TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > English > Blake - The Tyger
The Tyger
- Lots of questions, especially the ultimate one, "Did he who made the lamb make thee?" This is important, as it is comparing the two creatures and asking if the same God made these two opposites. Also asking if, "If a tiger is bad, how bad is the thing that made it?"
- Why would God create such an evil creature?
- French revolutionaries were also called "tigers". Blake was a big fan of the revolution, and so perhaps this poem is about the revolution??
- Burning imagery - hellish. This continues throughout the poem, intertwined with the industrial imagery. This could be symbolic of Blake's feelings towards this new world - that industry destroys nature (in fire and flame?) and is leading humanity into a new hell.
- "Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?" - like the first stanza, but different in the one word, "dare". Much more ominous and powerful.
- The question, "Did he who made the lamb make thee?" is especially important. Blake compares lions and lambs a lot, both realistically and symbolically. The lamb here has a capital letter too, maybe showing how it is a representation of Jesus, who is often associated with a lamb. Blake could also be showing how extremes are found in creation - the gentle lamb and the vicious tiger.
- Alliteration in the first line, "Tiger, tiger, burning bright"
- "In the forests of the night" - subversion of TEG again? Especially as it is night. Perhaps this shows, like the Garden of Love, how innocence is destroyed by experience.
- "When the stars threw down their spears" - what could this mean? It has definite war connotations, perhaps showing the power of the tiger, that even heaven kneels before it's savagery. That's what I think, anyway
Comments
These notes are aimed at A Level English Literature students at A2 level.
Originally written by Forgotmytea on TSR Forums.
