Concetti Chiave
- The poem "The Tyger" consists of 6 four-line stanzas, with the tiger representing a symbolic abstraction rather than a realistic animal.
- The tiger is likened to a tongue of fire, symbolizing both a realistic jungle setting and the chaotic world before creation.
- The central question of the poem concerns who created the tiger, paralleling the inquiry into the origin of evil.
- The poet imagines a mighty Creator who explores vast realms to find the tiger's eyes, drawing comparisons to Prometheus and Icarus.
- The creation process is depicted in a furnace-like setting, and the poet questions whether the Creator is pleased with his creation.
“The Tyger" by William Blake is composed of 6 four-line stanzas.
In the first one, the poet is addressing to a tiger which, unlike the lamb, is more a symbol, an abstraction rather than a realistic animal.
Because of its colour, the tiger is similar to a tongue of fire shining brightly in “the forest of the night”. This expression evokes at the same time a realistic setting (the jungles where real tigers actually live) but also a symbolic one: the dark and mysterious world of chaos before creation. The central question of the poem is who created the tiger but this question doesn’t recive a satisfactory answer. This question can be seen as the metaphorical interrogative of the origin of evil (why the good Creator created the evil?)
The creator and his research
In the second stanza, the poet imagines this mighty Creator who had to explore the seas
and the skies to find the eyes of the tiger. The imagery used suggests a comparison both to
Prometheus and to Icarus.
The third stanza emphasizes the extraordinary strength of his figure who could
shape the hard heart of the tiger. The setting in which the act of creation takes place is similar to a furnace, that is realistically described in the fourth stanza, in which the Creator faces the horrors contained in the tiger’s brain.
Looking at the extraordinary result of this process, the poet wonders whether the
Creator is satisfied : ”Did he smile his work to see?”.
Domande da interrogazione
- What symbolic meaning does the tiger hold in William Blake's poem "The Tyger"?
- What central question does the poet raise about the Creator's feelings towards the tiger?
In "The Tyger," the tiger symbolizes an abstraction rather than a realistic animal, representing the dark and mysterious world of chaos before creation and posing a metaphorical question about the origin of evil.
The poet raises the question of whether the Creator is satisfied with the creation of the tiger, asking, "Did he smile his work to see?" which reflects on the Creator's perception of the tiger's existence.
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