The Tyger by William Blake

1. The Tyger by William Blake Presented by Logan Trachsel and Alex Mason

2. Reading the Poem 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 sieze 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 watered 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?

3. History William Blake spent his whole life in London England. He was born in 1757 and died in 1827. His art and poetry was never recognized as significant until after he died. Many thought he psychotic. His parents supported his artistic ability and sent him to art school during his teen years. Unlike his teachers of the time, Blake questioned everything and particularly liked the works of Michelangelo and Raphael. He did not begin to focus on poetry until after he became a printmaker's apprentice. William Blake is now known as one of the most famous poets and artists England had. William Blake's poetry is some of the hardest to interpret and read. His poetry centers around many questions he had about religion and purpose in the world. His poetry demonstrates the thoughts of the Romantic Era because he constantly questions the bible and religious views of the time which is consistent with the ideals of the time period. "The Tyger" was written in his collection known as the Songs of Experience in 1794.

4. Paraphrasing Stanza 1 Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forest of the night, What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? Tiger! Tiger! shining in the dark, what godly being created your dangerous sleekness?

5. Paraphrasing Stanza 2 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? Did you come from heaven or hell? Whose hand dared this arduous task of creating this dangerous being? and for what purpose?

6. Paraphrasing Stanza 3 And what shoulder, and what art, Could twist the sinews of my heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? and what dread feet? What strength and skill did the creator hold to create the heart of the tiger? When the heart began to beat, whose fearful hands and feet caused it?

7. Paraphrasing Stanza 4 What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? With whose hammer? With whose chain? With what furnace (fire) was the tiger's brain created? With whose anvil? Whose fearful grip dared to create a deadly creature?

8. Paraphrasing Stanza 5 When the stars threw down their spears, And watered heaven with tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? When Satan rebelled against God and shocked heaven, did Satan smile at his creation, or did God?

9. Paraphrasing Stanza 6: The Shift Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? This may look identical to the first stanza, but the authors changes his topic. Can you tell what it is?

10. The Shift William Blake goes from saying "Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" in the 4th line to saying "Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?" in the last line.This shows that the author has changed tones. He goes from questioning the ability of the creator of the tiger ("could") to questioning his nerve ("dare") to do such a thing.

11. Themes The form of the poem is lyrical because it expresses thoughts and emotions through questioning rather than telling a story. This gives the poem a nice feel along with the emotions you receive. The main purpose of the poem was to reflect on life. All of the questions that William Blake asks throughout the poem are reflections and questions about how things originated.

12. Theme Continued One major theme in this poem is to not always agree and accept the things you are taught. The poem goes away from traditional thinking about god and questions who is actually behind the creation of the tiger. Another major theme that was developed throughout the poem is the concept of good vs evil. This whole poem has an understanded reflection on God vs. Satan. We perceive God to be the side of good, and Satin the side of evil.

13. Connotations Rhythm: The poem is mostly Iambic, but lacks a basic meter. This gives the poem a beet, but causes the reader to stumble on the last syllable because he adds an extra one to throw off the meter to force the reader to slow down and think about what is being said. After all, his poetry is very difficult to pinpoint what is actually being meant. Melody: Rhyming was a major way William Blake tried to tie together the loose ends of the lines after adding an extra syllable to most of them. This gives the poem an easy flow, but then also highlights important parts when it does not end up rhyming the last word of each stanza with the next. Imagery and the Title: The main part of the poem was a whole metaphor. The Tyger itself is a metaphor; some of the best analysts still cannot crack it. The Tyger could possibly represent humans, being dangerous to the world, or even a revolutionary energy created by god during the revolutions of the era. No one is for certain, which makes the poem ambiguous but mystical at the same time.

14. Tone Contemplative- William Blake changes his view on the subject during the poem, going from concept to concept, as if looking over the idea as a whole and thinking about what it could mean. He searches for a deeper meaning within the idea.

15. Annotated Bibliography Source 1 Hjouj, Samer. "The Tyger - William Blake." The Tyger - William Blake. N.p., 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. A. This site was a student's analysis and discussion of the piece. The author took the time to pick apart the poem and go over it in different ways. He looks at the author's background as well as looking directly at stanzas and parts of the poem. B. This source is credible because it lists 9 sources and is organized and backed by the college the author was in when he wrote it. The author did not write it to sell copies of the poem or anything objective. He wrote it for the purpose of analysis and helping others. C. We used this source in further interpreting the poem and general background on relating the poem to modern times. It helped us find the more deep aspects of the poem and other analysis pieces that we may have missed.

16. Annotated Bibliography Source 2 "The William Blake Archive Homepage." The William Blake Archive Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. A. This site is for a archive all about William Blake. It details his works, his life, his history, etc. It is a very easy to use site with a search so that you can find different pieces by William Blake. B. This source was created by college professors, William Blake art collectors, and is backed by the Library of Congress. It is non-profit and only out there for as information database. C. We used this source for background information on William Blake and his main viewpoints during the time period in which he wrote The Tyger. We used this site to search for information on how his life and the era could relate to The Tyger.