William Blakes

“The Tyger” Essay, Research Paper

Midterm

Even after all these years we as humans still ask why evil exists and where does it come from. As stated in William Blake’s powerful piece of poetry “The Tyger” its hard for us as a people to acknowledge that such a fearsome creature who preys on mankind could have been created by God. In his work Blake approaches the idea of the tiger as being a dark and evil creature created only for destruction

And what shoulder and what art

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And, when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? and what dread feet?

Blake clearly observes the beauty of the creature but seems more drawn to the dark mystery of the creature. During the time period any creature that took human life without regard was considered to be a work of the devil, a creature of Satan, but Blake on the other hand had a different view that was sure to cause an upset in society so many years ago.

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 very idea that God could have created this terrible beast must have border lined on heresy. But when this poem is read along side Blake’s other piece the lamb, we start to see what he means. In the bible there is reference to the Lion laying down with the lamb as a sign of peace, unity and harmony this is perhaps what Blake was referring to when he wrote these two poems. He is perhaps saying that no matter how different we are, or the darkness that may reside with in some we can coexist together because we come from the same place.