William Blake's poem, "Tyger," while addressing the magnificent beauty and power of a tiger, may also allude to a masked, spiritual meaning about Christ's presence here on Earth since Blake stated, "all he knew was in the Bible," and that, "The Old and New Testaments are the Great Code of Art" (NAEL, p. 78). My initial reading of "Tyger" focused on the wild animal, yet subsequent readings suggested spiritual overtones, especially since Blake penned this poem and he said, "That which can be made Explicit to the Idiot," he declared, "is not worth my care" (NAEL, p. 78). In addition, "Blake was a born ironist who enjoyed mystifying his well-meaning but literal minded friends and who took a defiant pleasure in shocking the dull and complacent angels of his day by being deliberately outrageous in representing his work and opinions" (NAEL, p. 78). That being said, I point out even the misspelling of tiger for "Tyger" is a means to possibly tease, or mislead the reader, because the old cliché, "Cat got your tongue?" makes me wonder if Blake held his tongue, saying nothing to anyone about the spiritual sense of the poem, and titled it with a sly smile on his face.
To explore this poem a little deeper, let's look at its form. It has six stanzas, all of which are quatrains, and the four inner quatrains follow a rhyming pattern of aabb, while the first and last quatrains, although almost identical, do not rhyme in the same pattern. The poetic form of "Tyger" does not impress upon me any spiritual meaning, but each quatrain holds within it hints of Blake being "deliberately outrageous" (NAEL, p. 78) and even witty as spiritual symbols come to mind.
For example, "Tyger! Tiger! burning bright," (1) suggests to me "Tyger" is a deceptive ploy for Christ since He has been referred to a lion. Why not trade one big cat for another and misspell tiger as well? "Burning bright," of the same line, easily slips in as the Star of Bethlehem due to Blake's religious overtones in much of his poetry.
The first quatrain also has "immortal hand or eye," (3) that points to divinity, plus "Could frame thy fearful symmetry," (4) makes me reference how symmetry, defined by dictionary.com is the "balance among the parts of something." In my mind, symmetry is replaced by the balance among parts of the Holy Trinity.
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? (1-4)
The second quatrain contains, "In what distant deep or skies, Burnt the fire of thine eyes?" (5-6) Hell is a "distant deep" and "burnt" refers to the fires of hell, as far as spiritual symbolism in this line. "Wings" (7) are mentioned, so maybe an indication of divinity, and "What the hand dare seize the fire?" (8) -causes me to imagine Christ "seizing the fire.or seizing the sins of mankind."
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? (5-8)
"Could twist the sinews of thy heart?," (10) in the third quatrain is interesting because if you think of sinews being "power," then Blake perhaps meant the power of Christ's holy being. Read the following lines, but look for spiritual symbolism. "And when thy heart began to beat (11) What dread hand? & what dread feet?" (12) Now, think about Christ not having a physical body in Heaven, so once birthed on Earth, his heart had to start beating; therefore, he also had the "dreaded" hands and feet of a physical body to deal with.
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? (9-12)
The fourth and fifth quatrains get very grim as I stay on track with spiritual symbolism. "What the hammer? what the chain?" (13) forces me to consider Christ's suffering right before he was crucified, plus "In what furnace was thy brain?" (14) really gives me the impression of Christ taking the "heat" for mankind's sins. Could the actual crucifixion be hidden in the last, two lines of the fourth quatrain? "What the anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp?" I believe it is a possibility.
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp? (13-16)
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? (17-20)
Heaven may be weeping in utter despair, "When the stars threw down their spears, and watered heaven with their tears" (17-18). Then, Blake asks, "Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" (19-20) These lines may be an attempt by Blake to show God's sorrow for what his Lamb (tyger-lion/Christ) has endured for the sake of mankind. Subsequently, the question, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" (20) sounds like a question of faith about how some accept Christ's divinity, while others do not.
Finally, notice in the last quatrain that "In the forests of the night," (2&22) puts mankind back in darkness (sin), and "Dare" is used in the last line, whereas "Could" was used in the first quatrain, in the line "Dare frame they fearful symmetry?" Is Blake daring us to figure out his poem, or is it an indication mankind had better dare not cross the ferocious symmetry of the Holy Trinity? We shall never know what Blake intended, but I assure you; there is more to "Tyger" than meets the eye, because I believe William Blake designed his poetry with a mischievous nature to shock the "dull and complacent angels of his day" (NAEL, p. 78).
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? (21-24)
Works Cited
"symmetry." WordNet® 3.0. Princeton University. 22 Jan. 2009. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/symmetry>.
Greenblatt, Stephen, et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed. New York, USA/ London, England. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2006.
