Poet's Corner

"The Tyger"

William Blake

Poem explanation

1	Tyger! Tyger! burning bright 
	In the forests of the night,
	What immortal hand or eye  
	Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

5	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,

10	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?

15	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? 

20	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?

Source: Exploring Poetry, Gale, 1997.