Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
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?
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears
And water’d heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Originally published in Songs of Experience (1794) by William Blake. Public domain.
Analysis
William Blake’s “The Tyger,” published in 1794 as part of his collection Songs of Experience, is one of the most famous poems in the English language. Its burning imagery and haunting rhythm explore the paradox of creation — how beauty and terror, innocence and experience, can coexist within the same divine design.
The poem’s hypnotic repetition and unanswered questions evoke both awe and dread before the mystery of the Creator’s power.
Context and Background
Blake wrote “The Tyger” as a counterpart to “The Lamb” from his earlier Songs of Innocence. Together, the two poems express the duality of existence: innocence, gentleness, and purity contrasted with strength, violence, and sublimity.
Living in late‑18th‑century London, Blake witnessed the Industrial Revolution’s turmoil and the rise of mechanized society — a world in which human creativity and divine imagination seemed increasingly constrained. “The Tyger” reflects his struggle to reconcile divine benevolence with the presence of fearsome power in nature and in humanity itself.
Form and Structure
The poem is composed of six quatrains written in rhymed couplets (AABB). The steady rhythm, mostly trochaic tetrameter, gives the poem a pounding, incantatory beat — echoing both the hammer of creation and the pulse of the tiger’s heart.
The repetition of the opening and closing stanzas reinforces its cyclical structure, suggesting that the mystery of creation is eternal and unanswerable.
Imagery and Symbolism
The “Tyger” is both literal and symbolic: a creature of beauty and terror, representing the sublime power of creation. Its “fearful symmetry” expresses the tension between aesthetic perfection and destructive force.
The blacksmith imagery — hammer, furnace, anvil — evokes divine craftsmanship, while also hinting at the Industrial Revolution’s machines of fire and iron. The tiger’s blazing eyes become symbols of divine energy and human imagination, both creative and dangerous.
Philosophical and Theological Themes
Blake’s central question — “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” — links the poem to the theological problem of evil. If God is good, how can He also create what is terrifying? The poem does not answer this question but dramatizes the awe of confronting divine complexity.
For Blake, the Creator is not a distant moral judge but an artist whose work includes both light and shadow, innocence and experience. The Tyger thus embodies the creative imagination itself: fierce, fiery, and essential to the fullness of being.
Sound and Tone
The poem’s music contributes to its power. The heavy alliteration (“burning bright,” “frame thy fearful symmetry”) and insistent rhythm make it sound like a chant or spell. The tone oscillates between reverence and fear, wonder and interrogation.
Blake’s use of simple words charged with cosmic intensity allows the poem to function simultaneously as children’s verse and philosophical meditation.
Innocence and Experience
“The Tyger” represents the mature, experienced vision of the world — one that has seen beyond innocence into the realm of complexity.
Unlike “The Lamb,” which speaks from trust and purity, “The Tyger” confronts creation’s darker dimensions without rejecting its divinity. The poem suggests that both lamb and tiger, innocence and experience, are necessary aspects of existence and of the divine imagination.
In this sense, Blake’s universe is not moralistic but holistic — every element, whether gentle or fierce, participates in the eternal act of creation.
Legacy and Interpretation
Since its publication, “The Tyger” has fascinated readers and artists alike. It has been interpreted as a reflection on the French Revolution, the power of industrial technology, and the dual nature of humanity. Its concise, rhythmic language makes it one of the most memorable poems ever written.
Blake’s visionary art — illuminated by his own hand — adds further layers of meaning, portraying the Tyger as both celestial and infernal, an emblem of the human imagination’s divine fire.
Conclusion
“The Tyger” endures because it captures the eternal mystery of creation: how beauty and terror coexist in the same universe. Blake’s burning creature is not merely a symbol of danger but of divine energy itself — the spark of imagination that gives life its symmetry and intensity.
In its simplicity and depth, the poem invites readers not to solve the mystery of the Tyger but to stand in awe before it.