” (2ou might ha#e heard o" the si1ties rock grou% called “The Doors,” led by @im

;orrison The name o" the band is taken "rom this %assage in Blake)

This is the $omantic image o" the mind as a ca#ern But Blake sees the ca#ern as an in"inite

s%ace that we oursel#es ha#e limited $emember the De#il’s >uestion* “4ow do you know but

e#’ry Bird that cuts the airy way, A !s an immense world o" delight, clos’d by your senses "i#e=”

Blake wrote* “4e who sees the in"inite in all things sees 5od A 4e who sees the ratio only sees

himsel"” The idea o" “ratio” is Blake’s attack on Locke and the 6nlightenment de#otion to

science, rationality, and reason !" you think o" reality as only what the senses bring in, then all

you will see is a sel"&im%osed circle, according to Blake 5od, "or Blake, e>uates to the 4uman

!magination3or at least that’s the only way we can e1%erience di#inity

Blake sometimes states his ideal in slightly di""erent terms 4e uses the conce%t o" the “4uman

0orm Di#ine” !n “The ;arriage o" 4ea#en and 4ell,” he writes that “9ll deities reside in the

human breast” This is a com%licated subect Blake is not saying that ;an is 5od 4e’s saying



that 5od only has meaning to the e1tent that it’s a %art o" our humanity The belie" we ha#e in

some 5od who’s out there and u% there is an illusion "or Blake

0or Blake, a false #iew o" 5od is based on our relationshi% with our %arents, where our "athers

and mothers say to us, “Thou 8halt /ot” e take that relationshi% with our %arents and imagine

that to be what 5od is like This re%resses our se1uality and imagination 0or Blake, that’s all an

illusi#e "abrication o" the human mind !t’s real in that it determines the way we think and beha#e

in the world, but there is a more %ositi#e way o" seeing 5od, according to Blake 4e sees 5od in

terms o" the Christian conce%t o" the incarnation Christ is 5od becoming ;an, taking on human

"orm 9nd so "or Blake, what we ha#e to do is redisco#er the di#inity o" our own humanity e

are not 5od, but we can recogni7e the di#inity inherent in our humanity 0or him, “9ll deities

reside in the human breast”

Blake writes in his e%ic %oem The Four Zoas* “9ttem%ting to become more than ;an we

become less” The %roblem "or Blake is that we can’t concei#e o" the "act that we ha#e

something within us that’s di#ine e su""er, and there"ore we imagine that 5od must be

something #ery distant and non&human To do that, Blake argues, degenerates the conce%t o"

what 5od is all about, and at the same time it degenerates the %ossibilities "or what we’re all

about 8o what we ha#e to do is to disco#er that %oint at which the two meet

0or ordsworth, on the other hand, the %oint o" union is in the wedding between man and

nature 0or Blake, the %oint o" union is between our human sel" and our di#ine sel", in

disco#ering their mutual identity

0or Blake, “$eality is a mental construction” hat he means is that we see what we belie#e

That is, the world is not "actual !t e1ists o" things, yes But, in Blake’s #iew, what we take as

ha#ing some kind o" e1ternal reality is really a %lace onto which we %roect our #alues and our

belie"s Those #alues and belie"s are mirrored back to us, and we assume that these #alues and

belie"s are an inherent %art o" the world But they are not, according to Blake They are all a

creation o" the human mind

Blake is not arguing "or com%lete subecti#ity 4e’s not saying that reality is whate#er you see

4e does belie#e that there is something eternal, something di#ine 4e belie#es that i" our

imaginations are allowed to act in a com%letely "ree way, then we would see that eternal di#inity,

we would disco#er it But he’s arguing that most %eo%le li#e in what he calls “the "allen world,”

seeing through the narrow chinks in their ca#ern They see a world o" con"inement, containment,



o" sel"&limitation, and they think that that’s what reality is They are unaware that “9ll deities

reside in the human breast”

hat links Blake to ordsworth is that his hero is a hero o" consciousness The great actions in

Blake’s %oetry are imaginati#e acts

'ne other thing to kee% in mind is that Blake set out to write a ri#al #ersion o" the Bible To

understand Blake, you need to understand the Bible and ;ilton There’s a character in one o"

Blake’s writings who says, “! must create a system or be ensla#ed by another man’s”

'n the one hand, though, Blake is stee%ed in the great myths o" estern culture, %articularly the

Biblical myths and its #ision o" the designs o" human li"e, about %ro#idential history that’s

leading to %aradise Blake belie#ed in all o" that, but he said that he read the Bible in the#isionary sense 4e wanted to use his own terms, though 8o instead o" 5od and @esus and

;ichael, he gi#es us bi7arre names like ri7en and 5olgonoo7a 4e writes o"

“/obodaddy”3“daddy” because it’s based on the “Thou 8halt /ot” relationshi% with our "ather,

“/obo” because it’s nobody3it doesn’t e1ist a%art "rom the way that we create him in this "orm

These bi7arre names are Blake’s way o" trying to ar us out o" habit and custom and con#entional

understandings, and mo#ing us toward a #isionary consciousness

Let’s look at Blake’s Songs of Innocence hat does he mean by the title= 4ow does the title

sha%e the way in which we read the %oems=

The most im%ortant "igure is the child 0or Blake the world he calls “!nnocence” is a world o"

children or child&like %eo%le Blake is interested not so much in a literal state o" childhood, but in

the mental state o" childhood 4e’s trying to ca%ture a child&like way o" looking at the world

Blake’s %oetry is really all about ?'!/T '0 !6 !n Blake’s %oetry, what makes something a

