William Blake · first published 1794
The Tyger
Meaning, complete text, stanza guide, vocabulary, techniques and an explained quiz.
What the poem means
A speaker confronts the terrifying beauty of the tiger and asks what kind of creator could shape both its symmetry and its violence.
The questions move from distant fire to a blacksmith's workshop, turning creation into dangerous physical labour without ever identifying the maker. The changed final verb—from “could” to “dare”—leaves creation as a problem of courage and responsibility, not a solved riddle.
The poem
Spelling and punctuation follow the checked source edition. Stanza links connect the text to the guide and quiz.
Stanza 1. Tyger, Tyger, burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Stanza 2. In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire?
Stanza 3. And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat. What dread hand? & what dread feet?
Stanza 4. What the hammer? what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp. Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
Stanza 5. 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?
Stanza 6. Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Stanza guide
Stanzas 1–6
Across six quatrains, the speaker circles the tiger through unanswered questions. Images of wings, fire, hammer, furnace and anvil enlarge the animal into a cosmic work of art, while the reference to the lamb makes innocence and terror belong to the same created world.
Return to stanza 1 ↑Vocabulary
- symmetry
- balanced proportion or correspondence
- sinews
- tendons that connect muscle and bone
- anvil
- a heavy iron block used for shaping heated metal
Literary techniques
Apostrophe
the speaker addresses the tiger directly
Direct address gives the encounter urgency although the tiger never replies.
Blacksmith imagery
hammer, chain, furnace and anvil
Creation feels forceful, skilled and potentially violent.
Framing refrain
the opening returns with a changed final verb
The near-repetition highlights the move from ability to daring.
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