Edexcel IGCSE Poetry Anthology Texts - The Tyger

Structure of Poem

- 6 quatrains (1st and 6th stanza basically the same except word change from Could to Dare)

- Rhyming couplets (AABB) - contrast between such a basic, almost nursery like rhyme and the complexity of the theme being discussed in the poem

- Rhythm

- Most lines are 7 syllables except the last line of each stanza which is 8 syllables (trochaic tetrameter used on the last lines of the stanza) - stresses the points discussed in that stanza further - more powerful

General Themes of the Poem - what is this poem about?

- Despite being called The Tyger, the poem does not focus on this animal but rather what sort of God is capable of creating this animal, which is notoriously dangerous and ferocious

- William Blake is intrigued by the nature of God. You can notice this by the lists of many rhetorical questions in the poem, and yet his questions will never be answered as the final stanza reinforces that God is beyond human comprehension

- Many references to not only the divine in terms of Christian theology but Greek Mythology too.

" Tyger, Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night: " [stanza one]

- Alliteration + plosives, passion

- This tiger is obviously very important to Blake, hence it being capitalised

- Fiery image connotes elements of danger, passion, vivacity yet also beauty

- 'in the forests of the night', very dreamlike, imaginative, mysterious

" What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry? " [stanza one]

- Allusion to the divine (immortal), Blake's first announcement to him questioning the nature of God

- Modal verb could, uncertainty

- Juxtaposition of fearful symmetry: the tiger is a beautiful creature, but also dangerous, fierce, horrifying

- The start of the many rhetorical questions that will ensue after this...

" In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes? " [stanza two]

- Deeps = hell: the stripes of a tiger somewhat look like flames, skies = heaven - where God resides

- Again, fiery imagery - Link to myth of Prometheus? (He stole fire from the Olympian Gods and gave it to humanity) - God gifted mankind with this animal and is aware of the danger, but also the utility of this gift

" On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire? " [stanza two]

- Reference to Icarus? (Gifted wings built by Daedalus, his father, disobeys his commands and flies too close to the sun and dies lol), God is rebellious, daring?

- Despite this, God is the creator, and has a sense of strength and responsibility - perhaps the reoccuring fiery images emphasise His creative passion?

" 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? [stanza three]

- God is able to manipulate (even corrupt) everything - his creations can evoke such strong feelings for the viewers of this art (in this case, the tiger)

- Refers to the beginning of mankind and life, when thy heart began to beat, - plosives, creative passion

- Repitition of dread - Perhaps God fears what he created - reference to Frankenstein - God has created a monster

" What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain? [stanza four]

- Words here relate to the industrial revolution - within this stanza he refers to the strength of the revolution. It is interesting how Blake goes from narrating about God's creation of mankind, and then to mankind 'creating' in the revolution, almost in God's image.

- They could also link to the Greek God Hephaestus - God of blacksmiths, forgery, fire, ironmongering

- The rhyming in this stanza mimics the banging of a blacksmith's tools

" What the anvil? what dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp! " [stanza four]

- Anvil, again, linking with the other words to do with industrial revolution

- Overpowering creative passion represented by the enjambement which hardly occurs throughout this poem (usually some sort of punctuation mark at the end of each line

- Alliteration + exclaimation - emphasise horror

" When the stars threw down their spears

And water'd heaven with their tears: [stanza five]

- Personification

- Greater metaphor for a fallen angel

- Was everyone else pleased with God's work, pleased with the creation of the tiger?

" Did he smile is work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee? " [stanza five]

- Contrast between evil and innocence - the lamb is gentle, pure, and the tiger is destructive - can suggest the dualtiy of the Christian God - punitive God in Old Testament, forgiving God in New Testament

- Was God himself proud of creating the tiger, or did he regret it?

- The Lamb may be a reference to Jesus (Lamb of God)

" Tyger, Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night:

What immortal hand or eye,

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? " [stanza six]

- Repitition of 1st stanza - reinforces Blake's ideas/His questions will never be answered because in the end God is beyond human comprehension

- Significance of the word change from the uncertain modal verb could to the much more assertive dare

- But in the end, why risk creating so beautiful and destructive?