Tiger 

 William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forest of the night

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?



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?



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?



What the hammer? what the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?



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?



Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

ترجمه فارسی

ببر!،ببر!
فروزان و پرشکوه در تاریکی جنگل بخرام.

ببر!
کدامین نیروی جاویدی جوهر ترسانت را سرشته است؟
کدامین چشمی به جلال دیدگان تو می رسد؟
ببر!
در کدام آسمانی فروغی به درخشانی چشمان تو یافت می شود؟
در کدام اجاقی آتشی به درخشنده گی چشمان تو می فروزد؟
با کدامین بال می توان به مانند تو برجهید از خاک؟
کدام چنگالی به پای چنگال دهشتناک مرگ بار تو می رسد؟
کدام چنگالی آتش پنجه افکندن های تو را دارد؟
کدام تذهیبی توان نگاردن تاروپود پوستینت را؟

آنگاه که ستاره ها از آسمان
 نیزه های سیمینشان را به پایین پرتاب می کنند،
و دوزخ اشک هایش را،
آیا آن سرشتنده ی جاوید
به چنین مخلوقی با غرور نمی نگرد؟
و آیا او، هم او نیست که بره ی ملوسی را آفرید؟

ببر!،ببر!
فروزان و پرشکوه در تاریکی جنگل بخرام.

ببر!
کدامین نیروی جاویدی جوهر ترسانت را سرشته است؟

Poem Analysis: The Tiger

This ambivalent controversy continues on through the whole text. Humanity has no place in his metaphors. This strong use of language gives this piece of literature a spiritual or even religious layer of meaning. In combining tones of terror and awe and by using the symbol of the tiger as a dangerous animal and predator, Blake achieves to bring his point across in a very accessible way. In fact he speaks about the �jing and jang�, the thin line between good and evil, which characterizes life. The supernatural vocabulary Blake uses to describe his �beast� allows no other interpretation than something really big. tiger and associates it with the destructive but essential and warms donating element fire. The medium he uses brings the reader into an imaginary world of raw, primal and untouched nature as it was supposed to be just after genesis. He suggests his picture of mankind, as he deeply fears the wild and instinct dominated part of peoples mind but is pleased and full of euphoria about the beauty and divinity of creation.

It is significant that Blake chooses the word "dare" in the last line, instead of "could" because once again it emphasizes the concept of ambivalence in relationship to creation.

I like this poem because its imagery of the fiery creature, a beast, which lives in the shadows and dark hours of life, works perfectly for me.

comments:

The poem "The Tyger" is a criticism of the Industrial Revolution by Blake. Picture the caution stripes on a freight train, yellow and black. The Tyger is not an animal, that's why he spelt it with a 'y'. Symmetry refers to the fact that a tiger is the only perfectly symmetrical animal on earth, giving it a sense of awesome power and uniqueness. "on what wings..." and "what hand dare seize the fire" refer to Icarus and Prometheus, two Greek heroes. Icarus challenged the Gods by creating flight, and Prometheus gave mankind fire, and hence the ability of science.
"shoulder" and "art" are opposites, the first being strength, the second being knowledge. Blake is saying that to create such a 'creature' one must be extraordinary in both these things.
"and when thy heart began to beat" is the ignition, the beginning of the mass productions that spawned in England. The "dread hands" and "dread feet" shows the rapid progression to a full bodied creation. The poem then shows the 'tyger' that we (man) have created, and how we lost control of it. "in what furnace was thy brain?" shows it has a mind of its own, in a place no man can go to switch it off. This juggernaut that is plundering out of control composed of all things industrial; chains, hammers, anvils, furnaces.
"Stars throwing spears" is comets, a thing a mystery. They have always appeared at great events, like the fall of the Roman Empire. "did He smile" refers to mankind again, blake believed we made God from the good things we did. In this stanza, blake is asking if we a proud of what we have done, if we like the smog and the overpopulation and the horrific occurrences brought on my the industrial revolution.
The last stanza is there to reiterate his point, and leave you pondering this enigmatic poem. The "Dare" is a warning not to let such an atrocity happen again.

The Tyger by William Blake is a poem that expresses how much William Blake hates the industrial revolution: What immortal hand or art could twist the sinews of thy heart? means what god could allow something like this to start and spin out of control? Twist the sinews basically means to make the muscle and bone. The Tyger is also asking if god is really perfect to let such a thing happen? Who created the tyger? God, the devil or a combination of the two. He thinks the combination. And what shoulder and what art refers to opposites: brains and brawn. God and the devil are opposites. It is also literal though, in that you need smarts and strength to create the industrial revolution. The tyger also refers to how beautiful and evil the tyger is, it is good, because of improvement in technology, or is it awful because of pollution (though he didn't know this) and weapons. It also wonders if perhaps we stole technology from god when it refers to Prometheus and Icarus. And, at the end of the poem, wondering when the world finally (not yet) saw the worst side of the revolution, was this greater being pleased? How could someone who created love and peace create this tiger of beauty, power, destruction, and dependency?

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