Summary

“The Tyger” opens with an apostrophe, or direct address, to the “Tyger Tyger, burning bright” (1), with the speaker asking what “immortal hand or eye” (3) could create the Tyger’s “fearful symmetry” (4). The second stanza focuses on “the fire” (6) of the Tyger’s eyes, wondering from what “distant deeps or skies” (5) it comes before questioning the aspiration and daring of he who would “seize the fire” (8) to use it in the Tyger.

The third stanza continues the line of questioning about the qualities and capabilities necessary for the Tyger’s creator, asking “what shoulder, & what art” (9) could bind the tissues, or “twist the sinews” (10), of the Tyger’s heart. The stanza ends with the Tyger’s heart beginning to beat, followed by a pair of ambiguous questions: “What dread hand? & what dread feet?” (12). Though unclear what role these body parts played in the act of...