The Tyger

1. The Tyger • Tyger! Tyger! burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eyeCould frame1 thy fearful symmetry2? • In what distant deeps3 or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?On what wings dare he4 aspires5?What the hand dare seize the fire? • And what shoulder6 and what art7,Could twist the sinews of thy heart8?And when thy heart began to beat,What dread9 hand? and what dread feet? • 1. frame: construct by putting parts together2. fearful symmetry: Different parts of the body of the tiger are so well proportioned in shape that the tiger arouses fear. • 3. deeps: seas4. he: the creator of the tiger5. aspires: flies upwards • 6. shoulder: here it refers to the strength of the creator of the tiger.7. art: skill8. twist the sinews of thy heart: bend the tendons of your heart9. dread: dreadful, terrible. In this line the poet indicates that what powerful hands and feet can control the tiger when it is created.

2. The Tyger • What the hammer? what the chain?In what furnace was thy brain?What the anvil? what dread grasps10Dare its deadly terrors clasp?When the stars threw down their spears,And water'd heaven with their tears11,Did he smile his work to see?Did he who made the Lamb make thee?Tyger! Tyger! burning brightIn the forests of the night,What immortal hand or eye,Dare frame thy fearful symmetry • 10. grasp: arms • 11. When the stars threw down their spears/ And water'd heaven with their tears: The line can be interpreted in different ways. It may refer to the fact that in the process of making the tiger, the blacksmith waved the hammer on the red-hot iron and the light shot out in all directions like the angels' tears. The stars may also refer to the French aristocrats who, defeated by the people, laid down their spears(weapons), and cried bitterly for their loss of power. spears: light from stars or the red-hot iron. stars: stars or Angels from heaven.

3. The Tygerthe analysis of the poem • In Songs of Innocence, Blake had included the poem called “The Lamb,” which reminded us that the little woolly creature, tender, meek, and mild, who “became a little child,” was created by God. In its companion poem “The Tyger,” we are reminded that this fearful beast was also made by God. In Songs of Innocence, the very fact of creation delights the speaker; in Songs of Experience the speaker is compelled to explore the deeper mystery of creation and the extraordinary complexity of life. • Clearly in the first stanza, the tiger has become a symbol of all that is most terrifying. The terror that the poet is talking about, however, does not exist in isolation from other qualities, here, notably brightness and beauty of form. In reading a poem, of course, the skillful reader does not turn from the symbol to what is symbolized. He continues to look at and to relish the symbol in itself. We admire the effectiveness of Blake's description of a tiger “burning bright,” all the more startling because of the chosen setting, “the forests of the night.” The reader also notices the structure of the poem. This poem significantly begins with a question. It heightens our curiosity and subtly introduces the theme of mystery. • The second stanza parallels the first and continues to work with similar images. Although in a sense the question of the first stanza is asked anew, there is progression. The first stanza suggests that the creator of anything so terrifying as the tiger must be a creator whose power goes beyond our human understanding. In this second stanza he emphasizes the distance that separates this creator from ourselves. The questions convey a feeling of awe. The tiger with his tawny coat and flashing eyes is like fire in the jungle. But what must be the eyes of the creator? The reference to the creator's wings and to his working, like Vulcan or any of the gods of pagan mythology, should not, needless to say, suggest that Blake subscribed to a creation-myth. It is simply a vivid way of making us realize the immensity of the creative act.

4. 老虎！老虎！暗夜般的丛林之中， 明亮有如火光闪耀； 怎样的圣手、天眼， 成就你可怕、匀称的仪表？ 在怎样的深渊与空际， 你的双目如烈火燃烧？ 凭怎样的翅膀你敢于飞腾， 怎样的神手敢于把这烈火抓牢？ 怎样的神臂，怎样的天工， 能够把你强大的心脏创造？ 一旦你的心脏开始搏动， 怎样八面威风，手舞足蹈？ 怎样的钢锤，怎样的铁镣， 怎样的熔炉铸成你的头脑？ 怎样的铁砧，怎样的神力， 让你致命的恐怖难以脱逃？ 当星星投下无数的枪矛， 洒下泪水把天国浸泡， 造物者是否造了你也造了羔羊？ 他是否对着自己的杰作露出微笑？ 老虎！老虎！暗夜般的丛林之中， 明亮有如火光闪耀； 怎样的圣手、天眼， 成就你可怕、匀称的仪表？ The Tyger 译文

5. The Tyger • The third and the fourth stanzas continue the image of the forge and stress the role of strength and intelligence in creation. They remind us again of the frightful strength of the tiger and suggest that if a tiger terrifies us by his strength and savageness we should be no less terrified of divine strength. • In the fifth stanza we encounter again Blake's fondness for contrasts, for playing off one thing against its opposite. • Following on the suggestions of amazing strength and intelligence and majesty, here we are reminded that there may be other divine attributes. The stars are personified as a kind of heavenly army capable of pity and compassion. The poet's question makes us reflect on the possibility that at times heaven throws aside the weapons of war and weeps. Why would the stars weep? Although Blake does not say so, they weep for poor suffering humanity, for the very existence of sorrow and misery here or in any universe. And, to turn as the poet does in his climactic fourth line from the heavenly army to the dread creator himself, how wonderful it is that he (Blake prefers in this poem not to capitalize references to God) who made the terrifying tiger also made the gentle lamb. The question forcefully reminds us that we cannot comprehend the many-sidedness of God. God, and all reality, in Blake's view, is made up of contraries. • The final stanza repeats the first with a single change of word. In the fourth line of the first stanza we read “Could frame thy fearful symmetry.” Having been through the experience of imagining the magnificence and the fear-inspiring mysteriousness of the creative act, we enjoy having our fresh awareness of creation expressed in this variation of the line: “Dare frame thy fearful symmetry.”