17 pages • 34 minutes read
William BlakeA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
One of the most striking contrasts in Blake’s “The Tyger” is the speaker’s awe and fear of the tiger. Even though the speaker repeatedly describes the tiger as terrifying and frightening, it cannot be denied that the tiger is also beautiful and majestic: “In what distant deeps or skies / Burnt the fire of thine eyes?” (Lines 5-6). The speaker describes the craftsmanship and artistry required for the creation of the tiger: “And what shoulder, & what art, / Could twist the sinews of thy heart?” (Lines 9-10). The speaker is confronting the reality that something can be both terrifying and beautiful at once. The speaker’s suggestion that the fires in the tiger’s eyes were made in some otherworldly land implies that there is something about the tiger that is also mystical. The speaker is attempting to resolve this tension, acknowledging that the tiger is beautiful and even magical.
However, the tiger is also frightening, and this makes it difficult for the speaker to accept that God could have been the creator: “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” (Line 20). The speaker’s bewilderment inspires a series of questions: The tiger is a formidable predator, capable of great violence and raw power; if God was the creator, what does that say about God? How can God’s creations be both beautiful and terrifying? How can God be both beautiful and terrifying? These are the mysteries of life, and they are universal to all living beings.
By William Blake
A Poison Tree
William Blake
Auguries of Innocence
William Blake
London
William Blake
Night
William Blake
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
William Blake
The Book of Thel
William Blake
The Chimney Sweeper
William Blake
The Garden of Love
William Blake
The Lamb
William Blake
The Little Boy Found
William Blake
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
William Blake
The Sick Rose
William Blake
Animals in Literature
View Collection
British Literature
View Collection
Good & Evil
View Collection
Mythology
View Collection
Poetry: Animal Symbolism
View Collection
Poetry: Mythology & Folklore
View Collection
Required Reading Lists
View Collection
Romanticism / Romantic Period
View Collection
Science & Nature
View Collection
Short Poems
View Collection