Poem of the day. William Blake - The Tyger
The Tyger
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?
William Blake is an English poet, painter and engraver, author of original series of lyrical and epic poems illustrated by himself. Although he does not receive recognition during his lifetime, he is now considered as one of the first and most significant representatives of the emerging romanticism. To a great extent unrecognized throughout his life, Blake is now considered a fundamental figure in the history of poetry and art from the age of Romanticism. There is an opinion that, thanks to his virtues, formed at least the popular amongst readers poetry in English. His visual artistic drives a critic of contemporary art to proclaim him "beyond the greatest artist that Britain has ever have." In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in a BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Although he lived in London all his life (except for three years in Fleffim, he created a variety of character-rich works that encompass imagination as "the body of God" and "the essence of human existence." Considered crazy of contemporaries because of his views, Blake received strong support later by critics for his expressiveness and creativity, as well as for the philosophical and mystical influences in his work: his paintings and poetry were characterized as part of the pre-Romantic movement in the 18th century, Blake was influenced by the revelations of the French and American Revolutions, but was hostile to the Church of England (in fact hostile to all forms of organized religion). of these political beliefs, he maintains good relations with political activist Thomas Payne and was also influenced by thinkers like Emanuel Svedborg, and despite these influences on his creativity, Blake's unusual work makes it difficult to classify. William Rosetti, a famous 19th century scholar, characterized him as "glorious luminaires"
Ah William Blake! One of my all time favorites! My favorite phrase in the poem: 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?
I think he smiled.
You believe in a cruel God?
No. A vastly creative God.
I thought you were saying He would smile at the suffering wrought by his creation. It must be with sympathetic eyes.
No, I think creation is immense, wonderful, awe-inspiring, terrifying, and many other adjectives too numerous to mention!
Why then do you think He in Heaven would "smile His work to see"? I don't understand.
I think God or the gods have a great sense of humor. Which would explain why humans, made in their image, also have a sense of humor. We make labels like good, bad, ugly; God rejoices in creating and I don't think he labels things.
Imagine the confessor come to the bed of a child in the delirium of scarlet fever to offer such comfort. Isn't the senseless pain and death of a child a definitive evil?
"Why do I hurt?" "It is God's will" "What did I do to die?" "Nothing" "I'm scared" "Rejoice!" [Weeping] [Laughter]
What cruel comfort! don't you think? Malevolent.
beautiful post and also give direction to others
thanks