Saturday, November 26, 2016

What is one of the themes of William Blake's poem "The Tyger?"

The divine source of creation is a theme in William Blake's poem "The Tyger," keeping suit with Blake's Pre-Romantic aesthetic and simultaneous interest in the Bible and irreverence toward the Church of England.


The poem questions, "What immortal hand or eye, / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" In other words, the poet is questioning what kind of god could be responsible for creating a creature who is inherently destructive in nature. This is an especially potent question within the context of the Lamb referenced in the fifth stanza. How could a divine creator create two such seemingly opposite animals--one that is the pinnacle of innocence and one that is a killer? Blake does not provide any answers to these questions, but rather simply opens a dialogue for a discussion of this duality.


This poem is ultimately also a reflection of the limitations of human understanding, particularly as we try to discern the moral questions of good versus evil. 

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