Tyger Tyger

In reflection on poetry that has impacted me, I looked way back to a television show I

 watched as a junior in high school, The Mentalist.  In this television show the Protagonist, Patrick Jane, is on the hunt for the serial killer known as Red John who killed his wife and daughter. He enlists as a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation as he seeks at all cost to chase down this murderer. In his search (spoiler) he discovers an undercover illegal association among the justice system of California known as the Blake Association. Red John being the leader of this association has created the name of the association from the poem “The Tyger” by William Blake. As the series continues Jane runs into many in this association that feed him a single clue, the words, “Tyger, Tyger.” On one occasion while tied up with ropes Jane meets a masked Red John face to mask and Red John recites for him the first stanza of the poem.

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What Immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Upon reflection of this poem as a clue for Jane and his team, they discuss the meaning of the poem; that of opposites, light and darkness, life and death, the lamb and the tiger. In the show, this theme and symbolism makes sense as Red John fits the portrayal of the tiger while Jane fills that of the lamb. This made for an exciting series and gave a Ying/Yang stifle that I still enjoy watching. However, as I have reflected on this poem and analyzed it, its meaning has changed and developed in a different atmosphere for my own life.

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?

Blake begins a question that had me questioning as well. It seems that Blake is the narrator yet, as I became attached to the poem, it was as if I became the questioner. He flurries us with a rally of questions in each stanza leading back to a central idea. Each stanza seems to take on a different question for this Tyger and then for the creator. The narrator or us as the reader question the tiger on who could create something so fearful, where and how it was created while asking the creator why he created such a beast and how his reaction was when he finished his creation. These questions seem unanswerable, especially in the light that Blake puts it of an “immortal hand or eye” giving allusion to some grand being that is difficult to understand. But, that is what I think makes this poem so strong for me. The inability to answer these questions of the soul.

Though we have an inability to answer Blakes questions he does provide us things that we can know about the evil through his poem. Through the diction in his questions Blake describes the forgery of this evil tiger. That tells us that Blake believes that, though he doesn’t know why, the Tyger was made, not simply created out of nothing. He describes this process by “hammer” and “chain. Using words known only to the forging of metal he asks about an “anvil” and a “dread grasp” which gives us imagery of a tight hand upon a hammer pounding away at this creation. Overall this provides a vision of a metal worker building a weapon. In contrast, he uses much lighter toned words in the following stanza such as “tears” and “smile” to contrast the Lamb to the Tyger. The Lamb being a symbol for Jesus Christ can show us a Christian side to Blakes poem which makes a metaphor of the Tyger with Satan. Through his poem his imagery of “burning,” “fire,” and “twisting” confirms this as well.

Over the course of the poem Blake continues with questions that can’t be answered but need to be asked. To me this poem is something I can relate to as well as learn from. I believe all of us at some point ask ourselves why we have opposition. Whether for Christians that be Satan, or others considering it to be trials, sorrow, or death. Blake as the narrator asks a divine creator, but even on my mission I met people with no belief in a supreme creator that still asked such questions as Blakes. However, I think in asking these unanswerable questions we also find our answer. The answer that I have received from this poem is that there is no answer, but that in recognizing there is opposition we know how to treat it and refer to it.  Through his alliteration of “frame” and “fearful” Blake adds weight to the fear associated with the opposition he names “Tyger.” He describes the stars crying in heaven as this beast is created. All of these give us the tone of attitude to which we approach opposition but show that it should be acknowledged. Recently, I attended a funeral for my fiancés grandfather. One of the best things said at that funeral was that although we believe that everything will work out and all will be okay, it is still good to acknowledge our grief and to take the time to mourn. Though we may not always understand why we face the Tyger’s we face we can still acknowledge them and then do our best to overcome them.