“song o" innocence,” as o%%osed to a “song o" e1%erience,” is not the setting, but the %oint o"

#iew, the state o" mind, the attitude that gets e1%ressed by the %oem’s s%eaker

hat about the word “o"”= !t means songs that %ortray the world o" innocence, but it also means

songs "rom the mouths o" innocence, songs "rom the %oint o" #iew o" innocence

The second thing to remember about Blake’s work is C'/T6T To understand his songs o"

innocence, we ha#e to %ut them in the conte1t o" the other songs o" innocence, but also the songs



o" e1%erience hate#er innocence is, it is not e1%erience !ts meaning is relative to the meaning

o" e1%erience Blake’s Songs of Innocence are about a world %rior to a world in which most o" us

li#e ;ost o" us li#e in the world o" e1%erience, and to understand e1%erience, we ha#e to

imagine that childhood is the o%%osite, or the “contrary,” o" that

'ne o" Blake’s in"luences on this #ision is the Book o" 5enesis The Songs of Innocence

re%resent Blake’s #ision o" the world be"ore the Biblical "all recounted in 5enesis But as we will

disco#er, unlike the Biblical "orm o" 6den, "or Blake, the 5arden o" 6den is not the ideal 4e’s

going to ha#e an ideal that’s more demanding than that3what he calls “intellectual war”

The world o" “!nnocence” is the %rela%sarian world, the world o" 9dam and 6#e !t’s about the

world be"ore %erce%tion is tainted by a "all into e1%erience !t’s about %erce%tion be"ore it is

limited, con"ined, restricted, im%risoned, chained

!n the Songs of Experience, Blake will write about “mind&"org’d manacles” This is about a

world be"ore we "orge in our own mind the manacles that chain us, hold us back "rom an

enlarged, #isionary e1istence

Crucial to an understanding o" the Songs of Innocence, then, is %oint o" #iew 6#erything in these

songs is written not "rom Blake’s %oint o" #iew, but "rom the %oint o" #iew o" a child or a child&

like %erson The second key inter%reti#e element is conte1t e ha#e to read each %oem in the

conte1t o" the other %oems in the Songs of Innocence, as well as in the conte1t o" the Songs of

Experience $emember* “!nnocence” is not a literal %lace but a state o" mind, a way o" looking at

the world

9t this %oint, we might %lay an “9ssociation 5ame,” making a chart o" associations,

connotations, signi"ications hat do we ty%ically associate with innocence as a state o" mind=

!t’s "illed with trust, but sometimes ignorant trust, nai#ety '%timism ?urity 5oodness

9""irmation, etc !" you analy7e these words, they lead us to two di""erent clusters o"

associations* on the one hand, innocence is something good and %ower"ul, but it also signi"ies alack o" e1%erience, nai#ety

Let’s think o" a %hrase taken "rom “The Di#ine !mage”* this %oem is the hymn to “mercy, %ity,

%eace, and lo#e” This will hel% us get a handle on what “!nnocence” is like as a way o"

%ercei#ing the world !t’s a world in which the %eo%le are child&like and "illed with mercy, %ity,

%eace, and lo#e That’s their %oint o" #iew



9nd what do you do i" you’re "illed with mercy, %ity, %eace, and lo#e= 2ou see that in the world

around you The world mirrors back your own state o" mind That’s what Blake means by

“$eality is a mental construction”

!t is like the Biblical world o" 6den 9dam and 6#e are like children, "illed with mercy, %ity,

%eace and lo#e But this %oint o" #iew has limitations, according to Blake

These children are de%endent3on their mothers and "athers, their %riests, their kings, their 5od

They imagine a world in which they are watched o#er and %rotected They seek to be de%endent

They seek the guidance and %rotection and care o" authority "igures 9nd "or Blake the %rocess is

%assi#e rather than creati#e

Those who li#e in the world o" !nnocence essentially acce%t the world that is taught to them by

their mothers, "athers, %riests, and kings, and 5od 9nd this is de"initely not Blake’s ideal 4is

ideal is the artist rebel who challenges the #iew o" reality that is %resented by authority "igures

The artist&rebel creates his own #ision o" reality $emember the key line* “! must create my own

system or be ensla#ed by another man’s”

These children then are imaginati#e, but their imaginations are limite in that they see what

they’#e been taught to see, what they’#e been told 0or Blake this is a state o" mind we "ind

es%ecially in children and in young lo#ers (in the dream world they create)

0or Blake, %eo%le who "ind consolation in the orthodo1 teachings o" the Bible also li#e in the

world o" innocence !t is a world o" brotherhood, where all %eo%le are linked, where 5od is

%resent e#ery day !t’s beauti"ul and %ositi#e, but "or Blake, it’s not ideal, because the %eo%le do

not use the %otential o" their imaginations in a #ery acti#e way !nstead, they acce%t "ar more than

they create

ltimately, "or Blake, the world o" !nnocence is an illusion that we must mo#e beyond e musttear down the system and create a new one

Let’s look at “The Lamb” e need to remember how %ositi#e the state o" innocence is

ltimately "or Blake, it is limited, but it has many %ositi#e as%ects, and these he works hard to

bring across in %oems like “The Lamb” ery o"ten, these %oems are "illed with com%le1 ironies

8o we get what innocence is about3the %ositi#e side, the %oint o" #iew "rom the inside But





@esus is also the son o" 5od, so he’s a child There’s an identi"ication between the s%eaker and

@esus 0or this child, then, 5od the creator is not something out there and u% there 4e’s not some

distant "igure The creator, "rom this %ers%ecti#e, is something like the child 0or Blake that’s

