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The Tyger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Tyger" is a famous poem by the English poet William Blake. The poem was published as part of his collection Songs of Experience and was written sometime around 1794. It is one of Blake's best known and most analyzed poems.
Contents |
- Tyger, Tyger, burning bright,
- In the forests of the night:
- What immortal hand or eye,
- Could frame thy fearful symmetry!?
- In what distant deeps or skies
- Burnt the fire of thine eyes!
- On what wings dare he aspire?
- What the hand, dare seize the fire?
- And what shoulder, and what art,
- Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
- And when thy heart began to beat,
- What dread hand? And what dread feet?
- What the hammer? What the chain,
- In what furnace was thy brain?
- What the anvil? What dread grasp,
- Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
- When the stars threw down their spears
- And watered heaven with their tears:
- Did he smile, his work to see?
- Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
- Tyger, Tyger, burning bright,
- In the forests of the night:
- What immortal hand or eye,
- Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
In both form and subject the poem closely follows his earlier work "The Lamb" that was part of his Songs of Innocence collection. He references this work in the fifth stanza with the question "Did He who made the lamb make thee?". While "The Lamb" lauded a noble and gentle God, "The Tyger" looks at the God who created death and misery in the world. The poem is an exploration of Gnostic thought, which interested Blake very much[citation needed]. This is heavily inspired by the works of John Milton, of whom Blake sometimes considered himself a successor[citation needed]. The lines "On what wings dare he aspire?/What the hand dare seize the fire?" can be seen as a reference to the story of Prometheus or that of Paradise Lost and begins the speculation that Lucifer may also have played a role in creating the universe[citation needed]. The lines from the fifth stanza "When the stars threw down their spears/ And watered heaven with their tears," are also often considered to be a reference to Paradise Lost. Critical attention has often been drawn to "the arrival of a Great Fiery meteor" over London in the summer of 1783, interpreted by Blake as a Gnostic symbol of divine presence and fertility[citation needed].
Blake was one of the most noted Romantic poets and like them he saw the pastoral country side as idyllic and viewed industrialization as a blight. "The Tyger" uses many images of the industrial world: fire, hammers, anvils, and furnaces all convey an image of the "satanic mills" of the nineteenth century.
"The Tyger" was published as a part of Songs of Experience and the poem can also be seen as dealing with the growing knowledge of the world as one ages. While "The Lamb" is grounded in the pastoral settings of Blake's youth "The Tyger" is set in the industrialized modernity. "The Tyger" reflects a knowledge that evil exists in the world and that benevolence is not omnipresent.
"The Tyger" may also be read as an introspection by the mature artist. Blake looks in wonder that the author might be so audacious as to set out to create a powerful poem and to compare his own work to God's creative process. By describing the challenge he faces, Blake acknowleges both his pride in his craft and the fundamental mystery of composition, how does the artist create? The poem both wonders at the creation of the powerful and dangerous animal and stands astonished at the risks taken by the artist attempting this expression. His question "did he who made the Lamb make thee?" recalls that the same person who penned the simple, humble hymn "The Lamb" has become the creator of "The Tyger" and highlights the difference between the innocent youth and experienced maturity of the poet.
The incandescent imagery is evil is evident; as well as searing poetry in its own right, Blake's cultural context must also be considered. The raw energy of the tiger can represent the violent forces of the French Revolution[citation needed].
Rumour has it that Blake specifically chose the already archaic English spelling of "tyger" (over the standard English of "tiger") because that particular version of the word evoked a more terrifying imagery and deeper visceral reaction from the reader[1].
