William
Blake
“The
Tiger”.
TIGER, tiger, burning bright
a
In the forests of the night,
a
What immortal hand or eye
a
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
-
In what distant deeps or skies
b
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
b
On what wings dare he aspire?
c
What the hand dare seize the fire?
c
And what shoulder and what art
d
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
d
And when thy heart began to beat,
e
What dread hand and what dread feet?
e
What the hammer? What the chain?
f
In what furnace was thy brain?
f
What the anvil? What dread grasp?
g
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
g
When the stars threw down their spears,
h
And water’d heaven with their tears,
h
Did He smile His work to see?
i
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
i
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
j
In the forests of the night,
j
What immortal hand or eye
j
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
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The poem I have chosen is called “The Tiger”.
It was written by William Blake and it is said that it was written around
1794.
“The Tiger” is made up of six quatrains. The
first stanza and the last one is the same, although we have to highlight that in
the last verse of it we can appreciate a change. The author has changed the
beginning of the verse: “Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”/ “Dare frame thy
fearful symmetry?”. We will analyse the why the author changed it below.
According to the rhyme scheme, we face with a
poem made up of couplets. As we already know, the couplet’s rhyme scheme is aa,
bb, cc… But the first and last stanzas show us a different rhyme scheme. It is
a-a-a and the last verse is a free one in the case of the first stanza and k-k-k
and a last verse in the last stanza.
All the couplets rhyme between them. For
instance: “and what shoulder and what art, Could twist the sinews of thy
heart?”.
Concerning to the rhyme of the poem, we have an
assonance rhyme at the end of the verse. This means that we can find a tail
rhyme in each verse.
Looking at the foot of the poem, we have
trochee or choree octameters because we have the first syllable accented and the
second one unaccented. The poem has a regular structure and meter.
Blake is analysing the theme of the nature. He
is describing the creation of a wild and, at the same time, wonderful and
beautiful creature that is the tiger.
At the beginning of the poem, Blake is asking
the tiger who is the responsible person for its creation, who has had the
courage to create it. The author is very worried of this creation because this
animal represents so much danger and he can not understand why this animal is on
the face of the earth. When the author says “what immortal hand or eye…” in the
verse three, we can understand that Blake is referring to someone or something
that has power, and the ability of creating new lives. We can thing that this
immortal creator could be God and, in fact, Blake also thought that it was God
who had created the fierce figure of the tiger. Other references to the immortal
creator in the poem are, for instance, the verses nineteen and twenty in which
we can find the pronouns “He/His/He” in capital letters.
Blake is comparing this creator to a
blacksmith. Many words like “hammer” (line13); “furnace” (line 14); “anvil”
(line 15)… (References from Understanding William Blake’s “The Tiger”; Ed
Friedlander, M.D. http://www.pathguy.com/tyger.htm;
November 23rd, 2007). So, the tiger was created by a blacksmith who
was hammering the creature until giving it the shape of a tiger.
William Blake could not understand why not the
creator stopped making this creature when He could see that it will not be a
gentle, calm and good animal. So, a question arises: If it was God who created
this creature, why God put danger, horror and terrible things and facts in this
world if it is supposed that God is always looking after every person in the
world? Why terrible things happen if God is benevolent? The poem “is about your
own experience of not getting a completely satisfactory answer to this essential
question of faith” (Understanding William Blake’s “The Tiger”; Ed Friedlander,
M.D.; http://www.pathguy.com/tyger.htm;
November 23rd, 2007). This is what Blake could not understand and
neither do I. As we can observe, the poem has so many questions, as the previous
one that have no answer and it seems that no one is going to answer
them.
As we said at the beginning of this analysis,
the first stanza and the last one is nearly the same but, in the first stanza
“could” have been replaced by “dare”. In my opinion, it is because at the
beginning of the poem we do not know who could have the courage to create the
tiger and why but, at the end of the poem, as we know that the creator is
immortal and has so much power, we understand that only someone or something
with these characteristics is responsible of the creation, He feels that He can
create it, that He has power enough to create it. “The repeated use of the word
“dare” to replace the “could” of the first stanza introduces a dimension of
aspiration and wilfulness into the sheer might of the creative act”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_blake;
November 23rd, 2007).
