Concetti Chiave
- "The Tyger" by William Blake is a symbolic poem exploring the creation of a tiger as an abstraction rather than a realistic animal.
- The poem uses the imagery of a "tongue of fire" to symbolize the tiger, evoking both a realistic jungle setting and a symbolic world of chaos.
- The central theme questions the origin of evil, pondering why a benevolent Creator would make something as fierce as the tiger.
- The poem draws comparisons to mythological figures like Prometheus and Icarus, highlighting the Creator's exploration of extremes in crafting the tiger.
- The poem ends with the poet questioning whether the Creator felt satisfaction or regret upon witnessing the tiger's creation.
“The Tyger" from “Song of Experience” – William Blake: analysis and themes
“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.
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?”.
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