Write a note on critical analysis of The Tyger by William Blake.

 

Q.02. Write a note on critical analysis of The Tyger by William Blake.

 

Ans:    “The Tyger” is one of the most famous poems by Blake from his Songs of Experience. The Tyger is the most impressive and the most striking poem. It was written in contrast to The Lamb of the Songs of Innocence. The theme of the poem is a simple one but its apparent simplicity simply intensifies its visionary quality.

 

The Tyger is a poem navigating the nature of creation and the grandeur of the creator. Yet, the poem takes a dark side of creation. The complexity of Blake’s ideas in the poem contrasts with his simple language and construction. This poem is to be read in comparison and contrast with Blake’s The Lamb which shows the more innocent aspect of creation and human nature as manifested in the creation of the lamb which is a symbol of innocence. Blake believed that a person has to pass through a state of innocence—to be a lamb—in order to absorb the contrasting conditions of experience—being a tiger thus achieving one’s purpose in life.

 

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In these lines, the poet sheds lights on the divine magnificence that created the tiger. It is the same immortal hand that made all other creatures, i.e. the lamb. Blake uses the metaphor of fire to represent the way the tiger perceive the world and how it is perceived. In this way, the tiger may be seen as a symbol for the human ego which has fury and power. Then Blake wonders at the creator of such fiery creature whether it is God or an evil “dreadful” hand—Lucifer. Fire suggests a hellish atmosphere.

 

The poet describes the unique nature of the tiger showing the power and strength of both the tiger and its maker.

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? & what dread feet?

In these lines, it is shown how Blake is highly appreciative of the image of the creativity of the wonderful beast. This image which is full of dynamicity gives the reader a vivid insight into the whole scene of the tiger in its natural vicinity.

 

Then the poet states that the tiger is not chained; it has a life of its own. Blake wonders at the magnificence of the creature of the tiger asking whether the creator could have been thinking in creating it.

What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp,

Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

The image of God as an artist is distorted in these lines. Yet, such image is consistent with the image of the fiery tiger. The anvil of the poem is another industrial tool in the hands of the maker which he firmly clasps in passion and courage. Yet, such courage and passion are terrifying since it reflects the poet’s worst fears of what it really means to create.

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

These lines evoke the nature of God as both capable of tenderness as well as dread and that neither one of them is preferable. It represents God as an artist who may, sometimes, create dreadful works that may be better understood one day and smiled at by the people. Finally, Blake employs the repetition of his first stanza to reinforce his ideas and to give us another deeper insights into the real meaning of the poem which is not a mere description of the tiger; rather it is a philosophical question of the nature of creation.

 

As for form and structure, this lyric poem consists of four-line stanzas with pairs of rhyming couplets which serves the function of continuity of rhythm.  The meter of this poem is trochaic tetrameter. Since it is a lyric, the poem is highly musical with its rhymes and sound devices such as alliteration as in “frame” and “fearful”.