the tyger

Does god create both gentle and fearful creatures? If he does what right does he have? Both of these rhetorical questions are asked by William Blake in his poem "The Tyger." The poem takes the reader on a journey of faith, questioning god and his nature. The poem completes a cycle of questioning the creator of the tyger, discussing how it could have been created, and then returns to questioning the creator again. Both questions …

…By switching his rhythm from trochaic to iambic, Blake shows the two possible natures of god, or of the two creators. By using couplets he emphasizes the dichotomy of the poem. By using poetic devices such as euphony, cacophony, assonance, and alliteration he can further develop his question about the nature of god, gentle, or harsh. His rhetorical questions are left unanswered. By doing this he leaves his readers wondering, "Is there really an answer?"