Welcome to Poem of the Day – The Tyger by William Blake.
“The Tyger” is one of William Blake’s most famous and celebrated poems, first published in 1794 as part of his collection Songs of Experience. The poem is often paired with “The Lamb” from Songs of Innocence, and together, they explore contrasting aspects of creation, innocence, and experience. “The Tyger” is a philosophical and theological reflection on the nature of creation, particularly questioning the existence of evil and the duality of life.
Content
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?
The Tyger Poem Explanation
The poem begins with the speaker addressing the tyger, marveling at its fierce and terrifying beauty. The speaker wonders who could have created such a powerful and fearsome creature, and what kind of being would have the strength and skill to do so. The speaker’s awe turns to questioning the intentions and abilities of the creator. The tyger, with its “fearful symmetry” and “burning bright” eyes, is a symbol of both beauty and danger, representing the complexities of existence.
The poem moves through a series of rhetorical questions, asking whether the same God who made the innocent lamb could also have created the ferocious tyger. The speaker contemplates the nature of the creator, wondering if the tyger was forged like a weapon, with references to blacksmithing imagery such as “hammer,” “chain,” “furnace,” and “anvil.” By the end of the poem, the speaker leaves the question unanswered, concluding with the same awe-stricken wonder as in the beginning.
Themes and Analysis
Creation and the Creator: One of the central themes of “The Tyger” is the nature of creation and the character of the creator. Blake presents the tyger as a symbol of both the sublime beauty and terrifying power of creation. The poem raises questions about the moral nature of the creator: how can the same being that created the gentle lamb also create a creature as dangerous as the tyger? This reflects Blake’s broader exploration of the dualities within the universe—innocence and experience, good and evil, beauty and destruction.
Good and Evil: The poem grapples with the question of why evil or dangerous forces exist in the world. The tyger, with its fearsome power, symbolizes the darker, more destructive aspects of life. By contrasting the tyger with the lamb, Blake explores the coexistence of good and evil, and the moral complexities that come with the existence of both. The poem asks whether the creation of something as terrifying as the tyger is an act of divine goodness or something else entirely.
The Duality of Life: The contrast between the tyger and the lamb represents the duality that Blake saw in the world. The tyger is wild, fierce, and powerful, whereas the lamb is gentle and innocent. Together, these two animals symbolize the opposing forces in the universe—light and dark, good and evil, creation and destruction. The poem questions how both can come from the same source and what this reveals about the nature of existence.
Awe and Fear: Blake’s language evokes a sense of awe and fear toward the tyger. The repeated questions in the poem convey the speaker’s amazement at the creature’s strength and majesty, as well as an underlying fear of its power. The tyger becomes a symbol not just of physical power, but of the larger, incomprehensible forces at play in the universe. The sense of mystery surrounding the tyger’s creation reflects the unknowable aspects of life, death, and the divine.
Symbolism of the Tyger: The tyger itself is a powerful symbol of the destructive and chaotic forces in nature, as well as the beauty that can emerge from such forces. It represents the complexity of creation—something that is both awe-inspiring and terrifying. The “burning bright” imagery suggests both the literal fire of the tyger’s eyes and the metaphorical fire of its spirit, energy, and life force. The tyger stands in contrast to the lamb from Blake’s earlier poem, which symbolizes innocence and purity.
Structure and Form
“The Tyger” is composed of six quatrains (four-line stanzas) with a consistent AABB rhyme scheme. The poem’s regular rhythm and rhyme create a chant-like quality, reinforcing the sense of awe and wonder that pervades the speaker’s musings. The poem uses a combination of trochaic meter (stressed syllables followed by unstressed syllables) and vivid imagery to create a sense of intensity and power.
The repetition of the first and last stanzas, with slight variations, emphasizes the cyclical nature of the poem’s questioning. This structure reinforces the sense of unresolved mystery surrounding the creation of the tyger.
Key Lines and Their Meaning
“Tyger Tyger, burning bright, / In the forests of the night”: The opening lines set the tone for the poem, immediately presenting the tyger as a powerful and dangerous force. The “burning bright” suggests both literal fire and the metaphorical energy of the tyger, while “forests of the night” conveys a sense of mystery and darkness.
“What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”: These lines introduce the central question of the poem: what kind of divine or supernatural force could create something as perfectly terrifying as the tyger? The phrase “fearful symmetry” highlights the paradox of the tyger’s beauty and danger.
“Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”: This line directly contrasts the tyger with the lamb, referencing Blake’s earlier poem “The Lamb.” The question emphasizes the duality of creation—how could the same creator be responsible for both innocence and ferocity?
Significance
“The Tyger” is a profound exploration of the complexities of creation, the coexistence of good and evil, and the nature of the divine. Through its powerful imagery and rhetorical questioning, the poem invites readers to ponder the mysteries of life, creation, and the forces that shape the world. The tyger itself becomes a symbol of the beauty, terror, and power inherent in the natural world, leaving the question of its creator’s intentions unresolved, but eternally compelling.