The Tyger - Blake

Blake’s legendary poem “The Tyger” is deceivingly straightforward. Though Blake uses “vividly simple language” (Hirsch, 244), the poem requires a deeper understanding from the reader. There are many misconceptions concerning the symbols in “The Tyger” (specifically the tiger itself). This often leads to confusion concerning the underlying message of the poem. Compared to Blake’s “meek” and “mild” lamb, the tiger is hard to accept. It is a symbol for that which people fear. For some, their fears are not reality, and are much easier to ignore than accept. But no matter how hard to accept, the lamb and tiger are equally important, and together create a balance that is ideally healthy for the world. The Tyger can be interpreted through many different theologies, as a form of the sublime, and as an essential part of human life.

Because Blake is ambiguous about the tiger’s nature it is hard to understand. Blake uses paradox to his advantage in the first stanza, which creates an ambiguous effect:

The expressions “forests of the night” and “fearful” have a menacing quality that is negative in nature. On the other hand “bright” and “symmetry” (a sign of perfection) have positive overtones, and are more commonly associated with goodness. Blake has given many clues; and the effect is such that the reader is led to believe that the tiger has both good and evil qualities. The one underlying question that Blake asks of the reader: what God could “dare” (l.24) to create such a creature?

According to the Christian doctrine, there is one God who is the maker of everything. Though there is much argument over how much He partakes in the creation of evil. Nonetheless, this passage is found in the Bible: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7). The tiger could very well be the expression of this God. There are many other beliefs in the world besides Christianity within which the tiger can be proven to reside. Monotheism, for example, is the “belief in a single, universal, all-encompassing deity”(Wikipedia). This deity could also be the “immortal hand” that formed the Tyger. Manicheanism, one of the major ancient religions, uses the theology of dualism as its main principle. The Dualism doctrine can be said to “consist of two basic opposing elements” (Wikipedia). In “The Tyger”, these elements are the principles of good and evil. In Manicheanism, “these two powers were independent from each other, but in the world they were mixed” (Encyclopedia of the Orient). That is to say that good and evil would reside together in every living creature. Blake’s tyger could also be an example of the Manichean way of thinking.

Though the religions of Christianity, Monotheism, and Manicheanism (and many more) are quite different in the details of their teachings, they are based on the same general principles. The basis of the majority of religion relies on the existence of good and evil in order to sustain the reasoning behind their beliefs.

The tiger, which displays both characteristics, can be a confusing creature for the human mind to accept. On one hand, the “symmetry” (l.4) of the tiger is attractive, but on the other hand, its potential “deadly terror” (l.16) is appalling. There is an inherent difficulty in absorbing such a paradox, but the effect of experiencing both at the same time can be referred to as ‘sublime’. The Tyger is a perfect example of the sublime. Basler said that the tyger was a creature that “convey[ed] terror before a symbol of power to harm.” (12) Paley, in relation to this, states that “terror is in all cases whatsoever, either more openly or latently the ruling principle of the sublime.” (78) Blake does an excellent job of conveying terror in the Tyger. As readers form a mental image of the blacksmith who “dares” (l.24) to create the tyger, they might experience (in a diluted form) an idea of the sublime. As Paley stated, “the chief effect of the sublime is ‘astonishment.’ [It is] that state of the soul, in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror.” (78). Whether readers choose to appreciate the sublime is based entirely on personal choice. However, one must remember the sublime is something from which experience is drawn. And, if experience is a positive thing, then the sublime is also.

It is impossible to fully understand the “The Tyger” without also considering another of Blake’s poems, “The Lamb”. “The Lamb” comes from the Songs of Innocence and “The Tyger” from Songs of Experience, and both poems reflect these qualities. “The Lamb” is “a poem which exclude[s] all genuine terror from life” (Hirsch, 245). To be in a state of innocence does not include the knowledge of the extent of terror,