Thursday, October 04, 2007

Poems and Animals

As today is National Poetry Day and also World Animal Day I thought that perhaps I would combine the two in a poem I remember from my school days:-

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 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?

Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

William Blake (1757 - 1827)

1 comment:

  1. I've always liked this poem too, we had to learn it by heart when I was at primary school many moons ago. I've just read your comment on Land of the Iceni and I know what you mean about Flag Fen, I did a two day course there on herbs a year or two back and we used the Iron Age round house to work in. I took the opportunity to explore the whole site and it was fascinating and definitely a cut above the Iceni Village:)

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