William Blake`s `the Tyger`

To understand William Blake s poems it s important to first get a feel for what kind of time he was writing in.

The Romantic Period

• Blake is recognised today as one of the first Romantic poets. But what do we mean when we say Romantic?
• The Romantic Period (1785 1832) doesn t mean a time when poets were swooning over each other or taking each other out for dinner. Although I m sure there was a lot of that going on
• The Romantic poets were the punks of their day.
• They ripped up the poetry rulebook and threw it away Romanticism was about freedom of the mind and society.
• The Romantics criticised the exploitation of the poor and demanded liberty for all from corruption and tyranny.
• They also thought that people should follow what they themselves think is right, rather than follow rules and conventions.
• This also meant re-imagining what poetry was. They thought it should be the expression of an individual s authentic thoughts and feelings.
• The Romantics also thought it was their responsibility to use their poetry to inspire change in society.

Let s read William Blake s The Tyger . Then I m going to give you some questions to answer. Think carefully about each question then we ll have a chat about the poem in greater depth, in relation to the key ideas that informed Blake s work at the time, including the Enlightenment, industrial and political revolutions.

The Tyger

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

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?

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?

What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp,

Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears

And water`d heaven with their tears:

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night:

What immortal hand or eye,

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

1. What is your first reaction to the poem? Do you like it? Why? If not, why not?

2. What is the tone of the poem? How does it make you feel?

3. The language is very simple. Why do you think that is?

4. Does the rhythm/rhyme/structure of the poem remind you of anything?

5. What does the Lamb and the Shepherd symbolise in Christianity?

6. How does that relate to the poem?

7. Why does the speaker ask so many questions, yet knows all the answers?

8. Can you link the poem to its context?

9. Why is the speaker s view of the world a good one?

10. Why is the speaker s view of the world limited?