William Blake was born in London in 1757. His origins were humble and he was an engraver.
He sustained the French revolution and free thinking and thought that now the artist had a
new role: to be a guardian of the spirit and imagination. By his new technique called
illuminated printing used to combine paintings and written tests. He also wrote prophetic
books in which explained his theory of the complementary opposites.
He died in London in 1827.
He was fond of imagination over reason and his two main collections were the Songs of
Innocence and Songs of Experience. The first one written before the industrial revolution,
narrated by a shepherd (pastore), represents childhood considered pure. The second one is
written after, narrated by a bard (poeta cavalleresco), with a pessimistic view representing
the corruption of the human being.
The lamb
2 stanzas: question and answer
Lullaby
The rhymes are in couplets
Alliteration and archaisms
The lamb is made by god who is man and lamb at the same time, an both them are called by
his name.
The tiger
6 stanzas: all questions
Harsh sound: alliteration of r s t
Lamb and Tyler are opposites but both astonishing
Here god is a blacksmith and the tiger is made in a furnace with tools
The poet leaves to the reader the job of answering the questions.
