In William Blake's "The Tyger," how has the poet described the tyger?

William Blake's poem “The Tyger” was an early work from the British Romantic era. Blake included the poem, along with some original illustrations (he was an artist, too), in a poetry collection called Songs of Innocence.

As a Romantic poet, Blake often writes about mystery and the supernatural. His description of the Tyger reflects this. The first stanza of the poem reads:

Tyger, Tyger burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand...

William Blake's poem “The Tyger” was an early work from the British Romantic era. Blake included the poem, along with some original illustrations (he was an artist, too), in a poetry collection called Songs of Innocence.

As a Romantic poet, Blake often writes about mystery and the supernatural. His description of the Tyger reflects this. The first stanza of the poem reads:

Tyger, Tyger burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

After reading these brief but powerful lines, we already know a lot about this Tyger. He is no ordinary “tiger,” as the “burning bright” reference reveals. What kind of tiger would burn brightly? Later in the poem we will find out that this Tyger's eyes were made by an immortal creator from fire.

The term symmetry refers to the Tyger's physical or spiritual being, depending on how we think of it. Is the Tyger physically real? Or is he an immortal being of some kind, such as the angel that eventually became Satan? Either way, we know he is scary and formidable, because he is described as “fearful,” even in the presence of an “immortal hand or eye.”

Later in the poem Blake will make a reference to the rebellious angels' revolt in heaven. The implication is that this Tyger was one of them, and probably the leader, Lucifer.