Lyric Poem · Nature
The Tyger
by William Blake · 1794
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 seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And, when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and 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 watered 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?
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“The Tyger” by William Blake — quilloak.com/poems/the-tyger
Quick facts
- Poem
- The Tyger
- Poet
- William Blake
- Published
- 1794
- Length
- 24 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Rhyming Poems
- Themes
- Nature, Life
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 24 lines · 6 quatrains
- Line length
- Mostly 7-syllable lines.
- Refrains
- “Tyger, tyger, burning bright”“In the forests of the night,”“What immortal hand or eye”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- William Blake1757–1827
- Source record
- PoetryDBThe Tyger by william-blake, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1794
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 3df9e133090c3a17…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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