#ery %ositi#e

hat else is the di""erence between @esus and 5od= Di#inity e1%resses itsel" in di""erent "orms3

one is the "ather 2ahweh, another is @esus the son 'n the one hand, we ha#e an all&%ower"ul

"igure o" authority, anger, wrath, and darkness e think o" the caution, “0ear the Lord” and

language like “engeance is mine”

'n the other hand, @esus is associated with lo#e and %ity !t’s the di""erence between 5od as

re#ealed in the 'ld Testament and 5od as re#ealed in the /ew The child chooses a /ewTestament creator This is not a creator o" law and wrath The 5od o" the 'ld Testament is a 5od

o" @ustice The 5od o" the /ew is a 5od o" ;ercy

/ow ste% back and look at what Blake is doing !n Songs of Innocence, we’re learning about

what innocence is like, but we’re also learning about the %ers%ecti#e, about the %oint o" #iew, o"

innocence3its characteristic bene"its and %it"alls, o%%ortunities and obstacles 6#erything is

sha%ed by what @esus is in “The Lamb”3a %reacher o" mercy, %ity, %eace, and lo#e, at least "rom

the child’s #antage %oint, the child’s %ers%ecti#e Because that’s what the child is, that’s what he

sees and describes 6#en "or a >uestion like “ho is the creator=” the child sees a creator

literally like himsel"3an innocent creator

hat concrete image does the child use to describe the creator= 9 lamb hy, according to the

%oem, does the child identi"y the creator as a lamb= 4e is meek and he is mild !s that true or

"alse= Both 'n the one hand, @esus is the 5od o" mercy and bene#olent sa#ior, but on the other

hand he turns the world u%side down in a #iolent e1%ression o" anger The "irst %ublic act o"

@esus was to o#erturn the tables o" the moneychangers The child o" innocence chooses the

sentimental #iew o" @esus as a meek and mild lamb The child’s %ers%ecti#e can only o""er areality created by the @esus o" the 8ermon on the ;ount, where “The meek shall inherit the

earth” But there is another @esus, and it’s that other @esus that Blake celebrates, es%ecially in the

later %oetry

hy is @esus the lamb= Because he is sacri"iced The child doesn’t ha#e the slightest notion that

that’s the real reason that the Bible re"ers to @esus as the lamb !t’s #iolent, bloody, but that



%ers%ecti#e isn’t a#ailable to the nai#e, #ulnerable child The child is a Christ&like lamb because

he’s "illing with mercy, %ity, %eace and lo#e, but he’s also a Christ&like lamb because he’s

#ulnerable to sacri"ice, to o%%ressi#e #iolence !n the %oem, too, the children are com%ared to

lambs, and the basis "or the com%arison is the "act that they are #ulnerable, e1%loited, #ictimi7ed

That’s a %art o" the irony Blake creates in the world o" !nnocence

The child is "illed with a #iew o" mercy, %ity, %eace and lo#e, and he belie#es in a %ositi#e,

humani7ed #ision o" 5od, where 5od is not distant and cold, but e#erywhere around him 4e

identi"ies with his 5od This is %ositi#e and %ower"ul "or Blake, but it’s not the ideal, because

there are ironies 9nd that’s the other dimension we ha#e to kee% in mind

hat kind o" >uestions does the child ask= $hetorical >uestions 4e already knows the answers

The child asks a >uestion in order that he may answer it /otice that this is not an acti#e,>uesting mind seeking out truth This is a mind asking a >uestion in order to ha#e an occasion to

answer, and to reassure the sel"

hat does the rhythm o" the %oem suggest= !t sounds like a nursery rhyme, right= These are

child&like nursery rhymes They also sound like rote memory o" the rules The child knows his

truth because he acce%ts it without rigorous >uestioning That doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily

in#alid or untrue !t ust means that these truths are the ones that arise "rom a consciousness in

the world o" !nnocence, a %ers%ecti#e o" a child&like "igure

Blake isn’t condemning the child as a "ool 4e’s showing the bene"its and limitations o" the

%ers%ecti#e o" !nnocence !t’s all about %oint o" #iew

!" the child is the lamb, what is 5od like= 4e’s the she%herd /otice that this ta%s into a

mythology that we know well, o" Christ the she%herd

9s di""erent as Blake is "rom ordsworth, in #ery general terms these %oets are interested in

%erce%tion and the imagination 9nd we see that immediately when we come to the Songs of

Innocence an Experience Blake is essentially writing not about a literal %lace but about a state

o" mind

!nnocence is a state o" mind that Blake associates with children and child&like adults But Blake

also draws u%on a #ery rich cultural history in creating his own #ision o" innocence !n many



ways, it’s a Biblical tradition Blake %resents the world o" !nnocence (what he is later to de#elo%

as his conce%t o" “Beulah”) by drawing on the Biblical tradition o" 6den

Think again about “mercy, %ity, %eace, and lo#e” This is what Blake means by !nnocence3a

world, a state o" mind, where %eo%le are "illed with these >ualities and see them in the world

around them Because reality, Blake argues, is a mental construction hat we see and take "or

"act is actually a world that we charge with our own #alues

This world o" !nnocence is a #ery %ower"ul symbol "or Blake !t’s a world o" s%ontaneity, o"

imaginati#e children, where %eo%le are linked to others in a kind o" brotherhood !t’s a world o" a

di#inely imbued landsca%e ?eo%le in the %sychic landsca%e o" !nnocence sense the constant

%resence o" 5od, o" @esus, and other %rotecti#e "igures around them in their daily li#es 8o

