The Tyger discussed: An analysis of Blake's poem.
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? and 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?
Let's begin by noticing that this fairly short poem squeezes in no fewer than 13 question marks: it's a
poem of perplexity, wonderment and speculation rather than assertion. It twice conjures up the
notion (a slightly perplexing one) of 'fearful symmetry', and is itself roughly symmetrical - six stanzas,
composed in the auditory symmetry of couplet form, and beginning and ending with the same
question, or very nearly so: by the end of the poem, the phrase 'Could frame' has quietly mutated
into 'Dare frame'.
Is this reference to symmetry perhaps a hint that one of the things the poem addresses is itself, or
more generally the art of poetry? Maybe: if you look elsewhere in Blake's poetry, industrial words
like furnace, anvil and hammer are usually associated with his mythical character Los, who is the
personified Spirit of Poetry. At the very least, it's fair to say that the poem is in some way about the
energies and pains of creation.
Many readers feel that the key question in the poem is:
