Figures of Speech in "The Tiger" by William Blake
Figures of Speech in "The Tiger" by William Blake In the poem "The Tiger", the author, William Blake, is describing one of the most powerful and beautiful creatures and praising God's work in the process by using symbols and different figures of speech. The figures of speech that are used are alliteration, metaphor, and anaphora. By using these certain figures of speech, Blake brings the focus to those things that he is so in awe of. Now, Just to give a quick background to the author, we go to Europe 1789-1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire and the Bio website. Blake was born in London, England on November 28, 1757. Throughout his life, he was a "misunderstood poet, artist and visionary" ("William Blake. biography"). He was enormously influenced by The Bible. Blake was always claiming to have had visions, and those visions greatly affected and inspired his writings and also his visual artworks. Close to the end of his life, he suffered from what he called "that sickness for which there is no name." On August 12, 1827, he finally died. Like many artists, Blake was underappreciated in life and, since his death, has become exactly the opposite. His works and "visionary approach" have inspired many different writers and visual artists. So, now it is easy to see why Blake is praising God's creation of the fierce tiger. Blake uses metaphor to describe the strength of the tiger. Blake says that the tiger is "burning bright" (line 1) and that it has fiery eyes. Fire and flames are symbols that make you think of someone having a strong and lively spirit, but fire is also very wild and unpredictable and dangerous. So by comparing the tiger to such things, it really shows how strong the tiger is and how appreciative he is of such a powerful creature. The next device Blake uses is alliteration. In the first line alone, he alliterates the t's and the b's. He does this to bring your attention to it. He wants to put emphasis on those words. "Tiger,