Review Of "The Tyger"

Review Of "The Tyger"

The poem “The Tyger” written by William Blake begins with an address to the Tiger. Blake was amazed at the ferocity of the tiger. He even more puzzled as to how both the lamb and the tiger had been created by the same creator. The lamb for Blake was a symbol of innocence and the tiger , a symbol of ferocity. They are mutually exclusive qualities. How they both could come from the same source – from the same creator was Blake’s enigma.

The themes discussed through the poem are,

·         Dualistic nature of God

·         Universal conflict between good and evil

The techniques used in the poem are,

·         Rhetorical questions

·         Refered to the mythology of greek

·         Lyrical form

·         Regular rhyming scheme

·         Language is simple

·         Symbolism

The Tyger

The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright

In the forest of the night

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? And what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What 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 they fearful symmetry?

William Blake (1757-1827)