The Tyger Flashcards
tyger, tyger, burning bright
caesura
creates brisk pace reflecting the tiger’s movement
‘burning bright’
alliteration
golden orange pattern of tiger’s coat colour of fire
fire can be deadly just like tiger
good because its beautiful
bad because its dangerous
forests of the ‘night’
mysterious imagery
darkness so can’t see clearly
forest - symbol of human subconscious and darker aspects of human nature
what ‘immortal’ hand or eye
tiger created by immortal god
burnt the fire of thine eyes?
rhetorical question
connotations to hell
implies creator might be satan not god
dare seize the ‘fire?’
symbolises fire of creation from which the tiger was created
conjures image of fire and furnaces of industrial revolution at the time which Blake thought was a blight on the beauty of the land
repetition of ‘dare’ - lines 5-8
the creator of the tiger is bold and brave/courageous to create such a fearsome creature
line 9
juxtaposes physical effort and creative imagination involved in creating tiger
caesura creates a pause emphasising strength and physical effort needed
effort and vision are needed to bring such a creation to life
what ‘dread’ hand?
whoever created the tiger must be an intimidating force
what the ‘hammer’?…
In what ‘furnace’
semantic field of black smithing
associated with Vulkan, roman god of metal working and fire
‘furnace’ could reference the industrial revolution with Blake associated with hellish dehumanisation
What dread ‘grasp’
dare its deadly terrors ‘clasp!’
‘grasp’ and ‘clasp’
rhyme
shows how strong and deadly the tiger is
exclamation mark emphasises his fear of the tiger and awe
when the stars ‘threw down’ their spears
personification
fearful surrender to it - in awe of its fearful power
reference/allusion to Milton’s “Paradise Lost” where angels rebel against god and eventually throw down their spears, including archangel Satan. They surrender to the power of god and wept in shame and humiliation
lines 19 + 20
rhetorical questions
speaker is incredulous that a god who could create a lamb could also want to create deadly tiger
reflects capacity for good and evil within human beings
why would a benevolent god create such a deadly creature
made the ‘lamb’ make thee
connotes to Jesus Christ, the lamb of god
symbol of innocence and sacrifice
reference to the gospel of John, uses a lot of religious imagery reflect his own beliefs
rifer represents the sin , the loss of innocence
the antithesis of the sacrificial ‘lamb’ of Christ who died for mankind’s sins
Tyger, Tyger
Repetition
puts emphasis on the tiger, its power and its boldness
line 24
subtle change from first stanza
from ‘could’ to ‘dare
emphasises the power and courage needed to create such a fearsome creature
dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
ending on rhetorical question
invites reader to consider how and why it was created
