Poem Analysis: The Tiger
William Blake's "The Tiger" contains six four-line stanzas, and uses pairs of rhyming verses to create a sense of rhythm and continuous flow of the words. It is hard to tell whether it is an observational poem because of its strong use of imagery and the magnificent creation of a picture in the reader's head or self-expression because of the message it has which strongly depends on the personal attitude of the author. In his poem he uses the image of the
This ambivalent controversy continues on through the whole text. Humanity has no place in his metaphors. This strong use of language gives this piece of literature a spiritual or even religious layer of meaning. In combining tones of terror and awe and by using the symbol of the tiger as a dangerous animal and predator, Blake achieves to bring his point across in a very accessible way. In fact he speaks about the "jing and jang", the thin line between good and evil, which characterizes life. The supernatural vocabulary Blake uses to describe his "beast" allows no other interpretation than something really big. tiger and associates it with the destructive but essential and warms donating element fire. The medium he uses brings the reader into an imaginary world of raw, primal and untouched nature as it was supposed to be just after genesis. He suggests his picture of mankind, as he deeply fears the wild and instinct dominated part of peoples mind but is pleased and full of euphoria about the beauty and divinity of creation. It is significant that Blake chooses the word "dare" in the last line, instead of "could" because once again it emphasizes the concept of ambivalence in relationship to creation. I like this poem because its imagery of the fiery creature, a beast, which lives in the shadows and dark hours of life, works perfectly for me.
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Blake's Tiger,
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