The Lamb and The Tyger

Upon hearing the title of the third poem which is the "The Lamb", images of a lamb and a sheperd suddenly pop out in my mind. But as I read it, I realized I was wrong. There's more to it than just simple images of a lamb. The poem was about a persona asking a little lamb if it knew who created it and then later answering one's own question. After I reread it, I realized that the little lamb was not only referring to an animal but also to us humans. The persona somewhat asks us if we knew who made us and who gave us everything we have. In the second stanza, the persona answered his own question. It was stated that we were created by "The Lamb" which is Jesus. For me, he was called the lamb because he epitomize the word innocence and all good like a lamb which is meek and mild. On the other hand, my first impression of "The Tyger" was the opposite with the lamb. I thought the poem was literally about the tiger, something fierce, vicious and all evil. As I read it, I thought this wasn't completely all about a tiger. The persona of the poem was talking about something fierce but not entirely referring to the tiger alone. Also, the persona then asked if the creator of the lamb, so innocent and pure is the same creator of the the tiger which is fierce and fearful.

I think the two poems showed how good and evil go hand in hand. It's like the yinyang where good and evil coexist. For me, the tyger was somehow a necessary evil. Necessary because we, humans need it for our development. It also serves as a defining element of what is good. You can't define good without defining evil, right?