perhaps in distinction to the flawed nature of both man and most of the world that surrounds him. But the tiger above all represents power, a kind of ruthlessness Blake implies is necessary in the formation of a complete world and of the complete being that man strives to be.

In my view, the most striking lines are the fifth stanza:

When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?

The allusion to tears suggests that heaven regrets having created the tiger. It's the opposite of the lamb, the symbol at the center of traditional Christian belief. Yet God purposely brought the tiger into existence, though in some sense Blake is leaving this an open question, as if he cannot fathom that the tiger was allowed to come into being:

What the hammer, what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?

Everywhere in Blake's work we see dichotomies but also the insistence that opposites must somehow be joined together to form a complete and valid universe. The "Marriage of Heaven and Hell" is perhaps the most significant title of all his works that expresses his philosophy. His "Songs of Innocence" embody only a superficial set of meanings until amplified by the "Songs of Experience."

It is hard to escape the suspicion that the gentler forms of expression throughout Blake's writings are stated ironically, as if to parody the traditional sentiments forming the basis of moral behavior. He mildly addresses the lamb, in asking, "Dost thou know who made thee?" while in "The Tyger" he seems in a frenzy of discovery and realization, announcing that this is the real world, not the mercy and gentleness of the lamb. Probably, however, the definitive point of Blake's work is a theme that merges these diametrically opposed ideas and feelings, one side of which is represented so characteristically and forcefully in "The Tyger."

In the first stanza, the tiger is "fearful." The word "dread" is repeated three times in the poem. The tiger is associated with fear, dread, and terror. Clearly, the speaker is describing the tiger as something to be feared. This leads one to suppose other associations, such as violence or perhaps even evil. 

Note that in the fifth stanza, Blake invokes fallen angels and/or The Fall of Adam and Eve. This suggests that the tiger was created with or after The Fall. Therefore, the tiger comes after the fall from paradise. The tiger is born with the world of sin and experience. The tiger is coeval with the notions of original sin and the first experiences of fallen humanity. In this same stanza, the speaker asks if the same God created both the tiger and the lamb. The lamb is associated with Christ and peace. So, the speaker wonders if the same God could or would create two things so vastly different. The lamb is peace and love and the tiger represents ferocity and violence. Some interpret this poem to be a meditation on God's mysterious ways. Why would an omniscient or all-loving God create a world capable of something so violent? And generally speaking, why would an all-loving God create the potential for violence and suffering?