The Tyger

As mentioned in my post on The Lamb, The Tyger is an Experience antitype, and provides the opposite presentation of God to its innocent pairing. It is one of Blake’s most famous poems, violently charged by the backdrop of the visceral Industrial Revolution. The poem contrasts the Divine with the Sublime to question the nature of a God who is capable of creating such distinctive opposites. It also draws on Greek and Roman mythology, which may seem random, but it isn’t. Myths were more than stories; they were told to tell truths about human nature and experiences as an explanation for why the world was the way it is. The Tyger deals with these exact themes of our understanding of life.

The Tyger

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 sieze 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?

Form & Structure

The poem is composed of six quatrains, formed of rhyming couplets, and follows a regular trochaic tetrameter, which was often used in children’s rhymes. This combined with the monosyllabic words creates a misleading tone of sympathy. Each line ends catalectic (with a dropped syllable) to end with a stressed one, so that the poem adopts a masculine rhythm. It produces a hammering beat like the central image of the poem: the smithy.

It takes the form of a lyric poem as it intends to inspire and explore the mystical knowledge of the deity.

Stanza One

First of all, the spelling of “Tyger” is archaic, introducing the theme of mystical knowledge. The first line also uses alliteration of “burning bright” with the repetition of the plosive “B” sound to create the restless pacing of the animal being described. “burning bright” may also refer to the flames of the Industrial Revolution taking place in London at the time. In this sense, humans were becoming like God in trying to perfect their mastery of the world.

Reference to “immortal hand or eye” can either allude to God or the Devil, as the poem deals with the question of can a benevolent God be capable of creating something so beautifully destructive. By bringing God and Satan together, Blake echoes the beliefs of Jacob Böhme, who believed:

“Heaven is in hell, and hell is in heaven, and nevertheless there is neither of them revealed to the other…”

Angels do not see darkness, only the light of divine power, but the devils see only the darkness of the wrath of God. It is this idea that is wrestled throughout the poem, drawing in the perspective of the “devils” who only dwell in Experience.

The last line switches to iambic tetrameter to stress the words “frame” and “fearful symmetry” as they are the most important words within the key question of the poem: What does evil and violence reflect on the nature of God? “fearsome symmetry” contrasts this fearful violence with utter beauty, demonstrating the juxtaposition of the nature of God.

Stanza Two

The frequent repetition of the harsh “D” sound in “distant deeps or skies” further contributes to the insistent rhythm, creating and drawing together illusions of heaven and hell.

The stanza consists of rhetorical questions, with mention of angels in “On what wings dare he aspire?”, particularly alluding to the fallen angels who tried to overthrow God with Lucifer, and were cast down to Hell, suggesting that the being who created the tiger is not God, but the power opposing God.

Reference to “wings” may also allude to Icarus, whose wings were made of wax and melted when he flew too close to the Sun. The story is a symbol of humankind trying to aspire beyond its limits, suggesting that the creator has done so in creating the Tyger.

In the final rhetorical question of the line, “What the hand, dare sieze the fire?” may be alluding to the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods to help humankind. Although Prometheus was benevolent, in this context it appears to be something more sinister, suggesting that the speaker is possessed by the power of the creature, and is thereby blind to the potential benevolence of it. The speaker is too far gone in Experience to be able to view the benevolence that one may see from an innocent perspective.

Stanza Three

There’s not too much to say about this stanza, except from the sibilance used in “twist the sinews”; frequent sibilance often suggests that there are evil forces at bay.

The anaphoric repetition of “every dread” suggests the speaker’s current state of mind, which will shift later.

Stanza Four

The rhythmic repetition of “what” in this stanza gives it an almost chant-like quality.

Blake uses a semantic field of imagery related to a blacksmith, a “hammer”, “furnace” and “anvil” which has been interpreted as an allusion to Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, by whom Prometheus was punished, thus suggesting that the creator is demonic as opposed to benevolent. Furthermore, the image of the furnace and the wings are linked through John Milton’s Paradise Lost, a work Blake was heavily influenced by. In this text, Hephaestus was the creator of Pandemonium, the realm of the demons.

The final two lines adopt a tone of fascination through their questioning nature, as they marvel at the virtues of the Tyger such as its “dread grasp” and “deadly terrors”.

Critic Kurt Johnson wrote a brilliant article titled “Blake in the East – India and Colonialism” which is perfect for context (which is heavily weighted!). I’ve just extracted a quote from there, but I definitely suggest giving it a read if you can!

“The industrial rhythm of its metre, along with its metallurgic imagery, speak more to the “dark Satanic mills” of the burgeoning Industrial Revolution and its encroachment on England’s “green and pleasant land”.”

Stanza Five

The imagery of when “the stars threw down their spears” is once again an allusion to the fallen angels, but also shows the mind of the speaker, who witnesses the ferocious power of the Tyger, and the energy at the heart of creation. Here Blake may also be alluding to the revolutionary age, when the French Revolutionaries audaciously seized power.

Blake then brings in the antitype of the lamb to highlight how hard it is to determine the nature of God when he can create the destructive Tyger AND the innocent lamb. Blake draws together the two contraries of goodness and darkness to demonstrate how contradictory God is. Once again, in this line Blake shifts to iambic metre to highlight the overarching question: “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”

Stanza Six

This stanza is the repetition of the first stanza with the exception of one alteration, instead of “could frame”, this changes to “Dare frame”.

The tone is of confusion and a sense of being overwhelmed, especially as the poem fails to reach a final conclusion. But the ending question articulates the single idea of the poem: how can we as humans understand the nature of a God capable of creating the innocence of the lamb and the danger of the tiger?

Critic Brassington writes of the two poems:

“They explore the two opposing, but complementary, dualistic aspects or existential states of humankind as they engage in and wrestle with God, others and one’s self.”

It’s quite a lot to take in, but hopefully it should make sense if you go over it a few times. This poem is key to learn as it incorporates a variety of key themes: religion, power, innocence and experience, etc, so make sure you do know your way around it! Happy wrestling:)