TIGER, tiger, burning bright | |
In the forests of the night, | |
What immortal hand or eye | |
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? | |
In what distant deeps or skies | 5 |
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? | 10 |
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 | 15 |
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? | 20 |
Tiger, tiger, burning bright | |
In the forests of the night, | |
What immortal hand or eye | |
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? |
this was the first poem recited to me (or at least I can remember) when I was a toddler by my father, Geoffrey. I was too young to understand the significance of poetry, inner meanings, innuendoes and implications as a young child (I think I remember this from 5 years old) but now 50 years on, my mind is able to take a broader and more mature understanding of this poem.
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