Poetry Analysis: "The Tyger"

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William Blake’s 1793 poem “The Tyger” has many interpretations, but its main purpose is to question God as a creator. Its poetic techniques generate a vivid picture that encourages the reader to see the Tyger as a horrifying and terrible being. The speaker addresses the question of whether or not the same God who made the lamb, a gentle creature, could have also formed the Tyger and all its darkness. This issue is addressed through many poetic devices including rhyme, repetition, allusion, and symbolism, all of which show up throughout the poem and are combined to create a strong image of the Tyger and a less than thorough interpretation of its maker. The first stanza directly addresses the Tyger, which is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, “a large, carnivorous feline quadruped.” It sets up the theme of night, along with which comes darkness and evil. The third and fourth lines ask the first of many repetitive and, in a sense, unanswerable questions: what kind of creator has the ability to make something with such “fearful symmetry” (4)? The second stanza moves on to ask the same question in a different format, inquiring where the Tyger came from: heaven or hell. Starting in line 9, the speaker uses powerful imagery to ask again what God could create the Tyger. The diction portrays the Tyger as evil, with a “twist[ed]” heart (10). Lines 13-16 make up the fourth stanza and compare the creator to a blacksmith. Lines 19 and 20 ask two questions that are different from the rest: “Did he smile his work to see?/Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” These lines ask of the Tyger if his maker was happy to see what a monstrous being he had created, and if it was the same maker that made the pure and innocent Lamb. In a sense, t... ... middle of paper ... ...nd lets the reader find the deeper meanings in the poem. The Tyger stands for darkness and evil, while the Lamb is exact opposite. The blacksmith in lines 13-16 symbolizes the creator. These representations affect the reader by making it not just a poem concerning animals and creation, but also about the debate of a benevolent God creating something evil. All of these poetic techniques work together to create imagery that shows the Tyger as malicious and evil, and the question of whether or not God could create such a monster is never completely answered. Through evaluating this poem the reader comes to understand that it is not truly about the Tyger, but about its maker. Even with so many literary devices used to enhance the reader’s understanding, the final question is still left with no clear response: did the same God who shaped the Tyger also form the Lamb?

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