Reflection on William Blake's vision in the modern world

WILLAIM Blake is regarded as one of the most widely anthologised poets of the 18th and 19th centuries.

- ZAYNAB NAUSHAD KHAN

His poetry explores powerful themes such as divinity, innocence and experience, social injustice, religious and spiritual beliefs, and political commentary.

One of his most well-known poems, The Tyger, with its central questions about God and creation, can also be examined within the context of the war between Israel and Palestine — or indeed, every other violent conflict currently taking place in the world.

The speaker in the poem describes the fearsome creature of the tiger.

With his characteristic flair, Blake creates a powerful visual impression of the tiger's “fiery” eyes, its “fearful symmetry” and its powerful physique.

The speaker wonders which immortal being could have created such a powerful and terrifying creature, and contemplates the tools used by the creator in completing this destructive masterpiece. He refers to hammers, chains and anvils, suggesting that the tiger was forged in “distant deeps” — meaning hell itself.

As the poem progresses, the speaker struggles to understand the power of the creator of such a fearsome creature — one of the greatest land predators — and to reconcile this image of a terrifying animal with that of a peace-loving God.

This cognitive dissonance becomes an urgent and existential question.