Ha Anh Duong ID: 1568749

Name: Ha Anh Duong

Professor’s name: G. Sewell

Class name: ENG 1102, (Summer Term/2020)

Date: August 9, 2020

“The Tiger” is one of Blake's most loved and most quoted poems.

It appeared in “Song of Experience”, first published in 1794 as part

of the “Songs of Innocence and of Experience” dual collection.

“Songs of Innocence” first published, alone, in 1789; when combining

the “Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, its subtitle, “shewing

the two left states of the human soul,” clearly shows the author's

intention to combine two groups of poems.

“The Tiger” is a short poem of very regular and meter-like form,

like a children's rhyme in shape (if certainly not in content and

meaning). It's six quatrains, a four-line AABB verse, so they're

each made up of two rhyming sentences. Most of the lines written in

the four transports have two syllables, the trochaic quartet - DUM

da DUM da DUM da DUM (da) - in which the syllable without an

official accent at the end of the line is usually silent. Because in

four consecutive stresses of the words “Tiger, tiger,” The first

line could be more correctly described as the head with two spondees

rather than two trochaic pins - DUM dum dum dum dum da DUM. And a

few of the lines of four-verse endings have a single unstressed

syllable, which converts the clock to the iambic quartet - da DUM da

DUM da DUM da DUM - and puts a special emphasis separate on these

lines:

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“Could Frame thy fearful symmetry?” (William Blake. “The Tiger”,

“Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, p.34)

“Did he who made the lamb make thee?” (William Blake. “The

Tiger”, “Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, p.34)

“Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” (William Blake. “The Tiger”,

“Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, p.34)

The opening four-verse poem of “The Tiger” is repeated at the

end, like a chorus, so that the poem wraps around itself, with an

altered text-drafting decision:

“Tiger, tiger, burning bright

In the forest of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could Frame thy fearful symmetry?” (William Blake. “The Tiger”,

“Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, p.34)

“Tiger, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” (William Blake. “The Tiger”,

“Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, p.34)

“The Tiger” refers to its subject directly, the poet calls the

creatures by name – “Tiger! Tiger” - and ask a bunch of rhetorical

questions that all variations on the first question - what child can

do for you? What kind of God created this terrifying and yet

beautiful creature? Was he satisfied with his work? Are you happy

with the creator of the sweet little sheep?

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The first paragraph of the poem creates a powerful image of

Tiger's “burning bright / In the forests of the night,” (William

Blake. “The Tiger”, “Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, p.34)

combined by Blake's colored hand engravings in which Tiger actively

glows, radiates sinuous, dangerous life. Danger at the bottom of the

page has a dark sky at the top which is the very foundation for

these words. The poet is amazed by Tiger's “fearful symmetry” and

marvel at “the fire of thine eyes” the art of “twist the sinews of

thy heart” the author both can and dare to do as so a powerful

beauty and a dangerously violent creature.

In the final line of the second paragraph, Blake suggests that he

sees the author as a blacksmith, asking “What the hand dare seize

the fire?” (William Blake. “The Tiger”, “Songs of Innocence and of

Experience”, p.34). By the fourth verse, this metaphor is taken

vividly to life, reinforced by the pounding trochees: “What the

hammer? what the chain? / In what furnace was thy brain? / What the

anvil? what dread grasp” (William Blake. “The Tiger”, “Songs of

Innocence and of Experience”, p.34). The Tiger was born into fire

and violence, and arguably represents the chaos and frenetic power

of the industrial world. Some readers see Tiger as a symbol of evil

and darkness, some critics have interpreted the poem as a parable of

the French Revolution, others believe Blake depicts the process of

lightening. Create by the artist, and others follow the symbol in

the poem to separate Blake's special Gogues mysticism - explained a

lot.

What is certain is that “The Tiger,” as one of “Song of

Experience”, represents one of two “countries left of the human

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soul” – “experience” is perhaps contrary to “innocence” or the

innocence of a child. In the penultimate verse, Blake brings Tiger

round to face its counterpart in “Song of Innocence”, “The Lamb,”

asking “Did he smile his work to see? / Did he who made the lamb

make thee?” (William Blake. “The Tiger”, “Songs of Innocence and of

Experience”, p.34) The Tiger was fierce, terrifying and wild, yet

part of the creation was like lamb, obedient and lovable. In the

final verse, Blake repeats the original burning question, creating a

stronger surprise by replacing the word “dare” for “could”:

“What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” (William Blake. “The Tiger”,

“Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, p.34)

The British Museum has a handwritten draft of “The Tiger”, which

offers a fascinating glimpse into the unfinished poem. Their

introduction makes the brief note of the unique poetic combination

of a simple nursery rhyme framework that seems to carry a heavy load

of Blake's emblem and metaphor: “Blake's poetry is unique in its

broad appeal; Its simplicity seems to appeal to children, while its

intricate religious, political and mythological imagery arouses

long-standing debate among scholars.”

Famous literary critic Alfred Kazin, in William Blake's Preface,

is called “The Tiger” “a hymn to pure happiness. And what gives it

its prowess is Blake's ability to fuse two aspects of the TV series.

Movement where a great thing is created, and the joy and wonder we

join ourselves to it”