!nnocence is a world o" %urity and goodness But !nnocence has limitations, and because o" theselimitations, it is not Blake’s ideal 6#en though Blake is drawing on the Biblical 6den, that 6den

as it is described in 5enesis is not the true %aradise "or Blake 4e’s going to e#ol#e a di""erent

conce%tion o" %aradise

9gain, the children and child&like %eo%le o" !nnocence imagine a world in which they are

watched o#er and %rotected They are lambs watched o#er by the 5ood 8he%herd They are cared

"or by their %arents, their %riest, their king, their 5od 9nd "or Blake, that’s %roblematic They are

not only de%endent, but they see! to be de%endent There is an ignorant trust on their %art They

are imaginati#e, but they imagine usually what they’#e been taught by their elders 9nd so "or

Blake, their imaginations are limited They tend to acce%t the world as it is gi#en to them, rather

than a world created "reely out o" their own imaginati#e strengths e start to see, then, the

world o" !nnocence re%resenting not only %urity, but lack o" e1%erience and knowledge !t’s a

world o" nai#ety as well as %urity

This is a world o" limitations, but not o" em%tiness Blake is not harshly condemning !nnocence

4e’s celebrating its %ositi#e #irtues, but suggesting that there is something more than !nnocence,

more "ully creati#e

/ow "or a brie" introduction to the Songs of Experience

Blake wrote that “ithout Contraries is /o ?rogression” Blake saw contraries not only as being

ine#itable, but necessary e need to mo#e "rom the world o" !nnocence to the world o"

61%erience The world o" 61%erience is the contrary, "or Blake, to the world o" !nnocence





61%erience is a world in which we enclose and im%rison oursel#es with what, in the %oem

“London,” Blake calls “the mind&"org’d manacles” 0or Blake, to be damned is to be damned

within our limited senses, as o%%osed to his ideal, which he calls “6nlarged sensory %erce%tion”

!n the realm o" 61%erience, we "ind >uestions rather than answers e "ind s%eakers who are

adults rather than children 9nd >uite o"ten, the subects o" these %oems are no longer children,

but youths3young men and women ith that, there is an e1%licit se1ual dimension to the

language and the #isual imagery

But let’s come back to the basic %oint* “$eality is a mental construction” "or Blake !n the %oems

set in the world o" 61%erience, the mentality, the %syche, the %ersonality o" the s%eakers is #ery

di""erent3it’s contrary to that o" the world o" !nnocence These s%eakers are not "illed with

mercy, %ity, %eace and lo#e !nstead they are "illed with "ear, en#y, ealousy, shame3withe#erything that %romotes an un%roducti#e, destructi#e inner con"lict

The "athers and mothers we see in the Songs of Innocence are still there, but they’#e grown old

Their hair has turned snowy white 0or Blake, this signals sterility !t’s im%ortant to reali7e,

though, that ust as !nnocence wasn’t a literal %lace, neither is 61%erience They are %sychic

landsca%es 0or Blake, old age is something he e1%lores in a "igurati#e sense, rather than in a

literal sense !t’s a mentality

!n the world o" 61%erience, the adults are o"ten #ery religious, and they do what their %riests tell

them to do !n "act, "or Blake, the mother and "ather and the %riest and the king and 5od are all

#ariations o" the same basic "igure3they are all re"lections o" one another in their en#y,

sel"ishness, ealousy, and "ear 9nd what they "ear is %assion and the imagination o" youth They

are ealous o" the ha%%iness that the children "eel in the world o" !nnocence 9nd they "ear

%assion and imagination because it threatens their ordered world, their rules

'ne o" their methods, then, is the accusation o" sin They try to make the young men and women

"eel that desire is sin"ul, and that se1 is something to be ashamed o" Take a %oem like “The5arden o" Lo#e”*

! went to the 5arden o" Lo#e,

9nd saw what ! ne#er had seen*

9 Cha%el was built in the midst,

here ! used to %lay on the green



9nd the gates o" this Cha%el were shut,

9nd “Thou shalt not” writ o#er the door:

8o ! turn’d to the 5arden o" Lo#e

That so many sweet "lowers bore:

9nd ! saw it was "illed with gra#es,

9nd tomb&stones where "lowers should be:

9nd ?riests in black gowns were walking their rounds,

9nd binding with briars my oys < desires

This is Blake’s indictment o" organi7ed religion $emember that we need to distinguish between

Blake’s attack on the church as an institution and his su%%ort o" Christianity itsel" 4is argumentis not with the Bible 4e belie#es that the Bible is the great code o" art hat he attacks is the

way in which "allen humans take the Bible and reduce it to something that3according to him3

it was not su%%osed to be

!n “The 5arden o" Lo#e,” then, what Blake attacks is the Ten Commandments, the “Thou 8halt

/ot” mentality !n another %oem, “The ;arriage o" 4ea#en and 4ell,” Blake attacks %eo%le who

are always trying to deny something, to deny somebody else, to im%rison This is the way he

#iews the church’s use o" the Ten Commandments3as a means to re%ress %eo%le, to "oreclose

what’s most human and most di#ine about them e see "lowers3symbols o" se1ual %leasure

and %assion3that ha#e thorns attached to them This is a sign o" society’s "ear o" %assion, its

"ear"ul im%ulse to make desire into a sin

!n all o" Blake’s %oems, he’s writing a %sychological myth 4e takes great, e%ic stories and uses

them as myth, because they e1%lain things that can’t be e1%lained in any other way These are

things that are crucial to our li#es but which de"y scienti"ic, "actual, 6nlightenment e1%lanation

