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The Tiger

Tyger! Tyger! burning brightIn the forest of the nightWhat immortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?On what wings dare he aspire?What the hand dare seize the fire?

And What shoulder and what artCould twist the sinews of thy heart?And when thy heart began to beatWhat dread hand? and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the hain?In what furna e was thy brain?What the an"il? what dread grasp#are its deadly terrors lasp?

When the stars threw down their spearsAnd watered hea"en with their tears#id he smile his work to see?#id he who made the lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning brightIn the forests of the nightWhat immortal hand or eye#are frame thy fearful symmetry?

William Blake

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Describe

Blake$s poem The Tyger begins with the amazement of a "ision an apo alypti beast $burning

bright$ in the bordering darkness% no turnal darkness presented metaphori ally as $forests of thenight$& Ob"iously this is no familiar tiger in the natural habitat of forests' this is a "isionary tigeras burning fire in the darkness as an absolute prin iple& The "ision leads the poet to anassumption of the mystery of its maker for the maker is best understood in terms of the thingmade%

(What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?(

Blake$s tiger symbolises $)*perien e$ as the lamb in his other poem symbolises $Inno en e$& Theanimal +u*taposes the opposites as the o*ymoroni al phrase $fearful symmetry$ suggests& Who

ould be the maker of su h a fero ious but beautiful beast? The poet refers to his $immortal handor eye$ that is to say an immortal maker&

The ,uestion relating to the maker now gi"es rise to many more ,uestions in stanza -%wherefrom the maker pro ures the fire..from the depths of the underworld or from the heights of the skies? In either ase the maker must ha"e had wings to del"e into the $distant deeps$ or tosoar high up to hea"en& The maker must be a daring aspirant who has $the hand$ to $seize the fire$may be like I arus or /rometheus in 0reek mythology&

1tanza 2 again posits ,uestions relating to the reature and its reator& 1in e the huge beast hashad a big and bold heart made up of strong mus les its reator must also be strong.shoulderedand must ha"e known the art of making the strange animal& The poet further apprehends how lifewas put into the tiger$s heart set it to motion%

(And when thy heart began to beat

What dread hand? and what dread feet?(

With a new set of ,uestions stanza 3 further dwells on the making of the tiger as somethingstupendous built in the workshop of a legendary bla ksmith%

(What the hammer? what the hain?

In what furna e was thy brain?

What the an"il? what dread grasp

#are its deadly terrors lasp?(

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1tanza 4 shows an attempt on the part of the poet to lo ate the making of the tiger in osmi timeand spa e& Blake imagines that the tiger was made at a moment of risis when the rebel angels inhea"en surrendered their weapons before 0od as 0od applied thunderbolt& The starse*tinguishing their lights symbolise the thunder.stru k angels shedding tears%

(When the stars threw down their spears

And water$d hea"en with their tears%

#id he smile his work to see?

#id he who made the 5amb make thee?(

The pair of ,uestions in the losing lines of stanza 4 seems to ha"e hallenged the idea of a benign reator& The maker of the lamb is 6imself $the 5amb of 0od$ meek and mildrepresenting the $forgi"eness of sins$& But how an su h a maker reate the terrible tiger? The

maker of the fier e 7 fiery beast must be the other self of 0od wrathful 7 ruel representing$the punishment of sins$

1tanza 8 is almost identi al with the opening stanza with the e* eption of $dare$ in the beginningof the last line& The hange from $ ould$ to $dare$ suggests the ompletion of the making of thetiger&