Blake
depicts the tiger as a ferocious yet beautiful beast in . The speaker addresses the tiger and
wonders who made it in such fearful symmetry. Tigers are known to be fierce animals, so the
word fearful fits in with the typical view. However, symmetry suggests a perfection in the
tigers makeup. Blake is suggesting that although the animal can be vicious, there is beauty in
the balance and proportion that went into its creation.
The speaker also
refers to the fire of thine eyes which adds to the ferocious picture of the tigers nature. He
continues to question who molded the brain and the heart of the tiger. Because Blake uses an
extendedof a blacksmith wielding the hammer and working with the chain and the anvil, there is a
suggestion that the tiger is almost indestructible. Blacksmiths typically work with metals;
therefore, the tiger is strong like metal that has been forged in a furnace.
The speaker is in awe of the tigers beauty, yet he recognizes its danger. He even
questions whether the same blacksmith (God) made the lamb (a reference to another of Blakes
poems). Is it possible that the same God who made an innocent creature such as a lamb could also
make such a fierce creature as a tiger? Thus, the poet questions God. What immortal hand or
eye/ Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
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