4e gi#es it the imaginati#e e1%lanation o" art

But "or Blake, all o" these stories re"lect our inner world, so they are basically %sychological in

orientation 0or e1am%le, Blake belie#ed that, as we grow older, libido, se1ual energy, %assion

become inhibited or im%risoned 9nd when that ha%%ens to us, we become old in the

%sychological sense3"ear"ul, en#ious, sel"ish, cold, cruel But that doesn’t happen to us3we o

that to ourselves" e create and a%%ly “the mind&"org’d manacles” to our sel#es



Blake suggests that we do all o" this because we are a"raid o" our own libido, our own se1uality,

our strong emotions, and our imaginations Because we "ear a %art o" oursel#es, we try to deny it

Society, then, is an external manifestation of this inner psychological state, according to Blake

e begin by inhibiting oursel#es, and then we try to do that to e#eryone else by creating laws

and re%ressi#e social institutions e "ear our own %assion, and then we %roect that onto the

world outside oursel#es

Blake then takes it one ste% "urther !n his #iew, organi7ed religion sim%ly %roects this kind o"

mentality into the cosmos hat organi7ed religion calls the “De#il,” "or Blake, is sim%ly the

"allen %erson’s distorted way o" describing the %assionate energy that he or she "eels “5od”3as

taught by the traditional church3is ust another word "or the Lawgi#er, the re%ressor within us,

that denies %assion

Blake is not denying the e1istence o" good and e#il3not at all There are things that are e#il, but

he is saying that much o" what we say is e#il, isn’t really e#il at all !t’s sim%ly our way o"

dealing with a %art o" oursel#es that we "ear

4e’s saying that i" you e1amine many di""erent religious codes, there’s a di""erence between the

ins%ired word o" 5od and the kind o" moral codes that we deri#e "rom those words 9ccording to

Blake, i" you look at religious codes and %ractices3es%ecially o" the organi7ing church3when

the church says the De#il, what it usually means is the energy within us o" libido and %assion

4e’s saying that the Lawgi#er, 2ahweh, the 5od o" rath, is the e1%ression within us o" the

dri#e to deny %assion, imagination and "eeling

This is what we mean when we say that Blake is writing a %sychological myth This is the kind

o" %ers%ecti#e that he has on his society and its religious institutions 4e says that what we try to

do normally is to let one %art o" oursel#es dominate the others !t’s usually reason that trium%hs

o#er "eeling Blake sees that as a "undamental %roblem The ideal instead is what he calls

“"orgi#eness” 6ach %art o" us3$eason, Desire, !magination, !nstinct3each has the %ower to

“"orgi#e” the other %art, to allow the others their due /ormally we don’t do that, and it causesmonumental %roblems !nstead, our usual res%onse is to re%ress a %art o" oursel#es, es%ecially

what Blake calls “6nergy” hen you try to re%ress 6nergy, it not only becomes more intense,

but it also becomes %er#erted (2ou can see why many scholars talk about Blake as a %recursor to

0reud)



Blake thought that marriage, in his time, was an attem%t to re%ression se1ual energy and desire

4e regarded it as an e""ort by a man to treat another human being as i" she were %ersonal

%ro%erty Blake belie#ed in "ree lo#e e don’t know how ;rs Blake "elt about this idea, and we

don’t know whether Blake li#ed the li"e o" "ree lo#e, as o%%osed to sim%ly celebrating it, but he

did hold it as an ideal

!n other words, we become ealous o" anyone that seems more "ree than we are 9nd at the same

time, we are ashamed o" our own desires !n Blake’s %oetry, shame attaches itsel" to a lo#e o"

darkness ;others, "athers, and %riests are all creatures o" darkness "or Blake This kind o"

su%%ressed, hidden, "urti#e lo#e3which Blake calls “Delight chained in night”3is destructi#e

and unnatural

These %eo%le lo#e the meta%hysical abstractions o" darkness3obscurity, "urti#eness Blakedoesn’t belie#e in a religion o" mystery or obscurity 0or Blake, these %eo%le lo#e darkness

because they don’t want us to see what they are doing to us, but also because they don’t see what

they are doing to themselves These are the “mind&"org’d manacles” Blake %resents to us a world

o" tension and woe and an1iety This is our world, "or Blake, the world o" 61%erience

!n short, he takes a myth that we all know3the myth o" the "all o" 9dam and 6#e3and

inter%rets it in his own way, in a way that makes it more a%%ro%riate "or his world and culture 8o

the "all no longer has so much to do with sin in a moral sense, but with the lack o" %erce%tion and

imagination !t has to do with the "act that the creati#e mind can no longer illuminate the world

9ccording to Blake, it must be re#itali7ed through the %ower o" the imagination There is always

an imaginati#e answer, but the %roblem in the Songs of Experience is that the s%eaker can’t see it

because o" the mind&"org’d manacles

Let’s now look at “The Tyger” This is the com%anion %oem to “The Lamb,” and its central

>uestion and subect is the same* “ho is the creator=”

The Tyger

TygerE TygerE burning bright

!n the "orests o" the night,

hat immortal hand or eye

Could "rame thy "ear"ul symmetry=



!n what distant dee%s or skies

Burnt the "ire o" thine eyes=

'n what wings dare he as%ire=

hat the hand dare sei7e the "ire=

9nd what shoulder, < what art,

Could twist the sinews o" thy heart=

9nd when thy heart began to beat,

hat dread hand= < what dread "eet=

hat the hammer= what the chain=

!n what "urnace was thy brain=

hat the an#il= what dread gras%Dare its deadly terrors clas%=

hen the stars threw down their s%ears,

9nd water’d hea#en with their tears,

Did he smile his work to see=

Did he who made the Lamb make thee=

TygerE TygerE burning bright

!n the "orests o" the night,

hat immortal hand or eye,

Dare "rame thy "ear"ul symmetry=

The s%eaker in “The Tyger” goes about answering this >uestion with a %articular method* in

