The Portrayal of Nature, Essay Example

The Portrayal of Nature in Blake’s “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” and Poe’s “The Raven”

William Blake’s “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” and Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” on a prima facie level clearly evoke themes of nature, insofar as animals serve as the title of each poem. Accordingly, both poets can be said to utilize the particular animal form in a manner which introduces a different way of conceptualizing nature. In the case of Blake, the animals of the lamb and the tiger themselves evince two radically different conceptions of nature which exist in Blake’s singular imagination. In the case of the lamb, Blake clearly notions of the passivity and tranquility of nature, whereas with the tiger, he advances the exact opposite thesis, showing nature’s violent and unlimited potency for transformation and the creation of unique forms. When comparing Poe’s view of nature as conducted in “The Raven”, it can be argued that Poe unites the two separate views that Blake presents in these respective poems: namely, Poe locates the essence of nature, through the raven, in the form of a death that, as the end of existence, evokes the radical passivity of the lamb and the violence of the tiger in Blake.

In Blake’s “The Lamb”, the poet inscribes his verse with an almost delicate feeling, one that mirrors the passivity of the lamb. Blake accomplishes this by, for example, directly addressing the animal, in a manner that recalls how adults speak to children: “dost thou know who made thee?” (Blake, 753) This questioning of the lamb evokes the animal’s naivete: it apparently is unfamiliar with the world around it. But this questioning of the lamb may be interpreted as an analogue for nature itself. Nature is to a certain extent not conscious of its own creation, passively unfolding and producing life and being, without any awareness of this process. It is only when man enters the picture that nature becomes conscious of itself; but to a certain extent, this consciousness is not what is at stake for Blake, but rather the crucial idea is that even in this passivity nature possesses an awe-inspiring power. Hence, Blake writes that the lamb, although it is frail, nonetheless maintains its own form of strength: “gave thee such a tender voice/making all the vales rejoice.” (Blake, 753) The lamb is able with its natural abilities to cause effects within nature that are disproportionate to its apparent meekness. When considering the lamb as analogue for nature itself, the apparent silence of nature does not mean that it is lacking the power for creation. In the “Tyger”, in contrast, Blake attempts to show how this creative power of nature may ultimately be considered violent, producing heterogeneous forms of life. The opening lines, “Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” (Blake, 754) The tiger is an inexorable force within nature, as it remains visible even within the context of the forest. Furthermore, the notion that no one can frame the tyger’s symmetry implies that the tyger transcends any subjugation. But as the tyger itself is a product of nature, this means that nature can produce radical forms of life, and is essentially infinite. The activity of nature, in short, is limitless.

With this reading of Blake’s two poems in mind, Poe’s “The Raven” functions as a certain unification of the passiveness and aggressiveness of nature. Poe presents the raven of the poem in terms similar to Blake’s Lamb, insofar as the raven’s motionless evokes a passivity: “and the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting.” (Poe, 781) Here, the raven is transcendent to the overall anxiety of the poem, existing in a state of rest that is juxtaposed to the manic voice of the narrator. To the extent that the raven is a metaphor for the entirety of nature, this reflects nature’s passivity. However, at the same time, in this very passivity the raven also engenders the anxiety of the narrator: the raven possesses a destructive power: “And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming.” (Poe, 781) The raven evokes death and the violence of nature; this is the powerful force of nature’s passivity, as it can annihilate life and this annihilation of life is precisely part of the process of nature itself. Nature remains uncaring for this destruction: this is its passivity and its aggressiveness in a singular form.

Hence, by understanding Blake’s “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” as two visions of nature, i.e., the passive power of nature and its violent, unlimited power, Poe combines both of these motifs in his poem. Both poets thus understand in nature a force with boundless energy to create change; yet this force by definition is also to a certain extent oblivious to this power itself.

Works Cited

Blake, William, “The Lamb.” Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, Drama. Ed. Robert

DiYanni. Toronto: McGraw-Hill, 2004. p. 753. Print.

Blake, William, “The Tyger.” Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, Drama. Ed. Robert

DiYanni. Toronto: McGraw-Hill, 2004. p. 754. Print.

Poe, Edgar Allen, “The Raven.” Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, Drama. Ed.

Robert DiYanni. Toronto: McGraw-Hill, 2004. p. 779-781. Print.