William Blake, a unique poet in the literary canon, is one of the most criticized poets of all time. Having a rather unique stylistic approach to subjects, particularly religion, Blake appears to contradict himself in his own writings and therefore raises questions in readers' minds about specific subjects. Two of his poems in particular have been widely criticized and considered from different angles. “The Tyger,” written in 1774, and “The Lamb,” written five years later in 1789, are considered companion poems because of their similar humanistic subject matter and marked differences. Through the use of specific titillation and rhetorical questioning, Blake poses an ultimatum between the two poems, creating the illusion that each creature in the poems may have different creators. In this way, Blake challenges traditional Christian doctrine in such a way that it arouses curiosity about the identity of the creator(s) and the nature of each; thus, the reader is open to a broader pattern of thought. “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” were originally collected as two separate collections of poems in a single volume titled “The Songs of Innocence and Experience.” Identified with "the contrasting and complementary natures of youth and maturity," as noted in Steven Clark's review, "Songs of Innocence and Experience (Book)" (256), each collection of poems showed a broad spectrum ranging from a confident nature, like that of a child, to a more experienced point of view, like that of an adult. Although considered two separate collections, "Songs of Innocence" would usually have a corresponding accompanying poem in "Songs of Experience" (Robert Evans). , “Literary Contexts of Poetry: William Blake’s “The Tyger.” « T...... middle of paper ......4.Frye, Northrop and Angela Esterhammer on Milton and Blake Toronto. [ON]: University of Toronto Press, 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). April 24, 2014. Jackson, Wallace. “William Blake In 1789 Unorganized Innocence,” 33.4 (1972): 399. Complete. Web. April 24, 2014. Mays, Kelly J. “The Lamb,” The Norton Introduction to Literature, Eleventh Edition. New York: WW Norton, 2014. 665. Print. Mays, Kelly J. “The Tyger.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Portable eleventh edition ed. New York: WW Norton, 2014. 665. Print.R., Mary and Rodney M. Baine. "Blake's Other Tigers and 'The Tyger'." Studies in English Literature (Rice) 15.4 (1975): 566-578. Academic research completed. Internet. April 24, 2014. The Holy Bible, King James Version. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2005