Page 47 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

“The Tyger”
by William Blake, page 25

Vocabulary
symmetry – equality
sinews – muscles

1. How do the first two lines (called a couplet) contrast?

The first line of this poem mentions the dark “forest of the night,” while the second line
speaks of the “burning” brightness of the tiger’s coloring. Blake is contrasting images of
lightness and darkness to reinforce the tiger’s uniqueness and majesty.

2. The fourth stanza compares the creator of the tyger to what/whom?

The speaker uses metaphor to compare the tyger’s creator to a blacksmith.

3. Unlike in his “The Lamb,” Blake’s “The Tyger” offers no answers for the speaker’s
questions. What does the lack of responses suggest is the poem’s message about creation?

Answers may vary. Example: The unanswered questions suggest that the speaker is in awe
of the creator. It may also suggest that the speaker would rather have the reader
contemplate the difficult questions he asked. The rhetorical questions leave readers
questioning their own creation and deliberating the answers for themselves.

4. How does the speaker present the tyger, as compared to the lamb in Blake’s other poem?

The tyger is more complex and more ferocious than the lamb. It lacks the innocence of the
lamb, and serves as a hunter rather than hunted. Lastly, the tyger is fiery colored, while the
lamb is pure white.

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