The Tyger Diction

The imagery used in this verse appeals to the sense sight. This helps the reader visualise what the writer is taking about. It also allows the reader to relate and connect more to the poem.

“Without contraries, there is no progression.” These words of William Blake encompass his philosophy as a writer. In his work Songs of Experience, William Blake depicts human nature as fallen. Specifically, in “London” he explores the dangerous conditions of England at a time when industrialization, prostitution, poverty and child labor were prevalent. Over the course of “London,” Blake’s diction evolves from ambiguous to symbolic, ultimately illuminating the theme that the mindset of man is what oppresses him, not the social institutions in place, and in order to free himself man must break his bond with death.

The author uses imagery in the poem to enable the reader to see what the speaker sees. For example, in lines 4-11 the speaker describes to us the

The voice in this poem is one of pure happiness and innocence. In this state of joy, the infant is unaware of the world in which he lives and that awaits him. In these opening lines, we see Blake revealing the everyday modeling and structure that categorizes the world, but is absent in the simplicity and purity of childhood. The child has no name because joy needs no other name. Labeling and classification are products of organization and arrangement that the world uses to assimilate innocence into experience. Blake demonstrates that it is through this transition, that the virtue of child’s play is destroyed. Blake utilizes specific emotions such as “happy,” “joy,” “sweet,” “pretty,” “sing,” and “smile” to describe this uncorrupted state of being. There is no danger, darkness, or struggle for the infant. Instead, he exists in a care free state, free of guilt, temptation, and darkness. The birth of a child is celebrated by Blake and it stirs in us powerful emotions of peace, love, and hope.

The importance of rhyme is found through evaluating the effect that it has on the reader. All of the rhyme in “The Tyger” is masculine rhyme. Ferociousness is more associated with masculinity than femininity, and this detail helps the speaker to create a more evil being in the reader’s mind. The rhyme scheme also ties the poem together and gives each stanza a common pattern. Each stanza is made up of two couplets, which keeps a steady rhythm when reading the poem and reminds the reader of the Tyger’s heartbeat and the cadence of his motion.

The first line in the poem says, “Tyger Tyger, burning bright.” By Blake repeating the word Tyger twice, it feels to the reader as if we are speaking directly to the tiger. The

Where “The Lamb” used images of soft, white wool, and tender voices, “The Tyger” mirrors those ideologies with fire, metal, and dread to invoke experience. Archetypes of power and experience, which are the opposite of innocence, make up the meanings behind this poem. Blake goes as far as to reference the other poem in the line “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” (Blake) A line that in a mordant tone states that such an evil as the tiger could not have been made by the same being who made something as pure as the Lamb. Here, we

'The Tyger' asks who could have made the tyger. More exactly, it is asking who could have made such an evil being as the tyger. It begins with the question the poem is based on What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?, and throughout the poem, the question is asked in different forms . And what shoulder, and what art, could twist the sinews of thy heart?.

Blake uses traditional symbols of angels and devils, animal imagery, and especially images of fire and flame to: 1) set up a dual world, a confrontation of opposites or "contraries" which illustrate how the rules of Reason and Religion repress and pervert the basic creative energy of humanity, 2) argues for apocalyptic transformation of the self "through the radical regeneration of each person's own power to imagine" (Johnson/Grant, xxiv), and 3) reconstructs Man in a new image, a fully realized Man who is both rational and imaginative, partaking of his divinity through creativity. The form of the poem consists of "The Argument," expositions on his concepts of the "contraries" and of "expanded perception" which are both interspersed with "Memorable Fancies" that explicate and enlarge on his expositions, and concludes with "A Song of Liberty," a prophecy of a future heaven on earth.

The archetype of this poem focuses on how aggressive and vicious the tiger is. It also can be seen as a more physical comparison such as, “Tyger Tyger, burning bright,” (line 1, page 749). Blake says the tiger is burning bright, but does not mean this literally, for he is comparing the color of the tiger to the color of fire. Blake does insult God for creating the creature because all it does is kill and destroy. The tiger also has more power. In which, the Songs of Experience poems are related to those that are leaders, fighters, and that are more outspoken; therefore, The Tyger fits more perfectly with that collection of

Rhyme is found all throughout the poem and has a huge effect on the reader. Blake used rhyme and detail to create some more wicked thoughts of the Tyger in the readers mind. Each stanza is made up of two couplets. Because these couplets keep a steady going rhyme, we

The speaker furthermore conveys the idea that nature is a grandeur that should be recognized by including the element of imagery. The poet utilizes imagery as a technique to appeal to reader’s sense of sight . It is “the darkest evening of the year” (line 8) and a traveller and his horse stop “between the woods and frozen lake” (line 7). By writing with details such as these, readers are capable of effortlessly envisioning the peaceful scenery that lies before the speaker. The persona then draws on reader’s sense of sound. “The only other sound’s the sweep / Of easy wind and downy flake.” The illustration allows readers to not only see,

William Blake is one of England’s most famous literary figures. He is remembered and admired for his skill as a painter, engraver, and poet. He was born on Nov. 28, 1757 to a poor Hosier’s family living in or around London. Being of a poor family, Blake received little in the way of comfort or education while growing up. Amazingly, he did not attend school for very long and dropped out shortly after learning to read and write so that he could work in his father’s shop. The life of a hosier however was not the right path for Blake as he exhibited early on a skill for reading and drawing. Blake’s skill for reading can be seen in his understanding for and use of works such as the Bible and Greek classic literature.

The works of William Blake cannot be entirely discussed, so my project particularly focuses on 'Songs of Innocence and Experience'.

is a representation of the relationship between creator and creature. This poem may be one of his more popular poems from The Songs of Experience. In the poem, Blake writes about how the Tyger was created by the same immortal being who created the sheep. In this case, Blake is referring to God creating both good and evil in the world. Blake depicts this by this excerpt from the poem, ?the contrast between fire and night ? [which] corresponds to the contrast of yellow and black stripes ringing the Tyger itself [sic].?8 John E. Grant comments that William Blake?s poem is ? ? horrifying, as well as awesome, to think of an animate thing being hammered into shape in the smith.?9 Through this statement, Grant is referring to the creation of Tyger and the rest of humanity by God. The hammer merely being an instrument of creation.10 It is strange how much Blake speaks of God and creation as a whole, as he was not religious or a believer in one God, creator of the