When William Blake sat down to write the poem that became “The Tyger,” he may have been inspired by a recent story about a British army officer whose son was killed by a tiger in December 1792. The tragic incident represented an outburst of seemingly inexplicable violence. What could have compelled the tiger to kill a human being? At its deepest level, Blake’s poem transforms this into a more general inquiry into the origin of wickedness. To pursue this interrogation, the poem’s anonymous speaker addresses the tiger, whose frightening demeanor leads to the famous question: “What immortal hand or eye, / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” (lines 3–4). So begins a line of questioning that eventually leads the speaker to ask if the same being who created the fearsome tiger could have also created the gentle lamb. In asking these questions, the speaker demonstrates an anxious curiosity that leads to skepticism. Despite believing in some kind of creator, the speaker also fears any creative force capable of bringing wickedness into the world. Ultimately, though, the speaker can only speculate about the relative goodness or wickedness of this creator being. The speaker must therefore accept the fundamental mystery and wonder of creation.

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