Coexistence of Contrary States in Blake's The Tiger For the two hundred years since William Blake composed his seminal poem "The Tiger," critics and readers alike have attempted to interpret his burning question: “Did he who made the Lamb make you?” Perhaps best embodying the spirit of Blake's Songs of Experience, the tiger is the poetic counterpart to the Lamb of Innocence from Blake's previous work, Songs of Innocence. Manifesting in "The Tyger" is key to understanding his identity and man's conception of God, ultimately serving to confront the reader with a powerful source of sublimity that reveals insights into Blake's ideal union and coexistence of the two contrary states. The most significant ideology underlying William Blake's poetry is his essential psychomachy: the "contrary states", as Blake himself calls them. The work in which "The Tyger" and "The Lamb" appear distinctly states Blake's purpose in a preface: "To show the two contrary states of the human soul." In "The Lamb" a fundamental question and an answer are given. Poetry is a catechism (Miner 62). The simplistic and comfortable resolution purposely has no doubt or ambiguity about its initial message of love, tranquility, Jesus Christ and, above all, innocence. The speaker sees God in terms he can understand: kind and gentle and very much like us (Reinhart 25). A huge void is clearly evident. The simplicity of the poem leaves the reader with an unpleasant feeling of the need for a more sophisticated perspective on the relationship between creator and humanity. This instinctive need for a contrary state gives birth to the tiger. The tiger images are surprisingly vivid. The beast "burning bright" with "fire" indicates... the center of the card... the Age of Revolution. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1965. Erdman, David V. “Blake: The Historical Approach.” William Blake. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985. Miner, Paul. "'The Tyger': Genesis and Evolution in the Poetry of William Blake." Rpt. in Criticism of Poetry. Ed. Jane Kelly Kosek. vol. 12. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1995. 59-64. Natoli, Joseph. "William Blake." Notable poets. Ed. GE Bentley. New York: Gale Research Inc., 1995. 79-95.Paley, Morton. "Tiger of Wrath." Twentieth-century interpretations of the songs of innocence and experience. Ed. Morton D. Paley. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969. 68-92Raine, Kathleen. William Blake. London: Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd., 1969. Reinhart, Charles. "William Blake." DLB. Ed. John R. Greenfield. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1990. vol. 93. 23-25.