THE TYGER

Metaphor- the Ambiguity of Meaning is the Purpose and Pleasure of the Text. Consider and Evaluate the Different Possible Interpretations of 'The Tyger'

Metaphor- the Ambiguity of Meaning is the Purpose and Pleasure of the Text. Consider and Evaluate the Different Possible Interpretations of 'The Tyger'

Introduction

''The Tyger'' written by William Blame, published in 1794, belongs to song of experience. It is a lyric poem, which centres on the creation of God and nature. ''The Tyger'' has multiple meanings, getting complex on the symbolic level, suggesting distinct meanings. It appears that Blake wanted to make his readers enjoy the ambiguity so that readers can interpret it in many ways; this was ranging from “The Tyger” representing a force of energy whether good or evil, alluding to late 1700's events. Where, the readers are open to drive their individual response, thus leaving metaphors to operate in dynamic and exciting ways.

Regardless of this metaphorical meaning, the aesthetic shaping of the poem is satisfying and in a way tries to hold in a variety of readings, which change according to readers and different eras. Blake's poems are short and of regular form, along with the use of meter as rhyme of children. The six quatrains and four-line stanzas rhymed AABB, like the alliteration “burning bright” rhymed with “of the night”, so that they are each made up of two rhyming couplets, which is so perfect and in a symmetrical form reflects the poems interest in putting opposites together to find out how good and evil or any opposites co-exist.

Discussion

“The Tyger” being the Songs of Experience, is about the nature of creation, much as is Blake's earlier poem from the Songs of Innocence, “The Lamb”. “Little lamb, who made thee”, which points to merely the opposition made from “The Tyger” and takes on the gloomy side of creation, when its benefits are less apparent than simple bliss. Blake's poems pose the simplicity in the language and use of words, which contradict to the complex ideas that are enfold in the poem. This poem is a direct counterpoint to "The Lamb”, showing two opposing states of the human soul with respect to the creation or perhaps the lamb, seen as a metaphor for an innocent child. It is compared to Jesus, the 'lamb of god' as stated in the poem “he became a little child”. Blake by posing such idea encompass the belief that every human in the world has to pass through the innocent stage, such as of a lamb, and absorb the divergent circumstances of the life, like the tiger, in order to attain a elevated level of consciousness. “Did he smile his work to see? “In any case, Blake's vision towards the poem is to underline the artistic force in the universe that is creating a balance of innocence and experience in the world.

In the poem by Blake, speaker is never defined; one analysis could be that the poet is stumbled upon the beast inside himself that frightened him while walking through the forest, ...