Written 2/12/18
One of the most famous poems in English history, “The Tyger” by William Blake is often mandatory reading for elementary and middle schoolers throughout the United States. However, despite its short length, Blake filled the poem with details and meanings that I could not have comprehended back in my childhood. I aim to pick out a few of Blake’s artistic choices in this piece that stand out to me and explain their significance.
First is Blake’s choice to use the spelling of “tyger.” Though at the time, “tyger” was an older, but acceptable way to spell tiger, Blake does use “tiger” in several of his other works. This begs the question of why he opted for the archaic form for this poem. “The Tyger” is the parallel piece to “The Lamb,” wondering whether the same benevolent God that created the gentle lamb could simiarily create the fearsome tiger. This concept of duality is further explored throughout the rest of the poem and cements that one cannot analyze “The Tyger” without also considering “The Lamb.” In order to heighten the contrast with the familiar lamb, Blake may have decided to spell tiger with a “y” to arouse an image of exotic danger and departure from common norms.
Another reason Blake may have chosen to use “tyger” is to emphasize that he is not just talking about the animal. Blake used this poem to reflect upon his experiences as a native Londoner, greatly affected by the processes of industrialization and the French Revolution that occurred most likely between the writing of “The Lamb” and “The Tyger.” It is clear that these influences have seeped into “The Tyger.” In “The Lamb,” the lamb is capitalized and equated to humanity, God, and Jesus. In “The Tyger,” “tyger” is also capitalized whenever it appears. What does the “tyger” represent? The lamb is associated with life, streams, vales, purity, and “softest clothing, wooly, bright” (Blake, “The Lamb” 6). The tiger, on the other hand, is associated with “forests of the night” (Blake, “The Tyger” 2), fire, hammers, anvils, and spears.
Despite these conflicting images, the tiger still represents humans and God, but no longer are as the innocent children in need of care and the benevolent shepherd. The tiger is a sublime beast, massive, mysterious, deserving of awe, and terrifying, just like God. But just as Blake connects the tiger to God, he also questions God’s omnipotence in his flanking stanzas, “What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” (Blake, “The Tyger” 3-4). He grows even more challenging in his final line, replacing “could” with “dare” (Blake, “The Tyger” 24). Blake asks whether God is worthy of our respect, allowing such strife to exist in our world. He questions, “Did he smile his work to see? / Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” (Blake, “The Tyger” 19-20).
This brings the second representation of the tiger – as humanity and the cities we have constructed. With industrialization ramping, people were able to reach new advancements in technology, and science was glorified at the sake of religious faith. We too are massive and terrifying, and we are the ones who made the “tyger,” the fearsome creature forged in the furnace using hammers, anvils, and chains.
Combined with the line “What the hand, dare seize the fire? (Blake, “The Tyger” 8)” calls to mind the story of Prometheus, the Titan in Greek mythology that granted humankind the gift of fire and metalwork and then was punished eternally for the transgression. The line right before, “On what wings dare he aspire?” (Blake, “The Tyger” 7) alludes to yet another Greek myth, of Icarus using manmade wings to fly, ultimately falling to his death after flying too close to the sun. Is Blake suggesting we are rebelling against God, but that we must be careful, lest we are burned by our own creations? Or perhaps he applauds our confrontation, as one proverb he wrote in the “Proverbs of Hell” states, “No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings” (Blake 16).
Blake was a revolutionary whose aim was to overturn what was normal. This poem achieves that goal. In only six quatrains that remind of a nursery rhyme, Blake packs layers of subtext revealing a world much different from the simple one in “The Lamb.” His dualities range from mere superficiality to reflections of the world. By using the word “symmetry” (Blake, “The Tyger” 4) and starting and ending with nearly identical stanzas, his poetic decisions shape the mirroring of the tiger and the lamb, of nature and industry, and of God and humanity. This all culminates in the message that the society we live in is complex, enigmatic, and advancing rapidly. Looking at the experiences of everyone around us, we cannot blindly believe in a higher power that may not look out for us, or even exist. Blake’s “The Tyger” is a work worthy of praise, woven with intricacies and ambiguities that allow us, the reader, to exercise our own imaginations and take control of our destinies, just like his “Tyger! Tyger! burning bright / In the forests of the night” (Blake, “The Tyger” 1-2).
Works Cited
Blake, William. “Proverbs of Hell.” English Romantic Poetry: an Anthology, edited by Stanley Appelbaum, Dover, 1996, pp. 18–20.
Blake, William. “The Lamb.” English Romantic Poetry: an Anthology, edited by Stanley Appelbaum, Dover, 1996, p. 4.
Blake, William. “The Tyger.” English Romantic Poetry: an Anthology, edited by Stanley Appelbaum, Dover, 1996, p. 7.