Unit–8 William Blake : “The Tyger”

UNIT 8: WILLIAM BLAKE: “THE TYGER”

UNIT STRUCTURE
8.1 Learning Objectives
8.2 Introduction
8.3 The Poet
8.3.1 His Life
8.3.2 His Works
8.4 The Text of the Poem
8.4.1 Context of the Poem
8.4.2 Explanation of the Poem
8.5 Poetic Style
8.6 Let us Sum up
8.7 Further Reading
8.8 Answers to Check Your Progress (Hints Only)
8.9 Model Questions

8.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 discuss the life and works of William Blake, the visionary poet
 analyse the poem in its proper context
 describe the poetic techniques, style and language used in the
composition of the poem
 appreciate the poem in its totality

8.2 INTRODUCTION

This unit introduces one of the greatest poets of the Romantic

Age, known also as the visionary poet, William Blake. Have you read any of
his poems? The unit contains the prescribed poem called “The Tyger”
written by Blake. You must have heard about the French Revolution
which took place in France in the year 1789. The Romantic Age in

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William Blake : “The Tyger” Unit–8

England is said to have begun as a reaction of poets’ to this historical

revolution. Our point of concern would be to examine how Blake’s
writings and especially the poem “The Tyger” is influenced by this
Zeal: great energy or
revolutionary zeal. This poem was part of a collection of poems titled
enthusiasm for a cause
Songs of Experience which was in turn published in a combined
or aim
edition with another set of poems titled Songs of Innocence. This
publication came out in the year 1794 as Songs of Innocence and of
Experience : Showing Two Contrary States of the Human Soul.
We will discuss this poem in the light of the general ideas
which permeate through the entire volume of poems. They would be
helpful guides in our explanation of the poem, as well as, comprehending
the same in its proper context. But before that, we will take a brief look
at the poet’s life and works after which, we will discuss his poetic
techniques along with the poetic form employed by him in the prescribed
poem.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q1. When did the French Revolution take place ?
Q2. How is the Romantic age considered to have
begun?
Q3. Name the collection of poems in which the poem “Tyger” was
included in?

8.3 WILLIAM BLAKE: THE POET

William Blake began writing from the initial stages of the

Romantic Movement. His poems were greatly influenced by the political
happenings around him. Most of his poems are very simple to read but
there are deeper meanings hidden beneath the apparent simplicity. But
before discussing his poem, we will cast a brief glance on his life and
then at his works.

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Unit–8 William Blake : “The Tyger”

8.3.1 His Life

William Blake was born in London on 28th November 1757.

Apprentice(d) : one His father was a London hosier. He was educated at home. He widely
who works for an expert
read the Bible and the English poets and also acquired a little
to learn the basics of a
knowledge of French, Italian, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He had
trade.
from childhood, a strong visually imaginative mind who could
vividly recreate in his mind whatever he saw around him. When
he turned 14, his father apprenticed him to the engraver
James Basire. At the age of 21, he entered the Royal Academy.
In 1782, Blake married Catherine Boucher. He stayed in
London almost throughout his life except for three years in
Sussex. Of all the other Romantic poets, only John Keats was
a Londoner. However, unlike Keats, Blake had to a certain extent
adjusted himself with the city-life in London. In fact, London provided
him with sufficient poetic material to populate his ‘world of
Experience’ as represented in his poems. His frequent walks to
the countryside provided him with the ‘world of innocence’
which he contrasted with that of ‘experience’. Also, his profession
as an artisan brought him in close touch with the working-class
and enabled him to understand their problems in a better light.
With the help of his wife, Blake designed, engraved and
produced his own works. In his lifetime, his books circulated
among a small circle of readers. His fellow poets and writers
never got to know him properly through his writings. Also,
poverty remained a constant factor in his life. However, it would not
be right to consider him as an isolated figure. His Songs of
Innocence and Experience explore the contradictory aspects of
human nature and as such, it is directly related to the political
events of his time. He also took a deep interest in legends and
mythologies which lay the foundation for the later Romantic
poets in re-discovering the past to enable a proper understanding
of the present. It was in the hands of the later generations of

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William Blake : “The Tyger” Unit–8

poets that Blake gained his rightful place in the tradition of

British poetry in general. He passed away on 12th August 1827 in
London.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q4. How was Blake in his childhood?
Q5. To what extent did his stay in
London as well as his profession as an
artisan help him?

