Monday, February 11, 2013

Tyger, Tyger, Tyger Tyger Tyger!

William Blake's Poem "The Tyger" makes an interesting point with the line "Did he smile his work to see?" in which the poet seems to be asking God if He deployed the Tyger upon Earth as a means for humanity to discovering God's divine plan. It is ambiguous if the "smile" is that of God or that silly smile the Tyger wears on the accompanying engraving; however, the aim of the question is made clear from the following line "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" which  expresses that the Lamb is clearly Good while it is hard to find the purpose or virtue of the Tyger in the mind of God. In a way, the Tyger is what makes the Lamb virtuous but this relationship is symmetric as the poem implies; that is to say, both animals or modes of existence (fierce or passive) are Good insofar as one cannot defined in allegory without the presence of the Other. In this case, they are both Good because of faith. Faith in the Lord leads one to believe that their is deeper meaning in what inspires terror into our hearts such as the Tyger and that God has given the Tyger to humanity just as God has given us the martyring Lamb. It sounds almost as if the poet is implying that things seem Evil only because we do not have an adequate understanding of their cause (God).

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