William Blake Group

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heydee
Teacher
Community / Jr. College

Why has Blake chosen a tiger for this poem, instead of other animals which may have similar characteristics?

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Posted by heydee on Saturday September 12, 2009 at 6:35 PM and tagged with characteristics, the tyger, william blake.

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  1. mstultz72 Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The "Tyger" is chosen, I think, because it is not only the most beautiful of all big game animals but because it leads a solitary life, unlike a lion, which hunts in prides.

    Blake's poetry is fraught with double meaning to parallel the duality of God, who is both wrathful and loving, here and not here.  As a side note, T. S. Eliot and Flannery O'Connor also depict Christ as a soul-hungry tiger, hunting man for his soul.

    Also, there is duality with the tyger's stripes.  Only in the jungle is he camouflaged.  The black against orange is a dead giveaway in open space.  A lion doesn't need them on the safari.

    What created the stripes?  God?  The tiger itself?  Is it the supernatural or nature?  Not only that, but who created them so perfectly, so beautifully?  These are existential questions that just don't originate by watching a male lion sleep away the day.

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    Posted by mstultz72 on Sunday September 13, 2009 at 6:46 AM