William Blake's The Tyger is reminiscent of when God questioned Job rhetorically about his creations, many of them being fearsome beasts such as the leviathan or the behemoth. Much like this speech from the old testament, The Tyger also uses a significant amount of imagery and symbolism which contributes to its spiritual aspects.

There is a wealth of imagery in the first two lines alone. The poem begins:

"Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night," The reader conceives in their mind the image of a tiger with a coat blazing like fire in the bowels of a dark forest. This creates a negative impression of the tiger, so some might say that the tiger is symbolic of evil. Some people may go even further to conclude that the tiger is a symbol of Satan. Perhaps mainly the people who derive their interpretation of hell from Dante's Inferno, or other works of literature tha

The images of "distant deeps or skies" again presents images of a realm of darkness, and one is reminded again of the traditional interpretation of hell. It is implied that the "fire of thine eyes" had its origins in this place, thus reinforcing the symbol. The image of fire in connection with the tiger is conceived again, this time within the eyes. The fire in a tiger's eyes can be seen as a symbol of ferocity, and it takes no stretch of the imagination to look upon Satan in the same way as well.

The spiritual aspects of this poem are apparent and undeniable. Equally so is Blake's use of symbolism and imagery which contribute to these. The Tyger just goes to show that literature need not be divinely inspired in order in order to be spiritually thought provoking.

The hammer, chain, furnace, and anvil are undoubtedly symbols of creation, but how does the imagery contribute? Well, the tiger was crafted with the aid of a hammer and anvil. Its brain is said to be made of fire, as it came from a furnace. So one sees by

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Approximate Word count = 694
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)