Response to "The Tyger"

The Poem:

The Tyger by William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare sieze the fire?

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?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

My Response:

From Tyger, To Man

People wonder

Who I am,

What I am,

Where I came from,

But why does

This man who wonders

Of me

Not see

That he is the same

As thee?

For were we

Not all created by

A superior being?

We have all been

Created in

The image

Of this being.

We all are worth

The pondering

Of who,

And what,

And where.

And No One,

Nothing,

Nowhere,

Can change this.

            I chose to write this poem as if the roles in “The Tyger” were switched. Instead of the man questioning how the Tyger was created, I decided to write this poem from the Tyger’s perspective, looking back at the man, evaluating the origin of all life itself. Since “The Tyger” suggests that a supernatural being created life, I decided to go with that theme, as well as the theme of mystery and questioning beliefs to write this letter type of  poem.