%hiloso%hic terms this is called the “9rgument "rom Design” This was %articularly %re#alent

among certain thinkers in the eighteenth century, es%ecially the Deists They celebrated $eason,

and they used $eason to de"ine 5od They looked at the world that /ewton described, a world o"

"i1ed mathematical laws There"ore, the creator was a clockmaker, and the world is a %er"ectlyrunning clock

'n the contrary, "or Blake, there is a world out there, but in terms o" meaning, we are %roecting

meaning onto the world 8o by trying to look at the world and e1tra%olate what 5od is like "rom

that %rocess, all we’re doing is mirroring oursel#es The ultimate creator o" the tiger, then, is the

s%eaker3gi#en the #alues and mindsets that he %roects onto the creature he sees



4ere is the 9rgument "rom Design* i" you want to "ind out what the Creator is like, then you look

at what he’s designed, what he’s made The %roblem with that, though, is that the s%eaker o" “The

Lamb” sees the creator as a lamb The s%eaker o" “The Tyger” sees only tygers, and there"ore the

Creator must be like a tyger

The %roblem lies in the basic selection %rocess 9nd what causes him to make that selection is

what he belie#es !" he belie#es that the world is sha%ed by mercy, %ity, %eace and lo#e, then

that’s what he’s going to see3a lamb as the creator 9nd #ice #ersa with the tyger

The central >uestion %osed by these two “contrary” %oems is this* “Did he who made the Lamb

also make the Tyger=”

There are three %ossible answers* /o, 2es, and ;aybe (or ! don’t know)

hat are the im%lications, in meta%hysical and religious terms, i" the answer is no= /o, 5od

doesn’t make both the lamb and the tyger !" the answer is no, then we conclude that we ha#e an

essential duality in the cosmos3that there are two %owers in the uni#erse* one, 5od, who creates

the lamb, and the other, 8atan, who creates the tyger !n %hiloso%hical terms this is called

;anicheanism

The %roblem is this* i" he who made the lamb didn’t make the tyger, then there are two creators

That’s not a reassuring thought "or the s%eaker, because, in terms o" the nature o" 5od, 4e is no

longer all&%ower"ul, and good is no longer the essential "orce o" the uni#erse There’s a war"are

between these two The s%eaker, thus, is a"raid, and assumes that the tyger is e#il That’s his "irst

mistake, "rom Blake’s %ers%ecti#e

The s%eaker "aces two %roblems*

+ 4e’s making an argument "rom design

The s%eaker sees the eyes o" the tyger But it’s the s%eaker who starts to color those eyes with

meaning 9nd he’s looking at his own re"lection 9lso, he sees the "ear"ul symmetry o" the

tyger’s stri%es 9nd notice that the s%eaker takes things3eyes, stri%es3and turns them into what

he creates, a "ear"ulness



But the s%eaker is unaware o" that 9nd he’s also unaware that the tyger might not be e#il !t’s the

s%eaker who creates its meaning 4e assumes that the tyger is e#il, but Blake sees something

#ery di""erent Blake sees the tyger as a %ortion o" eternity too great "or the eyes o" the s%eaker

caught within mind "org’d manacles

!n one sense, Blake is %laying around with the "undamental >uestion o" all religions* the origin o"

e#il 4ow do we ha#e e#il, i" we ha#e a bene#olent, lo#ing creator= $eligions all o#er the world

try to account "or this ;any %eo%le are told that, “ell, it all makes sense in the end” 'r, “!"

you could ust see it "rom a larger %ers%ecti#e, it’s not e#il” But these a %retty i""y answers

Blake gra%%les with that by suggesting that it’s not e#il at all in this case, but something within

oursel#es that we’re a"raid o"

!" you think about the introductory comments about e1%erience, then the tyger becomes that6nergy, that %assion and imagination that we "ear 9nd so we think o" it as being e#il, and

associate it with the de#il 0or Blake, the >uestion is unnecessary i" we ust understand the idea

o" the mind&"org’d manacles

Blake is talking about taking res%onsibility "or the way in which we li#e 4e has a %oem called

“There is /o /atural $eligion” !ts %oint is that there is no design out there, no di#ine or natural

religion 6#erything we see out there has meaning because we bring that meaning to the seeing

%rocess The mind is like a lam% that illuminates the cosmos, casts meaning onto the world

“here ;an is not,” he writes, “/ature is barren”

$emember that Blake is the most radical o" all the $omantic %oets ordsworth and Coleridge

don’t belie#e this They belie#e that there is something out there, that there is a di#ine "orce that

rolls through all things /ow we won’t disco#er it, they claim, unless we culti#ate our

!maginations and ha#e s%ots o" time and blessed moods But it’s already there "or ordsworth

and Coleridge 0or Blake, though, that’s not the case There is something beyond us There is an

eternal "orce, but it’s no out there, se%arate "rom us $ather, it’s within us

Come back to the answers no, yes, and maybe

The "irst answer is no 4e who made lamb didn’t make the tyger Thus, there are two creators

hat are the im%lications o" the answer “yes”= The %roblem here is that 5od is all&%ower"ul, but

not all&bene#olent This is the s%eaker’s dilemma 4e has ust li#ed in the world o" !nnocence,



but now he wakes u% in a world o" darkness The lambs ha#e disa%%eared, there are only tygers,

and he can’t deal with it 4e asks >uestions "or which he has no answers

!" the answer is yes, then there’s only one creator, and he’s all&%ower"ul, but not all&bene#olent

