The Tyger Analysis Essay Example
Critical Analysis of The Tyger.
The Tyger, by William Blake is a classical literary work. It has both deep theological meaning as well as cunning use of advanced literary technique to deliver its message to an audience through a series of cleverly written metaphors, rhyme and structure. This analysis will attempt to describe one of many possible motif's Blake could have had while writing this poem.
Blake's Tyger is not, in the normal and familiar sense of the word, actually a Tiger. The poem is not in old English, nor is the word tiger even different in Old English. It can be assumed, then, that the Tyger is either a terrible creature or a pseudonym for something familiar to the readers. Given the context of the remainder of the poem, which will be discussed in depth later, the reader can conclude that the Tyger is not a terrible creature, or anything fictitious.
Tyger! Tyger! burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry?
The first stanza begins to describe the terrible nature of The Tyger. Blake personifies the Tyger as burning and bright. Both of these adjectives are usually positive. Think “burning passion” or “bright young student.” In this case, however, taking the context of the next line into consideration, the Tyger is anything but burning and bright in the traditional sense. In the setting of a forest, burning is a symbol of terrible danger, especially to the environment around it. The Tyger is also bright, signifying that it is flashy and attention-catching.
The next two lines describe an intelligent creator. Blake questions what kind of creator would make something so “fearful” and so terrible as the Tyger. This is the passage that, as mentioned earlier, rules out the possibility of the Tyger being a fictitious entity. It would have to be real for its creator to be questioned in such a way.
In what distant deeps or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?On what wings dare he
The Tyger, by William Blake is a classical literary work. It has both deep theological meaning as well as cunning use of advanced literary technique to deliver its message to an audience through a series of cleverly written metaphors, rhyme and structure. This analysis will attempt to describe one of many possible motif's Blake could have had while writing this poem.
Blake's Tyger is not, in the normal and familiar sense of the word, actually a Tiger. The poem is not in old English, nor is the word tiger even different in Old English. It can be assumed, then, that the Tyger is either a terrible creature or a pseudonym for something familiar to the readers. Given the context of the remainder of the poem, which will be discussed in depth later, the reader can conclude that the Tyger is not a terrible creature, or anything fictitious.
Tyger! Tyger! burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eyeCould frame thy fearful symmetry?
The first stanza begins to describe the terrible nature of The Tyger. Blake personifies the Tyger as burning and bright. Both of these adjectives are usually positive. Think “burning passion” or “bright young student.” In this case, however, taking the context of the next line into consideration, the Tyger is anything but burning and bright in the traditional sense. In the setting of a forest, burning is a symbol of terrible danger, especially to the environment around it. The Tyger is also bright, signifying that it is flashy and attention-catching.
The next two lines describe an intelligent creator. Blake questions what kind of creator would make something so “fearful” and so terrible as the Tyger. This is the passage that, as mentioned earlier, rules out the possibility of the Tyger being a fictitious entity. It would have to be real for its creator to be questioned in such a way.
In what distant deeps or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?On what wings dare he