Answer and Explanation:
Both poems "The Lamb" and "The Tyger" by William Blake address the same concept. They both admire the creation of a certain animal by God. However, the poems have very different tones clearly conveyed through word choice. Let's take a look at "The Lamb" first. Read the excerpt below:
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
The use of words such as "delight", "softest", "bright", "tender", and "rejoice" convey a tone that is at the same time peaceful and cheerful. The speaker admires the softness, the innocence, the meekness of the lamb. This animal is pure, incapable or harming anyone, living a peaceful life until the end.
On the other hand, "The Tyger" seems to be the complete opposite:
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
Words such as "chain", "furnace", "dread", "grasp", "deadly", and "terrors" help convey a fearful, horrified tone. The tiger seems to have been forged with fire, like a machine. Its only purpose is to kill so that it can live. In this poem, the narrator also admires the creation of an animal, but with fear. He even asks how the same creator could make both, the tiger and the lamb. How can the same creator come up with a being that is pure kindness and another that is terrifying killer?
