Historical Analysis

William Blake’s late 18th century poem entitled “The Tyger” takes a unique
look into the human soul in comparison to a tiger. This poem was written for
Blake’s 1794 collection entitled Songs of Experience which contained a
collection of poetry with mirroring or opposite themes to his 1789 collection
entitled Songs of Innocence containing more light hearted poems. Blake had
written “The Tyger” to serve as a sequel or mirroring theme to his work from
Songs of Innocence entitled “The Lamb” and several themes are mimicked
and a number of lines even repeated in “The Tyger” from “The Lamb.” The
historical context found in the poems from both of these collections offers
insight on the everyday lives of London citizens, more specifically with “The
Tyger” Blake describes the two different kinds of attitudes people have
conversely with both poems. With the basis for the theme of “the Tyger” being
that which offers a different interpretation than “the Lamb” Blake wanted to
express his philosophy by gauging two different sides of the human nature.
(Damrosch, 172-3)
“The Tyger” was written to express Blake’s view on human’s natural ferocity
through comparison with a tiger in the jungle, an opposite depiction of the
innocence found in “the Lamb”. A deeper theme found in “the Tyger” is simply
taking that approach towards a situation in everyday life as opposed to taking
the approach found in “the Lamb.” Both poems were written to converse with
each other as their meaning is much less significant by themselves yet they
have a much deeper purpose when read in context with the other.(Bentley,
124-29) The reference that Blake makes in “the Tyger” to “the Lamb”
illustrates the relationship between the two works as he claims that the work
was his and that the same source that created the innocence of “the Lamb”
also created the ferocity found in “the Tyger” to further explain the conflicting
behaviors found in the human nature.(Damrosch, 197) The connections
between the two works are what ads significance to “the Tyger” and the
inspiration of the poem stemmed from Blake’s need to express his philosophy
through these collections.
The structure of the poem offers a descriptive context rather than a story
telling narrative found in other works in his collections that describe London
life during the late 18th century. Blake used several conflicting views in his
poetry to try to maintain a balance of good and evil in the human soul or a
connection between heaven and hell. To achieve this goal Blake believed that
the human soul needed to be understood on both lighter and darker fronts in
order to find the balance. It was this belief that lead to his collections and the
writing of “the Lamb” and “the Tyger.” (Reza, 57-60) The approach that Blake
took in both of these works was quite different than found in a number of the
other poems he had written in his two collections. Many writers of this time
period did not express their personal philosophies through the power of
literature as Blake did. The approach taken by Blake to write two collections of
poems conversely differentiating in content and meaning illustrated the natural
split in human behavior that other writer of the time period simply did not think
to explain. (Reza 85-88)
“The Tyger” is well known as one of if not perhaps William Blake’s most
famous poem and has led to several different interpretations by critics and
other poets. Blake living in London at the time of writing this poem led him to
much human interaction displaying human behavior from both sides of this
spectrum on numerous day to day occasions. Given this advantage for his
inspiration, Blake used this as a chance to illustrate his personal philosophy of
the human necessity to find a middle ground between their lamb and their
tiger to achieve true happiness and personal acceptance.(Bentley 150-52)
The Tyger by William Blake: Summary and
Critical Analysis
The Tyger by William Blake is taken from The Songs of Experience. The tiger itself is a symbol for
the fierce forces in the soul that are necessary to break the bonds of experience. The tiger also
stands for a divine spirit that will not be subdued by restrictions, but will arise against established
rules and conventions.
 William Blake (1757-1827)
The Tyger is a highly symbolic poem based on Blake’s personal philosophy of spiritual
and intellectual revolution by individuals. The speaker in the poem is puzzled at the
sight of a tiger in the night, and he asks it a series of questions about its fierce
appearance and about the creator who made it. But the context and everything in it
must be interpreted according to Blake’s philosophy of symbolic myths about human
life, society and spiritual revolution.

It is also a romantic poem to some extent written by the pre-romantic William Blake.
The ‘Tyger’ is a symbolic tiger which represents the fierce force in the human soul. It is
created in the fire of imagination by the god who has a supreme imagination, spirituality
and ideals. The anvil, chain, hammer, furnace and fire are parts of the imaginative
artist’s powerful means of creation. The imaginative artist is synonymous with the
creator. The man with a revolutionary spirit can use such powers to fight against the
evils of experience.

So, the god creating the tiger can be interpreted as any of these creative agents which
inspire common men to free their minds, hearts and souls from the chains of social
falsities- the king, the priest, the landlord and their systems that eat up the individual’s
potentials. The creator has strong shoulders (energy) as well as art (skills) and dread
feet and hand. His courage is supreme, too. His creation is fierce, almost daunting
himself. So must be man’s spirit and imagination, or the poet’s. The forest is the symbol
of corrupted social conventions and that tries to suppress the good human potentials. In
the poem night stands for ignorance, out of which the forest of false social institutions is
made.
Similarly, the context of a person asking questions and getting puzzles at the tiger
symbolically represents the final beginning of the realization and appreciation of the
forces of his own soul. This individual will then begin his personal spiritual revolution.
The poem is taken from the “Songs of Experience” which means the adult world of
corruption, immorality and suffering. Passing through the first phase of “Innocence” or
the pure child’s-like world or mentality in “Songs of Innocence”, and then having
experienced the opposite world of experience, the speaker in this poem has begun to
recognize the suppressed power of his soul and realize its necessity. He is himself
puzzled at its fearful faces, and begins to realize that he had gotten, not only the lamb-
like humility, but also the tiger-like energy for fighting back against the domination of
the evil society. The qualities of the original and pure man must be freed by using this
tiger- like force of the soul. Blake’s imaginative man or creative artist is a rebellious
being. It also represents the double potentials in any human being.

Thematically, the poem is intended to make us to witness the persona realizing the
potentials of his soul and to realize it ourselves. We have not only the lamb (Christ) like
humility but also the tiger like quality for spiritual revolution and freedom from falsities.
The unusual spelling in “Tyger” is also a hint of the special meaning and emphasis as
the unusual stresses. The use of the first stanza as a refrain repeating it with the
difference of one word (dare) at the end is also for special emphasis on its symbolism.
Readers who have learnt some of the private symbols of Blake can only understand this
poem. But it is not too difficult after we get at the basic symbols.