Poetry Analysis

The Lion and the Lamb by Elinor Wylie

1.I saw a Tiger's golden flank,
2.I saw what food he ate,
3.By a desert spring he drank;
4.The Tiger's name was Hate.

5.Then I saw a placid Lamb
6.Lying fast asleep;
7.Like a river from its dam
8.Flashed the Tiger's leap.

9.I saw a lion tawny-red,
10.Terrible and brave;
11.The Tiger's leap overhead
12.Broke like a wave.

13.In sand below or sun above
14.He faded like a flame.
15.The Lamb said, "I am Love;
16.Lion, tell your name."

17.The Lion's voice thundering
18.Shook his vaulted breast,
19."I am Love. By this spring,
20.Brother, let us rest."

The poem "The Lion and the Lamb" by Elinor Wylie exemplifies the fact that love always triumphs over hatred. I personally like this poem because (this is going to sound dumb) I like lions and tigers (and bears. Oh my!) and I think that the comparison of them to love and hate is interesting. You can tell right away that this poem is going to be a happier one because of the diction used by Ms. Wylie. The tiger is said to have a "golden flank" (1) which instantly gives the poem a regal, sort of boisterous air (sort of like how one feels when walking into an ostentatious house).

After such an air is put on it is shown that the Lion, representing love (19), easily triumphs over the tiger, hatred. Wylie shows readers this through the lines,
I saw a lion tawny-red,
Terrible and brave;
The Tiger's leap overhead
Broke like a wave (9-12).
I think that the poem is beautifully written (it is the same author as Sea Lullaby) and it's message is very much that of a Jane Austen novel or a fairy tail. Wylie's diction and metaphors comparing Love and Hatred to Lions and Tigers helps prove her point that love will always triumph over haterd.