The Tyger
by William Blake
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, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & 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 water’d 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?
Meanings of The Tyger by William Blake
The poem “The Tyger” by William Blake presents the main idea of the destructive power of the Divine and God’s creation. The poet presents his idea of innocence against experience and its bright and dark sides.
Meanings of Stanza -1
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Using repetitions and alliterations in the very first line, the poet presents the beast, the tiger, that seems angry when it comes out in the forest at night. However, the poet rather feels mesmerized by its beauty and thinks about the Creator, who has created this creature with a fearful symmetry, using an interrogative sentence. This inquiry of the poet brings a plethora of results with another set of questions. In fact, this stanza supports the main idea by questioning the innocence of this creature.
Meanings of Stanza -2
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?
The poet poses more questions to the tiger. He asks the tiger where it gets the fire of its eyes from. He also questions it his aspiration, which is akin to flying. Then he questions the hands who could seize this fire of the eyes of the tiger. The innocent questions, however, show the inquisitive nature of the poet, who wants to discover the motive of the Creator behind this creation. This stanza further contributes to the main idea of the poem, which is the experience of innocence.
Meanings of Stanza -3
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat.
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
The poet is mesmerized by the beauty of the tiger that is due to “fearful symmetry.” He says that the beauty of the shoulder and sinews of the heart of the tiger is mesmerizing as he asks the tiger about it. He again questions it about the beating of the heart and the dread that the hands and feet cause. In fact, the poet wants to know how the Creator has created this beautiful yet fearful creature. This stanza contributes to the main idea of the poem by inquiring more about this seemingly innocent creature.
Meanings of Stanza -4
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp.
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
The poet poses more questions. He inquires about the hammer that has shaped the chain that has bound the tiger. He also wants to know the furnace where his brain was prepared. He asks about the entire workmanship, including the anvil but then feels surprised, asking questions about any grasp that could clasp the tiger with its terror. This shows that the poet is now asking questions about the terrible organs and things and their making. This stanza contributes to the main idea of the poem by showing the dark sides of the seemingly innocent creatures.
Meanings of Stanza -5
When the stars threw down their spears
And water’d heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
This stanza presents the situation where the creature was created. The poet asks whether the heaven has created the tiger when the stars threw their spears and wept over this creature. Whether the Creator smiled when creating this creature or not is another question that comes into the mind of the poet. In fact, the poet uses simple creator but, in fact, he means God, though, he uses small letter initials. But he immediately questions whether God also creates the lamb, an innocent creature, and the tiger, this fearful creature, simultaneously. This stanza contributes to the overall meaning of innocence versus experience.
Meanings of Stanza -6
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
The argument of the creature by the Creator has come full circle in this stanza. The poet repeats the first stanza with the same alliterations and repetitions to stress his point about the “fearful symmetry” of the tiger in which lies its beauty. However, it has been inquired through an interrogative sentence that shows the poetic quality of the verses. The poet asks whether these burning the same Immortal Hand or Eye has created these bright eyes. However, instead of having an answer, the poet poses more questions to show this side of the creation. This stanza completes the main idea of the poem, which is innocence versus experience.
Summary of The Tyger
- Popularity of “The Tyger”: William Blake, a great artist, and poet, wrote ‘The Tyger’. It is known as the most cryptic lyrical poem of English literature and was first published in 1794 in Blake’s first volume of Songs of Experience. The poem presents the amazement of the speaker about the creation of a fiery tiger. It also illustrates the significance of God’s power and the existence of the divine will.
- “The Tyger” “As a Representative of Wonder”: As this poem is about the creation of a tiger, the writer expresses that everything present in the universe reflects the image of its creator despite its cruel nature. The emphatically striking image of the tiger makes him think of its creator, and he doubts if this violent thing is created by God or Satan. In fact, he gets puzzled at the sight of a tiger in the dark. Therefore, he poses a series of questions about his fierce appearance and the creator who has created it. On seeing its perfect symmetry, he questions what tools God could have used to craft its body. He also resolves as his questions are unanswerable and beyond human understanding by comparing the tiger with fire and talks about the existence of evil in the world. However, what enchants the readers is the way he juxtaposes evil and good in the poem.
- Major Themes in “The Tyger”: Wonder and good versus evil are the major themes in the poem. The writer has used visual imagery coupled with other literary elements to incorporate these themes in the text. Throughout the poem, the speaker shows a sense of awe and wonder about the creation of the tiger. While observing the astounding symmetry of the tiger, he fails to understand how the same God who created the gentle lamb could also make the vicious Tiger. However, the poem reflects that humans cannot understand the supremacy of God’s and his work.
Analysis of Literary Devices in The Tyger
literary devices are tools that enable writers to present their ideas, emotions, and feelings with the use of these devices. Blake has also used literary devices in this poem to show the fearsome and yet magnificent image of a tiger. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem has been analyzed below.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of/i/ in “Tyger Tyger, burning bright” and /ae/ sound in “Dare its deadly terrors clasp!”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech used to compare two objects or persons different in nature. There are two metaphors in the poem. The first is used in the second line, “In the forests of the night” he compares tiger with darkness and repression. The second is used in the sixth line, “Burnt the fire of thine eyes?” he compares its eyes with fire or something evil.
- Rhetorical Question: Rhetorical Question is a question that is not asked to receive an answer; it is just posed to make the point clear. Blake has used a series of questions in this poem to emphasize his point such as given below:
“What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp.”
- Personification: Personification is to attribute human qualities to inanimate things. Blake has used personification in the fifth stanza where he considers stars as humans,
“When the stars threw down their spears
And water’d heaven with their tears:”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /t/ and /b/ in “Tyger Tyger, burning bright” and the sound of /f/ in “Dare frame thy fearful symmetry”.
- Apostrophe: An apostrophe is a device used to call somebody from far. The poet has used this device in the first line, “Tyger Tyger, burning bright.”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. “The Tyger” represents the evil and beauty too, “the forest of the night” represents unknown challenges, “the blacksmith” represents the creator and “the fearful symmetry” symbolizes the existence of both good and evil.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make the readers perceive things with their five senses. Blake has used imagery to show the unique creation of God such as, “What immortal hand or eye,”, “Burnt the fire of thine eyes?” and “In the forests of the night.”
The literary analysis shows that Blake has skillfully employed these devices to make the poem simple to understand.
Analysis of Poetic Devices in The Tyger
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are six stanzas in this poem with each stanza having four lines in it.
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here, each stanza is quatrain as the first one or the second one.
- Rhyme Scheme: The rhyme scheme followed in the entire poem is AABB.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. End rhyme occurs within the second and third lines and again within the second and fourth lines. The rhyming words are, “bright”, “night”, “skies” and “eyes.”
- Repetition: There is a repetition of the phrase, “Tyger Tyger burning bright”, which has created a musical quality in the poem.
- Refrain: The words that are repeated at some distance in the poem are called refrain. The phrase, “Tyger Tyger burning bright” is repeated with the same words; it has become a refrain as it has been repeated in the first and last stanzas.
Quotes to be Used
The lines quoted below can be used when describing a tiger in a science class or while sharing a fantasy story with a tiger in it.
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
