Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
by William Blake
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?
A Trip Down the Memory Lane
I had first read the poem when I was still very young. This made me fall in absolute love with this wild cat. And, to date, I just can’t accept that it is ‘Tiger’ and not ‘Tyger’.
This poem, by William Blake, left me in awe of this “mortal”. I mean once there was a discussion at our family chat group as to what pet should we get home. My instant reply was, “The Tyger”, no second thoughts. A cousin corrected me, “It’s tiger”. But it was so difficult for me to believe the correct spelling.
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. What he called his prophetic works were said by 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form “what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language”. His visual artistry led 21st-century critic Jonathan Jones to proclaim him “far and away from the greatest artist Britain has ever produced”. In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC’s poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich œuvre, which embraced the imagination as “the body of God” or “human existence itself”.
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The Poem
This poem depicts Blake’s sheer admiration for the ‘Tyger’ and for the God who made this mortal. This poem is full of questions. There are a total of 13 question marks in the poem.
The poem divided into 6 stanzas, asks six different questions. The one asking “What immortal hand or eye, / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” The second is asking about its place of creation. The third one about the method of its creation. The fourth stanza enquires about the tools that were used in its creation. In the fifth stanza, the writer wants to know how the creator’s reaction to his creation. The final stanza again asks the question put in the first stanza as to who ” Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?”
It should be noted that the word “could” is replaced by “dare” in the final stanza’s question.
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Amazing work!
Awesome 👌