Detailed Examination of. The Tyger . by William Blake
I will now examine the poem from the experience of an Engineer who has seen working furnaces and as in my opinion Blake intended it to be understood.
THE TYGER,
Taken from the original script in Blake's notebook but including a verse which was never published.
Tyger Tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye.
Could frame thy fearful symmetry.
Blake came to a blast furnace possibly in evening light in The North Weald. He saw the symmetrical structure and the glowing tuyere and access holes and was in awe at the quite frightening scene of men working the furnace. Tigers are not symmetrical their markings are random. Blast furnaces are normally very symmetrical structures, with access holes through which the red hot interior can be seen.
They are also very frightening environments if not accustomed to them.
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?
Here Blake sees the glowing metal through the holes at the base of the furnace.
Then the men would poke tools into the embers to shake the inside to get the slag to settle away from the molten iron. There is nothing in this verse that could apply to a tiger.
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.
Here Blake is watching the half naked men sweating away in working with the terrifying heat of the molten metal and he is conveying the feelings and physical stress of the workmen.
Unpublished verse.( from Blake's Original note book)
Could fetch it from the furnace deep
And in thy horrid ribs dare steep
In the well of sanguine woe?
In what clay& in what mould
Were thy eyes of fury roll’d ?
Blake sees the molten iron released from the furnace and it rolls down channels cut in the clay or sand on the floor which are the ribs and into the clay moulds. The red (sanguine) eyes of the furnace are released and the molten iron rolls down into the moulds. There is no connection to a tiger.
What the hammer what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
After the iron has cooled and solidified a large hammer is used to break each bar from its mould and adjoining bars. Chains are involved in lifting some very large hammers and for lifting the iron bars. No tiger here.
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?
Did God smile to see the awful suffering of workmen in the Furnace area.
And Blake queries if God who made the Lamb (Jesus), could he also make the frightening fiery Blast Furnace with men toiling to work it . Showers of red hot metal and sparks are often expelled from furnaces descending like tears from on high.
Blake is asking the question.
He was often controversial on religious matters.
Tyger, Tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What Immortal hand & eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Blake repeats the first verse but in the final line changes “could” to DARE.
He asks the question whether Gods immortal hand or eye could be responsible for constructing this terrible beast of a blast furnace.
He was obviously moved by what he had witnessed.
Blake's picture of a tiger in his published work does not look like a fierce beast, more like a child's stuffed toy. He was a skilled artist and could have shown it as a ferocious beast baring its teeth had he intended that.
Conclusion.
It is my opinion that Blake could only have written the poem if he had had first hand knowledge of a blast furnace and the horrible experience of men working in such terrifying difficult conditions. His collection of poems in Songs of Experience were based in the main on real life experiences not on visions.