In the first stanza, Blake begins by stating “Tyger! Tyger! burning bright in the forests of the night” (1-2). Right away, the reader is introduced and forced to focus on Blake’s choice subject – the Tyger. Why they are forced to focus on this particular subject is due to both the repetition of the words as well as the emphasis placed on them – note the exclamation points. Blake continues to paint his Tyger in shimmering fire, thanks to his choice usage of “burning” – fire – and “bright” – obviously signifying a high degree of light. Even at this early stage of the poem, Blake is making it abundantly clear that he wishes the Tyger to take on a menacing and, fundamentally, evil façade. The reader can ascertain this idea from the very me

The ultimate point that Blake makes in this poem is that evil is born of good, no matter how pure that good is. God never intended to throw down Satan from Heaven. He never intended that Satan should forever harbor ill-will or resentment towards him. However, it is ignorant of God to assume that he could simply shut Satan in Hell and expect that that would be the end of the issue. The simple fact that Satan, as the Tyger, is lurking through the forests of the night shows how weak and careless God can truly be.

ntion of the word “burning”, which would automatically bring visions of Hell’s fiery pits into the reader’s mind. To help enforce the dread and anxiety the reader should feel towards the Tyger, Blake chooses to situate his subject “in the forests of the night” (2). Perhaps the use of “forests” as a setting is not very important by itself – unless the reader could possibly feel dread at being left alone in a forest with a burning Tyger. However, engaging the reader to place himself or herself into a wood in the pitch of night, with this particular creature, creates the oppressing and fear-inducing tone for the rest of the piece.

Blake ends his poem by reiterating his first stanza. This time, the “forests of the night” (22) carry a much more significant connotation. Since the reader has made many references to Satan’s fall from Heaven, it is only natural to take the story a little further and remember that Satan then left Hell to find Eden. When he left, he found himself searching through a barren wilderness in darkness. Thus, Blake contrives of the “forests of the night”. To end his poem, Blake asks “What immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” (23-24). The reader should still understand that the “immortal hand or eye” is to represent God. However, “frame” now is used to mean “enclose” and “symmetry” is meant to mean an “equivalence between different entities” (Webster’s Dictionary). With the new meaning of this word, Blake is now asking in a menacing turn of voice, how God could ever dare to trap the Tyger’s equality. It is here, at this very moment, that Blake’s subtleties are finally realized. The reader should grasp the idea that Blake’s Tyger is actually Satan, himself, wandering through the dark wilderness of the world. The reader should also fully understand that God helped to create Satan and the very evil for which he stands.

Stylistically, the poem is very easy to read. Rhythmically, the poem could be spoken in a nursery rhyme, ¾ time. The beat is childlike and simple. This can be considered frustrating to the reader due to the complex nature of the poem being masked by a style somewhat juvenile in structure. Rhyming couplets, as well as first and last stanzas that are almost completely identical simply ask for this poem to be sung or danced. It is quite feasible to see tribal communities dancing around a blazing bonfire to this poem, as well as parents saying this to their children to make them behave better. Reasonably enough, this poem is certainly not the sort to be read casually, but is to be taken seriously.

Blake continues in attempting to identify the reason behind the Tyger’s evil fire in the tools of its creation. Blake asks “What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain?” (13-14). Here, the reader is lead to incorporate more Greek mythology into the analysis of the poem. The “hammer” and “chain” should both invoke the idea of a blacksmith, as both of these tools are used frequently in metalwork. The blacksmith of Greek mythology, of course, is Hephaestus (God of the forge/fire). Basically, this god was Zeus’s right-hand man. He forged Zeus’s fire bolts, which were necessary for Zeus to win the battle between the Titans. Taking this idea into the Christian arena, the reader is lead to understand that the imagery of the blacksmith refers to Satan, who was also God’s right-hand

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