The Tyger (BY WILLIAM BLAKE)

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp,

Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears

And water'd 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?

This poem is praising the tiger. The writer said the tiger is very strong, and its eyes are very bright. He was confused this kind of eyes can on the world. Therefore, on the second stanza, he said “In what distant deeps and skies”. In this part, the writer think there’s no eyes like this even in the hell or the heaven. By the other side, the writer also said, “On what wings dare he aspire?” I think he wanted to said the tiger can get rid of any dilemma just like the god, Icarus. Also, in the third stanza, there is a word, “shoulder”. The shoulder can mean the whole body in this poem. And, also in the third stanza, “And when thy heart began to beat” It can mean when it was born on the world. In writer’s opinion, he think the tiger is brave, smart and intrepid. I think he was talking about someone, but I am not sure about that. Maybe there is a person like this tiger.

In this poem, the writer use rhythm in it. In the first stanza, the writer use “bright, night” and “eye, symmetry”; in the other stanza, the writer also use the rhythms. Then, in the last stanza, the writer rewrite the first stanza.

I like this poem, because the writer use lots of rhetorical device. And I think these rhetorical devices are very interesting. On the other hand, the writer included lots of fairy tales into the poem. These fairy tales are all the bad ending and the gods are very hard in the stories. I think these want to say even the tiger is very hard to live, but it still live very well in the world. I think this poem want to tell us we should do our best to live in the world.