William Blake (1757-1827) Was an Essay

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Technically, the work consists of several poetic devices:

Alliteration: Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright -- Frame Thy Fearful Symmetry.

Apostrophe: Use of apostrophe directing speaker's prose to the tiger.

Metaphor: The tiger has "eyes of fire"

Anaphora: Repetition of "What" at the beginning of sentences or clauses (What dread hand, what the chain, etc.)

Allusion: The immortal hand or eye (God or Satan, Creation or Destruction; Distant deeps or skies; the underworld, heaven.

The overall theme of the poem seems to be that the universe is in a continual process of creation/destruction/creation. Each is a necessary part, and really there is no good or bad about what happens in the natural world, because the natural world is amoral -- it simply is a system in which things must happen in a circular manner. The mood is both somber and stately, with the rhyme scheme propelling the reader through the prose with a lilt, one might even say hymn-like. Repetitive readings of the poem seem to show that the work is more about this creation issue, in this case, the creator of the Tiger, than of the Tigers actions. To actualize, though, humans must go beyond the concept of small positives and negatives and move into a broad sense of time and chronology -- in the creation of a star, some matter is rearranged in order to make it possible for other life; so too must this happen in a micro-scape. Blake does not give us the answer, at least in this poem, but only postulates that an answer is there, and available. We are, however, left with a seminal thought: did the same creator create both the lamb and the Tiger? If so, then the plan for the Tiger must be Creator inspired.

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For Blake, in a way similar to Nietzsche and his idea of the overman, the human imagination is the gateway to self-actualization, to infinity, to eternity. Anyone is capable of it. In another, very visual way, we can see Blake as Plato's teacher, pulling heartily on the intellectual strings of the masses who, living in the infamous Cave are lacking the one thing that will bring them happiness -- enlightenment.

Nietzsche rejected God, for him the idea that there could be a Tiger and a Lamb was proof enough that this contrast zeroed out a benevolent Creator. For Blake, however, "When I am commanded by the spirits, I write." This profound, yet honest conclusion certainly helps us understand the hierarchy of the Tiger within Blake's overall philosophy.

REFERENCES and WORKS CONSULTED

Chesterton, G.K. (2005). William Blake. Cosimo Classics.

Damon, S. (1988). A Blake Dictionary: The Ideas and Symbols of William Blake.

Little Brown.

Frye, N. (1969). Fearful Symmetry -- a Study of William Blake. Princeton University

Press.

Jones, J. (April 25, 2005). "Blake's Heaven," the Guardian. Cited in:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2005/apr/25/williamblake

Rowe, D. (September 30, 2008). "Religion: Why Do People Believe in God?" SodaHead.

Cited in: http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/religion-why-do-people-believe-in-god/blog-228697/

Stacy, J. "William Blake's the TIGER." Cited in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgCVumXD2q8

"The Cave: An Adaptation of Plato's Allegory in Clay." (2008). Bullhead Entertainment.

Cited in: http://www.platosallegory.com/Default.aspx

See the short (3.5-minute) prize winning animation of Plato's the Cave. It will immediately become apparent that Blake, too, was struggling with this very idea -- interesting that in 2,000 years the same questions continually reappear? See: http://platosallegory.com/.....

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