8.3.2 His Works

In the year 1783, two of Blake’s friends printed his first

book Poetical Sketches, a collection of poems which included
“To the Muses” and “My Silks and Fine Array”. In 1789, he
published the first of his engraved or illuminated books, Songs
of Innocence. In 1794, he added Songs of Experience to constitute
a combined volume of poetry titled Songs of Innocence and of
Experience : Showing Two Contrary States of the Human Soul.
Blake had his own notion of Christianity. For him, Jesus Christ,
the Son of God was the symbol of goodness and mercy
whereas God the Father symbolised the tyrannical authority.
The Church according to Blake, represented the absolute
authority of God the Father. Blake was skeptical about his
human authority and expressed his radical dislike of it in his
two sets of prose aphorisms called There is No Natural
Religion and the third called All Religions are One (all published
possibly, in 1788), as well as The French Revolution : A Poem in
Seven Books (c. 1791). His most important prose work however,
was The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, which was engraved in
1790.
In the following years, Blake did some of his most
famous engravings which included those for ‘The Book of Job’.
At this time, he had also started working on his ‘prophetic books.’
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Unit–8 William Blake : “The Tyger”

They were in the form of visionary poems through which Blake

put forward his personal mythology and philosophy. In 1793, he
published The Visions of the Daughters of Albion which
introduced Urizen and Orc, the two prominent figures of his
personal mythology. While Urizen symbolised morality and
restriction, Orc stood for the arch-rebel. The drama of opposition
between them is represented in America : A Prophecy (1793),
Europe and The Book of Urizen (1794), The Book of Ahania,
The Book of Los and The Song of Los (1795). In the book The
Four Zoas : The Torments of Love and Jealousy in the Death
and Judgement of Albion the Ancient Man (1797), he introduces
the figure of Jesus as Redeemer following the condemnation of
Urizen’s oppressive moral code and the triumph of Orc and
liberty.
Other important works of Blake are Milton : A Poem in
Two Books, To Justify the Ways of God to Men (1803-8) and
Jerusalem : The Emanation of the Giant Albion (1804-20). The
latter delineates the struggle of Albion (Man) who is caught
between the opposing forces of imagination and of natural
religion. Challenging Byron’s Cain, he wrote The Ghost of Abel
(1822), a minute poetic drama of 70 lines. Two of his notable
but lesser known poems are Auguries of Innocence (c.1802)
and The Everlasting Gospel (C.1810).

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q6. What was Blake’s notion of
Christianity?
Q7. Name the two prominent figures of
his personal mythology. What do they symbolise or represent?

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William Blake : “The Tyger” Unit–8

8.4 THE TEXT OF THE POEM

The Tyger
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright Thy: your.
Symmetry: the quality
In the forests of the night,
of being similar or equal.
What immortal hand or eye
Thine: yours.
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? Aspire: have an
ambitious plan or a lofty
In what distant deeps or skies goal.
Sinews: a tissue
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
connecting a muscle
On what wings dare he aspire? with its bony
What the hand dare seize the fire? attachment.
Furnace: an enclosed
chamber in which heat
And what shoulder, and what art,
is produced to heat, melt
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
or refine ores.
And when thy heart began to beat, Anvil: a heavy block of
What dread hand? And what dread feet? iron or steel on which
hot metals are
hammered to take a
What the hammer? What the chain?
particular shape
In what furnace was thy brain? Thee : you.
What the anvil? What dread grasp?
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,

And watered 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?

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Unit–8 William Blake : “The Tyger”

8.4.1 Context of the Poem

The poem “The Tyger” appears in the Songs of Experience.

It is closely related to a poem titled “The Lamb” from the
Songs of Innocence. The lamb and the tiger could be understood
as representing two aspects of Christ. As already mentioned,
Blake gives a human/humane dimension to Jesus and therefore,
when he is compared to a lamb or a tiger, it means that he
has acquired those qualities which characterise them. He can
be as meek as a lamb and also equally ferocious and wrathful
like a tiger. Taking these two images of Christ in mind, we will
now try to provide an explanation to the poem which would
help us comprehend their applicability to Blake’s entire poetic
argument.

