the tyger

A detailed Summary of the tyger

Does god create both gentle and fearful creatures? If he does what right does he have?

Both of these rhetorical questions are asked by William Blake in his poem "The Tyger."

The poem takes the reader on a journey of faith, questioning god and his nature. The

poem completes a cycle of questioning the creator of the tyger, discussing how it could

have been created, and then returns to questioning the creator again. Both questions

about the tyger's creator are left unanswered. William Blake uses rhythm, rhyme, and

poetic devices to create a unique effect and to parallel his theme in his work "The Tyger."

William Blake's choice of rhythm is important to his poem "The Tyger" because it

parallels the theme of the poem, that the tyger may have been made by god or another

harsher creator. Most of the poem is written in trochaic tetrameter as can be seen in line

three, when Blake says, "What immortal hand or eye." This rhythm is very harsh

give the poem a formal completeness. By switching his rhythm from trochaic to iambic,

he leaves his readers wondering, "Is there really an answer?"

Blake shows the two possible natures of god, or of the two creators. By using couplets he

of words, to exemplify the brute nature of the tyger and to wonder if it was made in hell

cacophony, assonance, and alliteration he can further develop his question about the

two sides or parts. The rhyme scheme is AA BB CC etc. Because the rhyming words are

unique symmetry and to parallel the "fearful symmetry" of a tyger. William Blake's use of

identical vowel sounds, in lines ten and eleven when he says "twist the sinews", and

which is the repetition of identical consonants to make his words seem harsh as in

"began to beat." This emphasizes the good nature of god. William Blake never answers

Approximate Word count = 641
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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