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Tyger by William Blake
Feb. 2nd, 2022 11:11 pm2022 is year of Tiger in Chinese culture, so it seems fitting to post a poem about tiger.
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests 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, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & 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 water'd 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?
I'm reading poems of Emily Dickinson and really like this one:
There are a lot of way to interpret the poem. Perhaps it's a concise depiction of a human's life cycle from a carefree childhood to waiting for the inevitable end. Perhaps it's a lament of lost love. Perhaps it depicts how a person broke down from seeking pleasure to eternal escape. I really like the contrast of the complexities of meaning in contrast to the simple wordings.
Its title was used by the composer Michael Nyman for his soundtrack to the 1993 film The Piano.
( Cut for the video )
The heart asks pleasure first,
And then, excuse from pain;
And then, those little anodynes
That deaden suffering;
And then, to go to sleep;
And then, if it should be
The will of its Inquisitor,
The liberty to die.
And then, excuse from pain;
And then, those little anodynes
That deaden suffering;
And then, to go to sleep;
And then, if it should be
The will of its Inquisitor,
The liberty to die.
There are a lot of way to interpret the poem. Perhaps it's a concise depiction of a human's life cycle from a carefree childhood to waiting for the inevitable end. Perhaps it's a lament of lost love. Perhaps it depicts how a person broke down from seeking pleasure to eternal escape. I really like the contrast of the complexities of meaning in contrast to the simple wordings.
Its title was used by the composer Michael Nyman for his soundtrack to the 1993 film The Piano.
( Cut for the video )
