The Tyger Flashcards
by William Blake — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: The Tyger
What is the subject of "The Tyger" by William Blake?
The poem is a series of rhetorical questions addressed to a tiger, asking what kind of divine creator could have forged such a fearsome yet beautiful creature.
What collection does "The Tyger" belong to, and when was it published?
It was published in Songs of Experience in 1794, the companion volume to Songs of Innocence (1789).
What is the central question the poem asks?
Whether the same God who created the gentle lamb could also have created the terrifying tiger -- essentially, how good and evil can coexist in one creation.
How does the poem end compared to how it begins?
The final stanza nearly repeats the first, but changes "Could frame" to "Dare frame," shifting the question from one of ability to one of audacity.
Who is the speaker of "The Tyger" addressing?
The speaker addresses the tiger directly using apostrophe, asking it a series of questions about its creator.
Who is the "he" referred to throughout the poem?
The "he" is the tiger's creator -- a God or divine craftsman figure whom the speaker envisions as a blacksmith working at a cosmic forge.
What is the theme of duality in "The Tyger"?
Blake explores the coexistence of opposites -- beauty and terror, innocence and experience, the lamb and the tiger -- suggesting both are necessary parts of creation.
How does "The Tyger" address the problem of evil?
By asking how a benevolent creator could also produce a fearsome predator, the poem raises the theological question of why evil and suffering exist in a world made by God.
What does "The Tyger" suggest about the limits of human understanding?
Every line is a question and none are answered, implying that the nature of creation and the creator's motives may be beyond human comprehension.
How does the poem relate to the concept of the sublime?
The speaker experiences awe mixed with terror at the tiger's power and beauty, which reflects the Romantic concept of the sublime -- something so vast or powerful it overwhelms ordinary understanding.
What is the rhyme scheme of "The Tyger"?
The poem uses rhyming couplets in an AABB pattern throughout its six quatrains, giving it a driving, incantatory rhythm.
What is the dominant meter of "The Tyger"?
Trochaic tetrameter -- four trochees per line (stressed-unstressed), with many lines catalectic (dropping the final unstressed syllable), creating a forceful, hammering beat.
What role do rhetorical questions play in the poem?
The entire poem consists of unanswered questions, which build relentless momentum and convey the speaker's sense of wonder and inability to comprehend the creator's design.
What extended metaphor dominates stanzas three and four?
The creator is portrayed as a blacksmith, using a hammer, chain, furnace, and anvil to forge the tiger, casting creation as dangerous industrial labor rather than gentle artistry.
Identify two examples of alliteration in "The Tyger."
"Tyger Tyger" in the opening line and "distant deeps" in stanza two. The alliteration reinforces the poem's rhythmic intensity and oral quality.
What is the effect of the shift from "Could frame" to "Dare frame" between the first and last stanzas?
It deepens the question from whether the creator had the ability to make the tiger to whether the creator had the audacity, adding a moral dimension to the inquiry.
What does "fearful symmetry" mean in the context of the poem?
"Symmetry" implies deliberate, balanced design; "fearful" means both fear-inspiring and requiring fearsome daring to create. Together they capture the paradox of the tiger as a terrifying yet perfectly crafted being.
What does "aspire" mean in the line "On what wings dare he aspire"?
Here "aspire" means to soar upward or reach ambitiously, evoking the myth of Icarus or Prometheus and suggesting the creator's daring ambition in seizing the fire of creation.
What are "sinews" as used in the poem?
Sinews are tendons or fibrous tissue connecting muscle to bone. Blake uses the word to emphasize the physical, almost anatomical labor involved in constructing the tiger's powerful body.
What is the significance of the line "Did he smile his work to see?"
It asks whether the creator took pleasure in making the tiger, raising the disturbing possibility that God deliberately chose to create something terrifying and was satisfied with the result.
Why is "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" the poem's most important line?
It directly connects The Tyger to its companion poem The Lamb and crystallizes the central paradox: how the same creator could produce both gentle innocence and fearsome power.