The Tyger Poem by William Blake

The Tiger Any reader of Blake would certainly find The Tiger as a remarkable poem with a difference. Only Blake's genius afforded a hidden, great & mystical theme under the veil of animal imagery. Here a deep mystical sense overshadows with an apostrophising impulse, indicating wonder at the diversity of God's creations.As The Lamb is symbolic of meekness, tenderness, beauty & innocence, but when we ascend the ladder of Experience that is atrewn with grief, disappointment, & injustices of life, the symbols of the poet get changed at once; the symbol of this kind of life is The Tiger...strong, restless, remorseless, ruthless...but beautiful. Blake not only wonders at the burning eyes & fearful symmetry, but he tries to catch a glimpse of the Power that created it; The enigma, in fact, is not the Tiger, but the Creator.It is the divine incomprehensibility that strikes the note of amazement.Blake takes care of the aura as well; if meadows are the fit places for frisking & frolicking of the lamb, forests provide the apt atmosphere for all the actions & movements of this regal being. Herein lies the cause of the poet's wonder, not on the fierce heart or dreadful feet of the tiger, but the divine power that could create the antagonistic objects, that could bound together these strong muscles & sinews...vigorous, horrible & ferocious. The real obscurity lies in the 5th stanza where the Biblical connotation is concealed behind the outward symbols. The line when the stars threw down their spears can be found in his epic The Four Zoas with the same context. The personification of stars means (though not definitely) the person of Urizen throwing down the spears. The stars symbolise Milton's fallen angels also who, with lucifer, refused to serve God. This poem is all about God with the concept of contrariness, the Being who created the meek prey lamb, could also create the aggressor -the tiger...in the last line the word DARE replaced the word COULD.From the creations to the creator, understanding God through whatever He has created, is the main theme of this puzzling yet beautiful poem. shahzia batool

Wow! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Nothing else needs be said.

I first heard this on the tv show The Mentalist and it enchanted me right away. Who knew I would ever hear anything so beautiful and profound from a tv show! Bravo to The Mentalist writers. :)

Excellent.. the Poem is symbolism of tiger in words

beautiful, .............nothing less than an innovative piece of art........just unexplainable

Always loved to recite this poem as a little girl.The rhyme is remarkable and a beautiful appreciation of God's creation.I learnt to

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? .... brilliant concluding. Beautiful poem.

Tiger the idealic frightened example of bravery!

GOod\!

Great poem. For those who read Malayalam, a commentary and appreciation of the poem by talented writer Mr. Asha Menon appears in the Mathrubhoomi Weekly dated 13.12.2020.