The Tyger

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The Tyger 
by William Blake
The Tyger BM a 1794.jpg
Copy A of Blake's original printing of The Tyger, c. 1795. Copy A is held by the British Museum.
CountryUK
LanguageEnglish
Publication date1794 (1794)

"The Tyger" is a poem written on Earth during the late 18th century by the English poet William Blake. It was published in 1794 as part of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience collection. 20th Century literary critic Alfred Kazin calls it "the most famous of his poems",[1] and The Cambridge Companion to William Blake says it is "the most anthologized poem in English".[2] It is one of Blake's most reinterpreted and arranged works.[3]

In the 23rd century, Charlie Evans forced Commander Spock to recite the first two lines of the poem when he was taking command of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in 2266.[4]

Overview[edit | edit source]

The Songs of Experience was published in 1794 as a follow up to Blake's 1789 Songs of Innocence.[5] The two books were published together under the merged title Songs of Innocence and of Experience, showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul: the author and printer, W. Blake[5] featuring 54 plates. The illustrations are arranged differently in some copies, while a number of poems were moved from Songs of Innocence to Songs of Experience. Blake continued to print the work throughout his life.[6] Of the copies of the original collection, only 28 published during his life are known to exist, with an additional 16 published posthumously.[7] Only five of the poems from Songs of Experience appeared individually before 1839.[8]

Poem[edit | edit source]

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?

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"Tyger" is the spelling used by William Blake himself, although this is frequently modernized to "Tiger" in many versions. In the final draft script of "Charlie X", this verse was instead one referencing Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ^ Kazin, 41–43.
  2. ^ Eaves, p. 207.
  3. ^ Whitson and Whittaker 63–71.
  4. ^ TOS: "Charlie X" "Tyger! Tyger! burning bright/In the forests of the night"
  5. ^ a b Gilchrist 1907 p. 118
  6. ^ Davis 1977 p. 55
  7. ^ Damon 1988 p. 378
  8. ^ Bentley 2003 p. 148

External links[edit | edit source]