As we have said before, “The tiger” was written
around 1794. This poem belongs to a great William Blake’s collection called
“Songs of Experience”.
“Songs of Experience” was one of the most
important William Blake’s works. It is one of the illuminated author’s works, as
well. Other important illuminated works of the author are, for instance, “All
Religions are One and There is No Natural Religion” which was his first
illuminated work publishes in 1788; “Songs of Innocence” published in 1789, the
year in which the French Revolution starts and also the year in which Blake
starts to write “The Book of Thel”, other of his illuminated works, and “The
Marriage of Heaven and Hell”, published in 1790 (References from http://www.online-literature.com/blake/;
November 23rd, 2007).
The first collection of poem of William Blake
was “Poetical Sketches” published around 1783. In this collection, we can find
the following poems and songs: “to spring”; “to summer”; “to autumn”; “to
winter”; “to the evening star”; “to morning”; “Fair Elenor”; “My silks and fine
array”; “Love and harmony combine”; “The wild winds weep”; “prologue to King
Edward the Fourth”; “prologue to King John” and many others. (References from www.online-literature.com/blake;
December 24th, 2007).
“Songs of Innocence” was published, as we said
above, in 1789. This collection was written from a child perspective and
includes the well-known poem “the lamb” that shows the child’s innocence
(References from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_blake;
November 23rd, 2007). The poems in this work are written “in a voice
with the limpidity of childhood perception; here the ‘innocence’ of the title is
portrayed as an unequivocal and valued property of the child” (David Punter,
University of Stirling. 17 Julio, 2001; http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5182;
24th November 2007).
In 1789 took place the French Revolution and it
was something William Blake wrote about. In fact, in 1791, Blake wrote at least
one part of the French Revolution.
“Jerusalem” is other of his illuminated works,
book written and illuminated between 1804 and 1820. This work is the longest one
of the author (References from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_blake;
November 26th, 2007). It is said that William Blake was a very
religious and patriotic person and maybe, his ideas of these concepts are
reflected in this work.
In the year in which it is supposed that Blake
began writing “Jerusalem”, he also began to work on “Milton a poem” published
around 1811. In fact, “Jerusalem” is “an excerpt of ‘Milton’” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_blake;
November 23rd, 2007).
Other works of William Blake are “Visions of
the Daughters of Albion”, published in 1793; “America a prophecy” (1793); “The
Song of Los” which is the third illuminated book. Blake also wrote for children.
An example of this is the work “Gates of Paradise” published around 1793. (http://www.online-literature.com/blake/;
November 26th, 2007).
William Blake was more than a poet. He was also
a painter and printmaker. In fact, Blake illustrated works of other writers and
poets. Blake illustrated some poems of Thomas Gray; he made illustrations for
Blair’s “The Grave”…Maybe, his most famous or, at least, more known
illustrations are the ones to the Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, although Blake could
not finish this work because he died in 1827. (References from www.online-literature.com/blake/;
November 26th, 2007).
The poem “The tiger” belongs to William Blake’s
great work named “Songs of Experience”. This work was published around 1794 with
the work “Songs of Innocence”, although this last work was first published in
1789. “Blake himself prepared a number of copies…No two copies are identical;
furthermore, there are variations in the arrangement of the poems and even
occasional differences as to which sequence a poem belongs to” (David Punter,
University of Stirling. http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2004;
17 Julio, 2001; November 24th, 2007).
It
is said that the poems of “Songs of Experience” are in response to ones from
“Songs of Innocence”. For instance, “The Tiger” from “Songs of Experience” is a
response of “The Lamb” of “Songs of Innocence”. (References from David Punter,
University of Stirling. “Songs of Experience”, The Literary Encyclopedia, 17
Julio, 2001; http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2004;
November 24th, 2007). In “The Lamb”, Christ is “the lamb of God” and,
in “The Tiger”, it is the same God who is the creator of that creature. We can
see how the same God is creating animals that by their behaviour and actions are
opposites. (Understanding William Blake’s “The tiger”, Ed Friedlander, M.D.; http://www.pathguy.com/tyger.htm).
