Interpretation of Poetic Sound :: essays research papers fc

Understanding the Speakers VoiceThrough Interpretation of Poetic SoundClassical, Early European, easterly and Modern poetry share structural similarities in their use of rhythm, rhythm and rhyme however, move plays a more subtle role for purposes of interpretation. Poets combining structured rhythmic patterns and the formal arrangement of words with devices such as alliteration to create images in the readers mind. Two separate poems written by William Blake titled The Lamb from Songs of Innocence (1789) and The Tyger from Songs of Experience (1794), efficaciously illustrate how the fundamental use of poetic structure, discriminating alliteration and imagery, accentuates the primal sounds of a poem thereby, enabling the reader to better understand the congresswoman or tone being portrayed by the speaker.In Blakes opening lines of The Lamb, the speaker sets the initial tone for the conversation that takes place in the midst of the kidskin and the gentle creature weeny Lamb , who made thee/Dost thou feel who made thee (Blake 1-2). As evidenced by the speakers selective use of diction, the soft and non-threatening nature of the words establishes an atmosphere of child-like innocence and approve that echoes doneout the remainder of the work. As the conversation progresses, the setting is established through and through the use of the words stream and mead (Blake 4), which is intended to suggest that the conversation is taking place outside, in a peaceful meadow. In subsequent lines of the poem, the child poses a series of softly worded phrases such as Gave thee clothing of pleasance/Softest clothing wooly bright (Blake 5-6). Although not initially obvious to the reader, through the selective use of alliteration, the speaker has effectively introduced the characteristics and subtle rhythmic sound that is consistent with that of a childhood nursery rhyme. The speakers tuneful combination of repetition, diction and rhyme is further reinforced in the lowest two lines of the last stanza, Little Lamb God bless thee/Little Lamb God bless thee (Blake 19-20), which symbolically culminates in the childs belief that the miracle of creation resides in God himself.There is a inexorable contrast between the opening lines of The Lamb and the opening lines of Blakes come with poem The Tyger. In The Tyger, the speaker immediately establishes a very unlike setting for the conversation that takes place between the child and the fearsome wolf Tyger Tyger Burning bright/In the forests of the night (Blake 1-2). Unlike the peaceful setting of The Lamb, the image created in the readers mind through the selective use of words like burning, forests, and night, suggests that the conversation is taking place in an environment of uncertainty and darkness.