Discussion Questions on Blake's "The Tyger" (pp. 129-130)
What is the verse form? How does the versification contribute to the effect of the poem? (Be prepared to read it aloud in order to make your points.)
Blake was extremely familiar with Milton. To what character in Paradise Lost could line 7 ("On what wings dare he aspire?") allude? What is suggested about the "immortal hand or eye"?
What figure in mythology could be alluded to in line 8? What is suggested about the "immortal hand or eye"?
In the third stanza, how is the "immortal hand or eye" personified? That is, what is the occupation of a person who uses a hammer, furnace, and anvil? What is suggested about the "immortal hand or eye"?
Blake was extremely familiar with Milton. To what event in Paradise Lost could lines 17 & 18 allude? What is suggested about the "immortal hand or eye?"
In this poem, Blake provides his own discussion questions throughout. What is your answer to the two in the fifth stanza?
The first and last stanzas differ only in a single word. What is the significance?
What characteristics of the Romantic era can be seen in this poem?