!" it’s no, then 5od is all&bene#olent, but not all&%ower"ul 9nd we want it both ways 9ll&

%ower"ul and all&bene#olent 9nd it’s not working out "or the "rustrated s%eaker

hy isn’t it working out= Because he doesn’t reali7e that the “9rgument "rom Design” is dri#en

by himsel" and his own mentalities3that the only creator o" the tyger is himsel" #e is bringing

meaning to the world around him 9nd it’s not working out because, ust as the child makes the

mistake o" seeing a 5od who’s only meek and mild, this s%eaker makes the mistake o" seeing a

5od who is only wrath"ul 4e can only see it as negati#e

Blake is ha#ing "un with some o" the basic >uestions o" logic !t’s his satire on orthodo1 religion

and the %roblems that we get oursel#es into when we’re not "ully using our imaginations

Things are ust things !" we are imaginati#e, we ha#e the "ree will, the %ower, to make things

good The %roblem with the s%eaker is that he doesn’t understand that 4e sees himsel" as a

hel%less #ictim

9lso, this is like the myth o" ?andora’s Bo1 4ere’s a s%eaker who belie#es that some %ower out

there3a %ower that he can’t deal with, that he has no control o#er3o%ened ?andora’s Bo1 and

out lea%ed the tyger 4e sees all o" these tygers as e#il, and he belie#es that they will de#our him

e ha#e "ree will "or Blake But the di""erence is that (unlike ;ilton, who belie#ed that we had

"ree will, but that there is a di#ine law) "or Blake we are the %ower o" goodness 6#erything that

gi#es meaning to li"e is within, i" we choose to see it !" we can make that choice, then we will

understand the di#inity within oursel#es

0or Blake, there is a real e#il, but we create all kinds o" e#il that we don’t need to 9ll thosethings that we don’t understand we call ;ystery, and we turn them into e#il Thus, the s%eakers

o" the Songs of Experience are not "ully imaginati#e because they chain energy within

themsel#es 6#erything else "ollows "rom that



This s%eaker can’t see that the tyger is something %ower"ul and %assionate within himsel" 4e

takes that %ower"ul %art o" himsel" and %uts it “out there,” and belie#es that e#il must ha#e been

created by 8atan, or by a wrath"ul 5od

!n a%%roaching the Songs of Experience (as with the Songs of Innocence), the >uestions that we

need to consider as readers are %oint o" #iew and conte1t $emember that the %oint o" #iew is not

that o" illiam Blake, but o" a ty%ical dweller in the realm o" 61%erience, someone who li#es in

the "allen world, someone whose state o" mind is characteri7ed by inner con"lict and di#ision,

"ear, shame, guilt The s%eaker then %roects that %oint o" #iew onto the world around him or her

9nd the conte1t is im%ortant3we need to read these %oems as contraries to the Songs of

Innocence e can think o" them as satiri7ing one another, %ointing out the limitations o" one

another

9s a basic a%%roach, remember that 61%erience re%resents Blake’s #ision o" a "allen world !t is a

#ision o" what our li#es look like a"ter being cast out o" the mindset o" !nnocence (Blake’s re&

writing o" 6den) e lea#e the world o" !nnocence, and by necessity, %ass into its contrary, the

world o" 61%erience

!n “The Tyger,” the s%eaker asks >uestions that he cannot answer, so the rhetorical >uestions o"

!nnocence ha#e been re%laced by the more %er%le1ing, unanswerable >uestions o" 61%erience

The s%eaker is struggling to deal with what he considers to be the e1istence o" e#il in the world

4e assumes that the tyger is e#il, and although he ne#er answers these >uestions, he certainly

relates the argument through images o" "ire, through the suggestion that the creator is some kind

o" 8atanic "igure, a dread"ul creator

0rom Blake’s %oint o" #iew, though, the tyger is not e#il, but re%resents what Blake calls 6nergy

3things like %assion, se1uality, imagination The s%eaker "ears those things within himsel"

because the tyger ultimately re%resents an as%ect o" the s%eaker himsel" But the s%eaker "ears

that 4e calls it e#il and tries to disassociate himsel" "rom it

Let’s go through some key lines and inter%ret them "rom two di""erent %oints o" #iew 0irst o" all,

gi#en the "act that the s%eaker is a ty%ical inhabitant o" the world o" 61%erience, “hat does the

spea!er mean by a gi#en line=” But then ask this >uestion* “5i#en what we know about illiam

Blake and his thinking, what does Blake mean by the same line=”



Tyger, Tyger burning bright,

in the "orests o" the night

The “burning bright” literally re"ers to the eyes o" the tyger, but the s%eaker is interpreting the

tyger by selecting that %articular image to "ocus on hat do you think the s%eaker is im%lying

when he describes the tyger this way= hat does he "eel and what does he com%are the tyger to=

The s%eaker associates it with "ire, and there"ore with hell hat are the s%eaker’s "eelings= The

s%eaker is "ear"ul in the "orest3alone, anguished 4e "ells a sense o" im%ending destruction and

eradication The s%eaker’s emotions are tinged with the "eeling o" de#ouring "ire

!t could also be a #ision, "or the s%eaker, o" a beacon o" light !t could be a religious light But

there is a %ower"ul sense o" dread "or the s%eaker !t doesn’t seem to be a %ositi#e light

