Analysis on the Poem "The Tiger" by William Blake

Essay by UnusualSuperFlyJunior High, 9th gradeA+, March 2008

download word file, 2 pages 3.7 3 reviews

Downloaded 28 times

"The Tiger" is one of the most beautiful descriptive animal poems that was ever written. The poet describes the tiger as a powerful and almost immortal being. "What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?" He compares the creator of this wild beast with the creator of the innocent lamb. "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" The poet describes the tiger as a living, breathing fire that walks brightly through the forest. "Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright, in the forests of the night." He is amazed at how God could have tamed fire and turned it into this magnificent creature. "What the hand dare seize the fire."The poet, William Blake, uses a lot of rhyme in this poem. Rhyming couplets are found throughout the poem. "What the hammer? What the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? What dread grasp, dare its deadly terrors clasp?" William Blake never uses the same rhyming sound twice.

Every couplet has a different rhyming sound. All in all, the rhyming scheme is very well structured. Compared to other poems of the same length, there is a lot more rhyming. The rhyming helps the poem sound good and it allows the reader to enjoy the poem even more. For example: "Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright, in the forest of the night," but if you had, "Tiger! Tiger! Burning brightly, in the forest of the night," it doesn't sound as good.

"The Tiger", like some other poems, has a steady rhythm, or beat. The first three lines all have seven syllables in all and in most of the stanzas, there are seven syllables. Sometimes a stanza has eight or six, but mostly seven syllables. This poem has an extremely enjoyable and beautiful rhythm. When people enjoy reading...