“‘Innocence’ is showed as a state to be
superseded in the gradual development of consciousness. ‘Songs of Experience’
represent a further stage of this evolution, and again the positions of the
narrators are often more uncertain and equivocal than they may appear at first
glance” (David Punter, University of Stirling. “Songs of Experience”, http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2004,17
Julio, 2001; November 24th, 2007).
In “Songs of Experience” we can find poems that
show us those aspects of life that are more realistic and pessimistic. But not
everything showed is bad; we also can find poems that suggest that “there is
hope for transformation enabling a more rewarding ‘experience’ of life” (http://www.poetseers.org/the_poetseers/blake/poetry_of_blake/;
November 26th, 2007). Songs of
Experience’s poems show “ironic contrast as the child matures and learns of
such concepts as fear and envy” (www.online-literature.com/blake/;
November 26th, 2007).
“Songs of Experience” is one of the most and
important works of William Blake. In this work, “The Tiger” occupies an
important place. Blake was a very religious person who trusted a lot in the
Bible, in fact, the Bible was a great influence for him and also a source of
inspiration in his life.
William Blake’s spiritual beliefs are shown in
“Songs of Experience”. In this work, Blake distinguishes between the Old
Testament and the New Testament. The author rejected the Old Testament and
considered the New Testament as a good influence (References from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Experience
; November 23rd, 2007).
In “The Tiger”, as we said in our analysis of
the poem, Blake asks why God put good and bad things together in this world;
good things like love, harmony, goodness and bad things like wars, hunger,
poverty, diseases… Blake could not understand this. If God is as benevolent as,
for instance, the Catholic Church affirms, it is not reasonable that both, bad
and good things are together in this world. If everybody is a God’ son and God
looks after us, why are there so much wars and misfortunes in the world? Nor
Blake and nobody in the world can understand this.
Blake’s point of view of conventional religion
is present in ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’, where he wrote in Proverbs of
Hell: “Prisons are built with stones of
Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion and as the Caterpillar chooses the fairest
leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys”.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Experience;
November 23rd, 2007).
So, William Blake created his own mythology
which was mainly based on the Bible and on the Greek mythology. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Experience;
November 23rd, 2007).
The author did not hold with the doctrine of
God as Lord, an entity separate from and superior to mankind. This is related
with his belief in liberty and equality in society and between the sexes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Experience;
November 23rd, 2007).
We said above that “The tiger” was written in
response to “The Lamb” of ‘Songs of Innocence’. It is said that the Lamb is
Jesus and Jesus is for Blake the “vital relationship and unity between divinity
and humanity”: ‘all had originally one
language and one religion: this was the religion of Jesus, the everlasting
Gospel. Antiquity preaches the Gospel of Jesus’. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007).
Nowadays, William Blake is recognised as a
saint in Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007).
We have said many times that the poem “The
Tiger” was published in 1789, the year in which the French Revolution broke out.
The French Revolution was “a period of political and social upheaval in the
political history of France and Europe as a whole” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007). There were changes in the forms that were
“based on Enlightenment principles of republic, citizenship, and inalienable
rights”.
The war broke out because of economical, social
and political factors like increment of unemployed people and the increment in
the prices of the basic aliments; “the social and psychological burdens of the
many wars of the 18th century, which in the era before the dawn of
nationalism were exclusively the province of the monarchy”; “aspirations for
liberty and republicanism”… (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007). In August, 1789, feudalism was abolished and
some days later, the Declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen was
published. Concerning the Catholic Church, it has the vast majority of the lands
of the country. The Church wanted to levy a tax on crops “dime” but it was
abolished by the legislation (1790). Church’s properties were also confiscated
and they were given to the nation. The Church did no agree with this situation
and there was a confrontation between the priests and the nation. This finished
with many priests killed. Finally, “the Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon and
the Church ended the dechristianisation period and established the rules for a
relationship between the Catholic Church and the French State that lasted until
it was abrogated by the Third Republic via the separation of church and state of
11 December 1905”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007).
Louis XVI and General Bouillé condemned both
the emigration and the assembly. “The King vetoed legislation that threatened
the émigrés with death and that decreed that every non-juring clergyman must
take within eight days the civic oath mandated by the Civil Constitution of the
Clergy” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007). During this war, thousands and thousands of
people died in the guillotine accused of having been related with
counter-revolutionary activities or because of their ideals. In fact, the King
Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were also killed under it. As well, there
were many citizens that were forced to become in soldiers in the war because of
the deaths of thousands of soldiers ‘levée en masse’ (References from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007).