6#ery image in the %oem is #ery #i#id and concrete, but each one o%ens itsel" u% to contrary

inter%retations, de%ending on your state o" mind 0or the s%eaker, the tyger may symboli7e a

destructi#e "ire that he "ears, but "or Blake, that burning brightness could be a beacon, the light o"

the imagination e’re back to the image o" the imagination as a burning lam% "illing the world

with meaning

8u%%osing the image suggests "ire, how else "or Blake might that ra7ing "ire be %ositi#e= The

answer lies with ?assion and 6nergy 9lso, the "ire could be seen as %uri"ying o" e1isting

situations and social conditions !t’s got to be a ra7ing re#olution, a tearing down o" the e1isting

system3the a%ocaly%tical re#elation

Blake and the $omantics look at their contem%orary world and inter%ret its e#ents through the

%ers%ecti#e o" the Bible3in %articular, "rom the %ers%ecti#e o" $e#elations and the 9%ocaly%se

hat’s going on in his world o" +.F= $e#olution in 0rance, and be"ore that in 9merica* Blake

looked at these things and saw them as signs o" the coming o" the a%ocaly%se These were

su%%osed to be re#olutions that would %uri"y the world, %urge it o" tyranny and ignorance,inustice, sla#ery and lead to a millennium

That’s the way someone like Blake would inter%ret the tyger But the s%eaker, with his mind&

"org’d manacles, ob#iously "ears it as change and the negati#e destruction o" stability But Blake

would celebrate it with awe





G Luci"er is cast out into hell

G ?rometheus is chained to a rock and a #ulture eats at his li#er "or all eternity

G !carus "alls to the earth and dies

G 4e%haestus gets thrown out o" 'lym%us

9ll o" these "igures as%ire and all "all, all are %unished and outcast

e’re being asked how we res%ond to these "igures e’re talking about #alues and %oints o"

#iew hat do we think about these rebels who as%ire and "all= Clearly, a certain kind o" %erson

sees these as e#il3they o%en ?andora’s Bo1 They’re res%onsible "or our alienation "rom hea#en,

our su""ering But we can also see them as re%resentati#e o" those who re"use to take "or granted

the established order

These %eo%le challenge the gods 8o the other >uestion is, hat do you think about gods= Do

you worshi% 5od like a "ather= !" so, then these rebels will be "ear&ins%iring and e#il !" you see

the "ather as “/obodaddy,” the s%eaker o" “Thou 8halt /ot,” then these rebels are to be admired

They are %eo%le "or whom you ha#e awe !t’s clear what the s%eaker "eels, but we can also hear

Blake in the background e1%ressing awe and a%%lauding the rebel

hat does “awe” mean= !t’s a combination o" "ear and re#erence 'ne "eels awe in a religious

conte1t /ote that this "its with the %oem, and the notion o" a creator !t’s no sur%rise that Blake

would e1%ress a "eeling o" "ear and re#erence

The sad thing "or the s%eaker is that the minute he sees this creature, he assumes that someone

else3someone out there and u% there3creates it 0or Blake, it’s our “immortal hand or eye” that

creates it3not some distant 5od, but the human "orm di#ine e ha#e to recogni7e the sublimity

in the world around us and in oursel#es, says Blake

2et e#en though the s%eaker is chained by the mind&"orged manacles, his mind is starting to

work* he is starting to >uestion 9nd that’s a good sign "or Blake 4is imagination is starting tostretch, e#en i" it is still controlled

Look at these lines*

9nd what shoulder, < what art,

Could twist the sinews o" thy heart=



/otice the way Blake care"ully controls what we see e see the heart being twisted 9nd so "or

the s%eaker, the creator is e#il, sadistic 4e’s taking the heart, the seat o" emotions, and twisting

it 8o this is going to be "or the s%eaker a monster that gets released The tyger is the creation o" a

8atanic, dread"ul designer But "or Blake, also notice that the em%hasis is on strength ho has

the incredible strength to be able to take a muscle as large and as %ower"ul as the heart o" a tyger

and sha%e it= The imaginati#e artist The human who recogni7es his or her inherent di#inity

9nd as we get to the end*

“hat the hammer= what the chain=

!n what "urnace was thy brain=

hat the an#il=

here are we= hat’s the im%lied meta%hor= e’re with 4e%haestus, the blacksmith, in the

"orge But "or the s%eaker, we’re in the "ires o" hell and the creator is some e#il Dr 0rankenstein

torturing into e1istence this horrible monster 0or Blake, the creator is 4e%haestus, ?rometheus

Blake is suggesting that these are the gods to "ollow3the darers, those who will challenge

Blake has awe and admiration "or them 0or the s%eaker, it’s blas%hemy and outrage 4ow dare

he bring into my world this monster= 'ne inter%retation is that the tyger is a %roduct o" "ear, the

other that it is a %roduct o" imagination

8o when you see things like the tyger, and e#erything that is clustered around it, you see that the

s%eaker inter%rets it as e#il, but Blake reads it as %ositi#e, liberating %ower 0or Blake, the artist

has the %ower o" imagination to bring into e1istence a creature as sublime as the tyger

!s the smile a twisted, sardonic smile o" a mad scientist in his lab= 'r is it the artist’s smile o"

satis"action o#er the aesthetic accom%lishment and "orce= $omanticism makes us think hard

about some o" our easiest assum%tions about knowledge* e#eryone wants to be wise, e#eryone

wants to learn, but it is a %erilous ourney These artists make you wonder i" you really do wantto commit yoursel" to the audacity o" the challenge, o" ourneying into the heart o" darkness

Blake celebrates that "ear"ul ourney, but the s%eaker o" “The Tyger” "ears it

Documents

Blake Study Guide.doc