The Tyger vs. The Lamb

I suppose now's a good as time as any to start getting all metaphorical on you, so here we go! It has to do with 2 of van Gogh, I mean Blake's poems, called The Lamb and The Tyger. Lets begin with the obvious: The Lamb is written from the perspective of a child and talks about, well, a lamb, and The Tyger is written from the perspective of an adult about (you guessed it!), a tiger. But here's where the gray matter comes in to play, the lamb symbolizes innocence, the tiger, experience. So that's what going to battle it out tonight, because there is no way I'm going to make a lamb actually fight a tiger (even this is all in my head), PETA would kill me! Okay, so innocence, commonly associated with childhood, and usually happiness in what we have, not envying other for what they have. Untainted. Also unaware and susceptible to harm. Experience, means unhappiness, but also driven a to a goal, learned, but suspicious. May be unable to see the good in certain situations. The more I think, the more I realize that this is a very personal question. Should goodness and faith in humanity triumph, or is the world too tainted and broken to heal? What kind of character does humanity in general have? Idealist or realist? Is the glass really half-full or half-empty?
And the winner is....
The Lamb
The optimist in me won today. Many will disagree, but I would prefer to believe that for the most part, the general intent of the majority of people is good. Sure, there are a few who spoil it for everyone (like the majority of politicians), but the glass is half-full. Besides, have you seen how cute lambs are? 

Dylan Thomas vs. Thomas Gray

 Now I'm sure that you're asking, what do these 2 have in common (besides the name Thomas)? Well both have some pretty clear opinions on death (cheery, I know) which in turn gave them their most famous poems, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, henceforth shortened to Do Not Go Gentle, and Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, henceforth shortened to Elegy, respectively. Now Thomas expressed a somewhat unreasonable, if charming viewpoint in Do Not Go Gentle; that people ought to fight death (haven't we already heard about this from John Donne?), that no one has the right to just give up and let death take them. To be fair Mr. Thomas, they don't really have a choice.... Do Not Go Gentle was written at the time of Thomas' father's death, so the opinion is a valid one, valid enough for Bob Dylan to re-name himself after this guy. Gray expressed the polar opposite impression, in his Elegy, he believes that death isn't an entirely negative thing. He believes that many lives were robbed, that potential was not always reached, but that death is the greatest equalizer. It really doesn't matter who you are, you will die, the only mystery is when and where ( I now feel a sudden need to plan out my funeral...), Gray's view is slightly more grim, but realistic, and oddly it has an almost carpe diem ring to it; it encourages you to go out and live your life before it's taken from you.
Who would win......
Thomas Gray
Even if you just read through the poems, Gray's Elegy makes you think, think about your life and the lives of others cut short. Thomas' poem has a cool idea, but doesn't quite invoke the same emotional response.

Nymph vs. Lamb

How could you fight this?

Now it is time for probably the most tame battle ever, the nymph (an old-timey way of saying a girl) versus the cute little lamb, who you will remember destroyed the tyger with his sunshine,optimism and butterflies. The nymph is made of some slightly harder stuff, having rejected the shepherd because he was too poor, which was pretty cruel if you ask me. But, she could be seen as being more than just a parasitic gold-digger, she could be seen as an optimist, that see will have other, better opportunities that will come her way. So if you skew your perspective just a little bit (which I can, and will), this becomes more than just a battle of a girl and a lamb, it becomes a battle of optimism, and which version will prevail. I, know pretty deep right? If that makes your head spin a little, you can just pretend that this never even happened.....

So on the one hand (or hoof?) there is the pure, simpleness of the lamb, child-like and innocent but full of naivety, and on the other hand there is the ambitious optimism (or greed) of a girl trying to be upwardly mobile, trying to assert her own place (which Gloria Steinem would have appreciated) . Which will triumph?

And the winner is......

The Lamb

I'm sorry, but the nymph was too greedy to win this metaphorical battle, I don't care how I spin it, she was horrible to the shepherd, and there is no excuse for treating him like that, no matter how much ambition you may have ( There's a life lesson in there somewhere...). And anyways, one look at an adorable little lamb (Mary's perhaps?) and the nymph would send up a white flag in defeat.