8.4.2 Explanation of the Poem

The poet begins the poem with two exclamatory

addresses to the tiger whose contrasting stripes of black and
yellow are glowing in brightness against the dark background of
the forests of the night. Notice the fact that it is not night-time. The
forest is not dark because it is night time but because darkness
here is the ruling principle. The entire poem is a series of questions.
The poet expresses wonder at the awful beauty of the creature
and asks what “immortal hand or eye” could have framed it.
Note the two words “immortal” and “fearful”. They signify the fact
that the tiger is a symbol of both terror and divinity.
In the next stanza, the poet enquires about the specific
place wherefrom the tiger got the fire in its eyes whether it was
from the region beneath the earth’s surface or from the heaven
above. One can imagine the tiger being forged out from the
smith’s fire. The poet is inquisitive of its maker too as he

Smith: a blacksmith
further asks who can dare to aspire to such a height of

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magnificent creation and whose hand can mould its perfect

form out of the eternally burning fire. Who else except God could
dare to do such a thing? When Blake refers to the “deeps”, he
might have meant the volcanoes where the workshop of Vulcan
was located. Vulcan is the divine smith of the Roman mythology
from whose name the word ‘volcano’ is derived. Again when
Blake refers to the ‘wings’, he could have had Daedalus in
mind. Daedalus was a figure from Greek mythology who made
wings of wax to fly beyond the unknown. Finally, the act of
seizing the fire has possible reference to Prometheus who had
stolen fire from God for the sake of mankind. By indirectly
referring to all these mythical and legendary figures who had
the creative potential and who sought to do something
extraordinary, Blake perhaps wished to present the tiger as the
product of revolutionary zeal.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q8. Explain the implications of the
two words ‘immortal’ and ‘fearful’ in
relation to the image of the tiger.
Q9. What does Blake achieve by his indirect reference to
the mythical and legendary figures?

As already mentioned, the tiger is the symbolic

manifestation of both terror and beauty. The terror becomes
vivid in the third and the fourth stanza as the poet dwells
further around the bodily details. It brings out the tiger’s
dreadfulness. It is shown to be the work of a hand which is
twisting and forging. The use of the words like ‘hammer’, ‘chain’,
‘furnace’ and ‘anvil’ reinforces the imagery of the smith at work
on his dreadful creation. However, it also re-emphasises the
terrific symmetry invoked at the beginning as the smith gradually
moulds the individual body-parts of the tiger. The words like
‘grasp’ and ‘clasp’ suggest the immensity of control of the
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Unit–8 William Blake : “The Tyger”

immortal creator over his creation. Do you think he can control

the ferocity of the tiger after it has been fully created?
The fifth stanza takes a leap forward and moves from
Ferocity: the nature of
the actual process of creation to its consequences. The tiger is
being wild or fiercae.
a product of revolution. The ‘stars’ and ‘heaven’ represented the
restrictive authority of God the Father. Or it may also indicate
political repression exercised by the kings, nobles and the
Church during the time when Blake was writing. The image of
the stars throwing down their spears can be interpreted as an
act of relinquishing authority and the triumph of political
liberty. The two questions at the end of the stanza again
Relinquishing: turning
away from something; reinforces the identity of the maker. Is the creator happy to see
giving it up. his creation fulfilling the purpose for which it was conceived?
One could provide a political answer to this question. If the tiger
is the product of the revolutionary zeal which in turn lies at the
heart of the masses, then the victory of the tiger over the
‘forests of the night’ symbolises the victory of the masses
against political tyranny. The second question however brings
the poem back to its Christian origin. At this point, remember
the poem “The Lamb” mentioned at the beginning and Christ’s
embodying the figure of the lamb and the tiger. If the figure of
the lamb is necessary to spread the message of gentleness
and mercy, then the dreadful image of the tiger is equally
necessary to fight against the evil power of darkness.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q10. What does the image of the
stars throwing down their spears
symbolise ?
Q11. Try to explain the connection between the figure of
the lamb and the tiger. What does it say about Christ?

