God Speaks Through The Mouths Of Poets

Essay, Research Paper

Every poem has an element of God in it’s words. Just as God spoke through the writings of Peter or Matthew,

elements of His word are in the beautiful themes in poetry. In this essay, I will compare the poems of William

Blake and William Wordsworth with the written Word of God, in five poems: The Lamb, The Chimney Sweeper,

The Tyger, My Heart Leaps Up, and London 1802. My aim is to show that the writings of great poets are truly the

words of God. Little Lamb, who made thee. Dost thou know who made thee. These begin the words of William

Blake’s The Lamb. Just as God asks us, Blake questions our understanding of our creator. If we are seen as the

lambs of God, meek and tender, can we really understand the generosity and glory of a God who gave us life.

He did give us life, and Blake tells us that we take this great gift for granted. So, he asks “Dost thou know who

made thee.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female, He

created them. Genesis 1:27 Anyone who has seen a lamb knows that it is a weak creature; unable to protect it’s

self from the strength of an evil predator. If we are the Lamb, then we must rely on the protection of our

Shepherd, God. Why would Blake call us a Lamb then. Aren’t we stronger than any other animal upon this

earth. I think that God would tell us “No,” for it is He who gives us life strength, as Blake says in the next few

lines. Gave thee life & bid thee feed, By the stream & o’re the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest

clothing wooly bright, What strength could man have without the gifts of God: life, food, clothing. We would have

none! And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who

believes in Me shall never thirst.” John 6:33 William Blake saw that the individual man was so removed from

Nature and his Creator. As science progressed, and society seemed so wrapped up in it’s money making, it’s

industry and it’s politics, haven’t we lost touch with what is truly important. While we see ourselves as giants,

Blake reminds us that we are just lambs. A lamb is just a baby, and needs the love of it’s mother to survive. Who

are we to ignore the one who gives us life and gives us food. Because we think we have grown, we believe we

do not need to ask ourselves, “Who made thee.” In Blake’s next poem, The Chimney Sweeper, he shows us

just how much we still need God. Throughout history, man has been so inhumane to his fellow man. Every culture

has experienced some sort of slavery or oppression. When one thinks of how man has even enslaved his own

young, I wonder how much lower we can degrade ourselves. The Chimney Sweeper is a poem speaking of such

inhumanity. As I read the words, “. I was very young, And my Father sold me while yet my tongue could

scarcely cry weep! weep! weep! weep.” I wonder if there is any God left in the hearts of men. Blake points out

our faults, our inhumanity. He is telling us to look at ourselves, and stop this pain we cause. Just as God told us

to love one another, Blake tells us the same. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have

loved you. John 15:12 This is Blake’s message to the oppressors of this world! Yet, in the same short poem,

Blake has a message for the oppressed: the young chimney sweeper child will still have hope in the words of

Jesus. That is the hope that God will send an angel to free them, with only one small condition: that the child

loves his God and follows his commandments. Then naked & white, all their bags left behind, They rise upon

clouds, and sport in the wind. And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy, He’d have God for his father &

never want joy. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s

commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and

that your joy may be full. John 15:10-11 The two above quotes give us the same message! No matter how

painful your life may be, God will give us joy if we follow his commandments. It is as if God has spoken his word

through the writings of John and of Blake, that God has given both men the gift of beautiful writing, so that they

may sing the words of God! As often as our Lord has given us scripture in the Bible of his love and tenderness,

there is also a reminder of His ultimate power! Just as Blake’s poetry is a combination of asking us to embrace

God’s love, it is also a reminder that His strength must be feared! The Tyger warns us that the hands of God not

only give love, but also possess a strength far beyond any other. Tyger! Tyer! burning bright In the Forests of The

night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry. The “immortal hand” that created the tiger

is the same hand that offers us eternal joy, if we follow Him. What fool would tell Him “No.” Just as a child

sometimes tests the limits of his or her parent’s patience, we test the limits of God’s

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