The Tyger

By William Blake

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, 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?

***

It is sad to think that the inspiration behind one of William Blake’s most famous works could soon cease to exist in the wild.

When Blake produced his engraved plate, the tiger was probably as much a myth to people in Europe as the phoenix. There was no TV, no photographs or safari holidays; most people’s awareness of these creatures probably stemmed from travelling shows or skins brought back by aristocrats from the British Raj.

However it was that Blake came upon his Tyger, its majesty reached out to the artist and poet inside him. Many believe his Songs of Innocence and Experience represent the two contrary conditions of the human soul; the lamb representative of innocence, the tiger emblematic of the darker force of creation. But what if the roles have changed? the tiger the innocent – man the frightening beast devouring everything.

According to the WWF, there are estimated to be around 3200 tigers left in the wild. What a tragedy it would be if we were responsible for this beautiful animal’s disappearance. And it’s not just tigers that are in peril. In every corner of the planet − on land or sea – animals of all shapes and sizes are directly threatened as a result of human activities. Sharks, whales, rhinos, turtles, albatross – the list is too long.

Having a creative mind, I gain a lot from the environment around me: the wind blowing through the trees; the empty canvass of a remembered landscape that I can colour with words. Thousands of years ago we had a greater symmetry with nature, one that aided our evolution. It is a relationship we need to rebuild in this technological age.

What chance do we have of keeping alive the wilderness within if we destroy the one without?