Appunti di cultura inglese

CREATURE? AND HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT GOD HAD DONE THAT? (rhetorical question)

The paradox of Christianity is highlighted to mean how we have sufferings in a world which is created by a good God. But there are no answers. Why did God create the tiger and like this creation also with the tiger? What kind of God is this? In Christianity, God is omnipotent so if he's omnipotent why does he allow the devil to exist? We have here a lot of problems of Christianity that people have struggled for centuries. And there are no answers.

Nevertheless, the tiger isn't frightening in the picture. At the end of the 18th century, a tiger was shifted to the zoo and Blake managed to see it. He saw a meek and mild animal and he represented the tiger in this way in the engraving. He saw a totally contradictory image of the tiger as it existed in the popular imagination because nobody had seen a tiger before. Actually, he believed that there's a discrepancy between the popular preconceptions and what Blake

This is the deep meaning of the poem: the way we create a tiger in our minds and what it really is. These questions have also a direction because formulating them we try to understand what a terrible animal tiger is. These questions are defining the nature of THE TIGER. But through this formulation of the image of the tiger at the same time we are formulating the idea of his creator, to mean the image of god, a terrible god, a sadistic god. We're creating a terrible, negative image of god.

Blake tries to give an answer to that. What he thinks is that people have to be very careful in how they construct evil. He did not believe in devils although he pictured them. Devil is a separate entity and it doesn't exist inside themselves. If we allow him to exist then he becomes into being. If you see in your mind the tiger as a destructive animal then the tiger becomes such the destructive animal. And it's very different from the real tiger. These are projections of our

stole the fire from god and brought it to men. Image of fire, this is also the fire which brought civilization. The fire in the eyes of the tiger is also the hope for civilization. We can see the poem also in another way. God creates the tiger as a beautiful animal which is like the gift of fire which Prometheus gave to men. This is frightening but we don't have to be afraid. This is also the fire of the French revolution. Blake believed in the French revolution. Out of destruction, a better world could be born. He plays with ideas, ideas which are not present in the lamb. This poem is much more complex than the lamb. This is not a poem for children. In Blake there's no didactic purpose. You have to reason yourself to come to the right answer. There's no precise answer. This is, in the end, a powerful declaration of Blake's faith. He believed that God is a good God. What is more fascinating? Lamb or tiger? Lamb: boring, stupid, passive. Tiger: very fascinating, his eyes.

and the fire are the life of the tiger. Fearful symmetry the tiger is a much perfect animal than the lamb. We are afraid of it but we get the idea of perfection. There's energy, hope, action in the tiger. All poem is about the creation. The tiger is creative. We have the idea of creation through the image of the hammer and the blacksmith. But pay attention on how you work with our creative energy. What you do comes out you mind, your mind forge the reality.

Wings (Icarus)- Fire (Prometheus): if aspiration of men goes against duty, it becomes sin. "When the stars threw down their spears And watered heaven with their tears": seems to refer to Milton's Paradise Lost. The war against the rebellious angels, indeed, was win by God. After the win, he threw the rebellious angels into hell.

Stars - Angels: When the angels woke up in hell they cried. Crying - fall of Satan - fall on men. Blacksmith: working man during the Industrial Revolution, progress, industrial development.

human potential. 14-10-2016

The lamb and the tiger both poem are about animals. So also the tiger might be suitable for children. Children are fascinated.

London is a totally different poem.

The tiger much more popular as a song, is more inspiring than the lamb. There's a superficial quality also in the tiger that makes it less frightening. It's quite pleasant. When we think about the image of the blacksmith it becomes frightening.

The rhythm of the poem is not so frightening. Also children who read this poem perhaps did not perceive the frightening.

The tiger is also the symbol of industrialization, of the progress. Lots of people did not appreciate progress.

LONDON

It has been perceived in a very different way. The plate this poem is not a poem for children. Also when you realize what blake wanted to say.

This engraving is called illuminated page. a child who tries to warm his hands. No plants, no real ornaments. Only snaky-like design on the bottom of the page which inspire

“cry” is repeated many times and it underlines the sadness and the misery the poem is about.

He mentioned some institutions: church, government and family.

Church: don’t do anything to stop this situation, to help chimney sweeper. They had to clean very tall chimney of rich people. this was a very unhealthy way of living. The breathed smoke and died very young. The society killed the symbol of future, children. Sometimes these people got blocked in the chimney because there were ramifications. This was a terrible practice but these children were orphans. The church becomes something which is appalling (completely negative, terrible).

Government: he’s responsible for soldiers who died in wars. Also the government makes something to make London a better place. The government is responsible for the soldiers’ death.

Family (blake talks about it in the last stanza): something doesn’t work either in the microcosm of the family. The existence of prostitutes all around.

This poem is about the lack of future for children. This poem is about children but there's no hope for children. The fact that prostitutes exist means that marriage as a social institution becomes negative, destroying family life.

This poem is much more frightening than the tiger. This poem is only destructive. There's no hope.

Fourth stanza:

Why is the presence of a prostitute so terrible for society? The conclusion is more terrifying than the beginning. The big problem of prostitution was the spread of venereal diseases (syphilis). It is not only a problem of faithfulness in marriage (moral problem). It's much worse: the spread of syphilis in the capital. And one of the results of syphilis is that children are born blind. So it's literally that children which

People contaminated by syphilis cannot see their future. They're literally and symbolically blind. This is what Blake is talking about. This is the reason why Blake is talking about the eyes of children. Also, the first thing that a newborn does is crying, but these children cannot cry properly because they are deformed by syphilis. Their eyes are glued together and their mouth is deformed.

This wasn't a song for children, neither for parents.

The old man is a symbol of London. He's a symbol of England. He's a man that can barely walk and he's going to die. There's no hope, no future, neither in the generation that is going to pass, nor in the next generation, in the child.

People suffering from syphilis present contamination of the face (mouth, nose, eyes). They are blind and cannot cry due to the deformation of the mouth. People who were contemporary of Blake were aware of this disease, so they could better understand what the poem wanted to say. Parents who bought

The book would have recognized it. But when they first opened the book they wouldn’t have seen this poem. They would have seen the lamb, which was more suitable for children. When they brought home the book they get confronted with London.

This poem is the apocalypse. The tiger is completely different. The tiger is inspiring, is progress, energy. Here there are no positive signs. Blake is working as a social commentator as a social reformer. Something must be reformed in London.

Also London was very popular as a song but the rhythm is much more terrible. It inspired a lot of artists.

We see the apocalyptic imaginary of the poem. The imaginary presented is hellish. London becomes hell.

There’s something satanic about the poet which has picked up by a lot of poems. Why is there a satanic aspect? It’s not the ide