The last stanza re-emphasises the question posed at

the beginning of the poem, but in a different manner. The word
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William Blake : “The Tyger” Unit–8

‘dare’ in the last line replaces ‘could’ of the first stanza. What
it does is to stress on the element of wonder and bewilderment
initially felt by the poet. The image of the tiger is complete and
Bewilderment: confu-
it has supposedly fulfilled its purpose. But the poet is still filled
sion resulting from fail-
with wonder. Could a spectacle like the one we have just
ure to comprehend
witnessed be really conceived? Who could dare to do so? The something.
answer is already provided but the poet but the poet still questions
if such a revolution could really take place. Will Christ actually
appear in the form of a tiger to restore the lost order of the
contemporary times? This final stanza places the poem in the
contemporary context of French Revolution and its
consequences.

ACTIVITY
Try reading the poem called “The Second
Coming” by W.B. Yeats. This poem deals
with the image of Christ as a rough beast.

8.5 POETIC STYLE

Personification is the key poetic technique which

permeates the whole poem. It is a manner of representing an
abstract quality or idea as a person or a creature. The image
of the tiger represents one aspect of Christ as well the product
of a revolution. Throughout the poem, the tiger embodies one
Embodiment: giving a
meaning or the other. The suggestion of the ‘immortal’ creator
concrete or personified
through body parts such as ‘hand or eye’, ‘wings’ and ‘shoulder’
form to an abstract
serve as helpful pointers towards their possible association with
one or the other figures from the legends and the mythologies.
Also, the embodiment of Christ in the figures of the lamb and
the tiger invoke Christian associations which in turn, help us to
understand the poem through Blake’s peculiar ideas about
Christianity. Blake’s use of the symbols of the stars throwing

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Unit–8 William Blake : “The Tyger”

down their spears and of heaven has for him, contemporary

historical relevance. Similar images are used in “The French
Revolution” to refer to the king and his assemblies, and in
Repentance: a feeling
‘America’ to the thrones of the kings. They symbolise the defeat
of remorse for one’s
of the tyrants and their weeping either because of repentance
past conduct.
or of unrepentant anguish.
The poems in the Songs of Innocence and Experience
are known for their apparent simplicity. The poet takes up
simple subjects and treats them with tremendous economy of
language. It is to be noted that Blake used to engrave his
poems. His use of words was therefore extremely precise and
meticulous. Not a single word or phrase is superfluous. Every
word or phrase is therefore, loaded with meaning and it makes
their apparent simplicity very deceptive. In the present poem, the
Allusion : passing ref-
word ‘tiger’ has more than one meaning. Also, the presence of
erence or indirectly
mentioning. the words like ‘wings’, ‘fire’ etc. are replete with mythological
Superfluous : more allusions. The overwhelming presence of direct questions sustain
than is needed or the pace of the poem thus keeping alive the poet’s sense of
required
wonder and bewilderment.
Meticulous : marked by
extreme care in the
treatment of details.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
Q11. Note down the different
meanings which emerge out of the
word ‘tyger’ in the context of the poem.
Q12. Choose the correct option :
Blake’s use of words in the poem is ______________
(economical/ not economical).

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William Blake : “The Tyger” Unit–8

8.6 LET US SUM UP

After going through this unit, we have developed a fair

understanding of the poem. We have discussed the life and works of
William Blake and learnt how he tried to portray life and its transition
from the state of innocence to experience. We also have been familiarised
with his views on Christianity. The poem as we have seen, can be
interpreted in Christian terms and also in accordance with the
contemporary revolutionary zeal .
The tiger may embody the wrathful and vengeful aspect of Christ
or it may also be the symbol of energy and regeneration, born out of
the revolution. While discussing the poetic techniques, we realised the
presence of deeper meanings within the apparent simplicity of the
words in the poem. Blake’s use of words is economical, but he
infuses them with meanings which move beyond our general or literal
interpretation.

8.7 FURTHER READING

1) Bhattacharji, Shobhana (ed.) (2002) The Romantics. Doaba

Publications.
2) Bottrall, Margaret (ed.) (1970) A Casebook, William Blake Songs of
Innocence and Experience. Casebook Series Macmillan Student
Edition.
3) Ousby Ian, Cambridge Paperback Guide to Literature in English.
Cambridge University Press.

