What Does The Tyger Mean

William Blake was a British artist and poet. He is remembered as one of the key figures of English Romanticism. From an early age, Blake experienced visions of a divine nature. These visions influenced his art and writing; they gave him inspiration and new ideas. Blake was apprenticed at the early age of fourteen as an engraver which furthered his artistic education, yet limited his other education. Blake used this education in art throughout his life. He earned his living by drawing, painting, teaching art, and engraving. Early critics of Blake were unreasonably critical, which in turn made Blake behave erratically. He wove in and out of poverty due to his erratic behavior. “A misunderstood poet, artist and visionary throughout much of his
Symbolism is the primary device that Blake uses to provide deeper meaning to the poem by its contributions to the tone and theme of the poem. It is a lyric poem that expresses Blake’s awe over the might and ferocity of the “Tyger.” The poem is primarily about a “Tyger” with its intense and frightening aspects, and Blake’s awestruck questions for the “Tyger.” For example, he asks, “What immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” (24). This poem is twenty-four lines long with stanzas two, three, four, and five consisting of two couplets each. Blake also uses allusion in “The Tyger.” “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” (20) alludes to both Blake’s poem “The Lamb” and the Bible itself. In the Bible, Jesus is called “the lamb of God.” By asking if he who made the lamb also made the “Tyger,” Blake is asking if God could make both Jesus and the “Tyger.” By mentioning the “Lamb,” Blake makes a symbol out of the
With the blacksmithing terminology and constant references to fire, the reader can both see and feel the hot fire. “Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright,” (1) shows the light of the fire to the reader. The reader can see both the brightness and vivid color of the “Tyger” with this descriptive language. Repetition is also used in the first and last stanza and those two stanzas are both identical except for the last line in each. The last line in the first stanza uses the word “could,” and the last line in the last stanza uses the word “dare.” This shows progression throughout the course of the poem, as Blake states his question to the “Tyger” one way in the beginning of the poem, but states it a different way at the end. By asking “What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?” (4) in the first stanza, Blake questions who is powerful enough to have created such a fearful beast. However, by asking “What immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” (24) in the last stanza, his question changes. The question now reads as who would dare to create such a fearful