Other very important fact that took place in
this period was the Industrial Revolution. During this period, there were
changes in many aspects of the daily life like agriculture, manufacturing,
transportation… All this was reflected in the socioeconomic and cultural
conditions of Britain, and also in Europe and North America. It was a “process
that continues as industrialisation” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007).
Some of the causes of the Industrial Revolution
in Britain were that Britain “received from its many overseas colonies natural
or financial resources, profits from the British slave trade between Africa and
the Caribbean helped fuel industrial investment” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007). It is said that Britain succeeded in the
Industrial Revolution because the population of this country was very high for
the small territory it occupies. Britain had key resources. “The peasantry
disappeared and the upper classes developed commercial interests that made them
pioneers in removing obstacles to the growth of capitalism” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007).
Dissenters was out of almost all public offices
and education but when the monarchy was restored and the Anglican Church had
much power and control, dissenters could participate in those activities or
works that at first have been denied to them.
Concerning the social effects the Industrial
Revolution had caused, we can say that the middle class of industrialists and
businessmen were very lucky and triumphed over a landed class of nobility and
gentry. As well, there were more opportunities of working for ordinary working
people but the conditions of those works were not good. In fact, something that
predominated during this period was the child labour, dirty living conditions
and long working hours. People, who had been working the lands during all their
lives, had to go to the cities like Manchester to work in the factories. But
there were also groups of people named ‘luddites’ that protested against
industrialisation and sabotaged factories. Children had no many possibilities of
education and had to work in terrible conditions and with a bad salary. Children
used to work in coal mines and textile factories. The “Factory Laws” established
that children under 9 years were not allowed to work, they could not work at
night they could not work more than twelve hours in the day (References from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007).
People who belonged to the lower classes were
living in bad conditions. So, they were very prone to diseases and many people
died because of them. “Chest diseases from the mines, cholera from polluted
water and typhoid were also extremely common, as was smallpox” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007).Children and women had many accidents during
their work’s days.
Blake was against slavery and believed in
racial and sexual equality. He was very interested in social and political
events, “but was often forced to resort to cloaking social idealism and
political statements in Protestant mystical allegory”. He was also against the
imposition of authority. His views on what he thought that was oppressive and
restrictive of rightful freedom extended to the Church. As we said above, all
his spiritual believes are shown in his work “Songs of Experience” (References
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007).
In the 18th and 19th
centuries, Romanticism was developed and William Blake was one of its most
important figures. Romanticism was developed against the Neoclassicism.
Romanticism put emphasis on imagination, emotion and freedom and its mainly
characteristics are subjectivity, spontaneity, emphasis on individualism,
freedom from rules, solitary life rather than life in society, the beliefs that
imagination is superior to reason and devotion to beauty, fascination with the
past… It is said that it was in Britain that the Romantic Movement really
started (References from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger;
November 23rd, 2007).
“The Tiger” is considered nowadays as one of the most famous and
important poem of the poet William Blake. As we said above, the poem is about
the question of nature. The principal idea of the poem is God, the creation of
the beings by God and, in this case, of a tiger. Blake could not understand why
good and bad things are in this world. He could not understand why God created
bad things and put them in this world, and it is something that nobody can
understand nowadays. People can not understand why bad things like earthquakes,
wars, hunger, diseases take place in this world. It is clear that most of them
take place because of the human being like wars but, if God is and will be
always looking after us, why do He let that these things happen? Why do He let
that thousands and thousands of people die in these wars? It is what Blake could
not understand and, in my opinion, it is something that nobody can understand
nowadays. I think that this question is, at least, one of the points what this
poem has in relation with today.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyger
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Experience
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www.online-literature.com/blake/
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http://www.poetseers.org/the_poetseers/blake/poetry_of_blake/
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David Punter,
University of Stirling. “Songs of Experience”, http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2004
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Understanding
William Blake’s “The Tiger”; Ed Friedlander, M.D.; http://www.pathguy.com/tyger.htm
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_blake