“Tyger” is a poem by William Blake that addresses the evil and destructive side of God and his procreations. The ballad consists of queries about God’s nature and the basis of creation using the tiger theme. The philosophical and theological inquiries seek to answer why God developed fearsome and vulnerable animals. The author questions whether a benevolent God can generate violence and death. The composition highlights the wonders of the cosmos genesis, God’s nature, and the deity’s inherent powers. The thesis examines the ambiguous nature of creation by exploring the dangers posed by some of God’s progeny and why predators and prey were developed to coexist in a world meant to be peaceful.
Offspring are a reflection of their creator; thus, there is a reason a benevolent God would create a violent and fearful beast such as a tiger. The tiger was created by an immortal hand thus was not an accident. The author compares the tiger to a weapon by reflecting on the blacksmith who uses fire, a hammer, and an anvil to create elements of destruction (Blake, 2015). Blake uses powerful and fiery images to describe how the tiger was created and is in awe of its physical qualities. God created a perfect and fearful weapon, but the reasons behind the creation are blurred. The poem depicts God as part of his destructive creations; thus, he can be considered not entirely benevolent as he created animals that devoured and frightened other gentle animals.
The author questions the ambiguous nature of creation regarding why God would create chaos in a world designed to be peaceful and orderly. Blake seeks to answer the question by exploring the duality of God and his creations. The author wants readers to ask philosophical questions regarding whether the same creator that created a gentle lamb would simultaneously create a ferocious predator. The two creations represent a necessary union of competing forces as the lamb is akin to holy while the tiger represents evil. God is viewed as the bind between the spiritual and natural world as competing forces stabilize the world.
The poem highlights how the tiger’s fierceness is so overwhelming that the stars throw down their spears and water heaven with their tears (Blake, 2015). This shows that rain is a response to the creation of the tiger and thus is a representation of God’s power. As a benevolent creator, God could not create a world where the tiger and lamb coexisted since it would disrupt the natural balance. The differing qualities of the tiger and lamb, which create the relationship between predator and prey, embody the duality of good and evil. The author calls this fearful union symmetry as it completes God’s idea of a naturally balanced world.
The poem challenges the perfection of God’s creations by alluding that perfection is incomprehensible based on the features of the tiger and lamb. The thesis questions the basis of creation regarding why God allows evil to exist and how the duality of creations maintains natural balance. The tiger is depicted as a ferocious animal, and the lamb is meek; thus, the existence of different features explores the nature of God. The author reconciles the basis of creating evil and good as forces that complement each other, leading to a natural balance. The poem reconciles the idea of God being benevolent with the reality of his creations which are completely odd with his features. The poem does not state a definite answer, thus leaving the readers to decide on the nature of God.
Reference
Blake, W. (2015). The tyger. Poetry Foundation. Web.