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Unit–8 William Blake : “The Tyger”

8.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS

Ans to Q No 1. The French Revolution which took place in France in

the year 1789
Ans to Q No 2. The Romantic Age in England is said to have begun as
a reaction of poets’ to this historical revolution.
Ans to Q No 3. Collection of poems titled Songs of Experience…
published in the year 1794 as Songs of Innocence and of
Experience : Showing Two Contrary States of the Human Soul.
Ans to Q No 4. William Blake was born in London on 28th November 1757.
His father was a London hosier. He was educated at home. He widely
read the Bible and the English poets and also acquired a little
knowledge of French, Italian, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He had
from childhood, a strong visually imaginative mind who could
vividly recreate in his mind whatever he saw around him. When
he turned 14, his father apprenticed him to the engraver James
Basire. At the age of 21, he entered the Royal Academy.
In 1782, Blake married Catherine Boucher. He stayed in
London almost throughout his life except for three years in
Sussex. Of all the other Romantic poets, only John Keats was
a Londoner. However, unlike Keats, Blake had to a certain extent
adjusted himself with the city-life in London. In fact, London provided
him with sufficient poetic material to populate his ‘world of
Experience’ as represented in his poems. His frequent walks to
the countryside provided him with the ‘world of innocence’
which he contrasted with that of ‘experience’. Also, his profession
as an artisan brought him in close touch with the working-class
and enabled him to understand their problems in a better light.
With the help of his wife, Blake designed, engraved and
produced his own works. In his lifetime, his books circulated
among a small circle of readers. His fellow poets and writers
never got to know him properly through his writings. Also, poverty
118 English Poetry from Medieval to Modern (Block 1)
William Blake : “The Tyger” Unit–8

remained a constant factor in his life. However, it would not be

right to consider him as an isolated figure. His Songs of
Innocence and Experience explore the contradictory aspects of
human nature and as such, it is directly related to the political
events of his time. He also took a deep interest in legends and
mythologies which lay the foundation for the later Romantic
poets in re-discovering the past to enable a proper understanding
of the present. It was in the hands of the later generations of
poets that Blake gained his rightful place in the tradition of
British poetry in general. He passed away on 12th August 1827 in
London.
Ans to Q No 5. London provided him with sufficient poetic material to
populate his ‘world of Experience’ as represented in his poems.
His frequent walks to the countryside provided him with the
‘world of innocence’ which he contrasted with that of experience.
Also, his profession as an artisan brought him in close touch
with the working-class.
Ans to Q No 6. Blake had own notion of Christianity for him, Jesus Christ
was the symbol of goodness and mercy whereas God the
Father symbolised the tyrannical authority. The Church to him
represented the absolute authority of God the Father…Blake
skeptical about his human authority and expressed his radical
aphorisms There is No Natural Religion and the third called All
Religions are One (all published possibly, in 1788), as well as
The French Revolution : A Poem in Seven Books (c. 1791). His
most important prose work however, was The Marriage of
Heaven and Hell which was engraved in 1790.
Ans to Q No 7. In 1793, he published The Visions of the Daughters of
Albion which introduced the two prominent figures of his personal
mythology. The two prominent figures of his personal mythology
Urizen and Orc, where the former symbolised morality and
restriction, Orc stood for the arch rebel.

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Unit–8 William Blake : “The Tyger”

Ans to Q No 8. The poet expresses wonder at the awful beauty of the

creature and asks what “immortal hand or eye” could have
framed it. Note the two words “immortal” and “fearful”. They signify
the fact that the tiger is a symbol of both terror and divinity.

8.9 MODEL QUESTIONS

Q1: Analyse the role of William Blake as a Christian poet with a

revolutionary bent of mind.
Q2: Do you think the poet is hopeful of a revolution, that could restore
the lost order in the society? Examine the possibility by considering
the last two stanzas of the poem.
Q3: Explain with reference to the context :
a) “What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”
b) “In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?”
c) “On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?”
d) “When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,”
e) “Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”
f) “What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?”
**** ****

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