The Tiger
William Blake
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
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 water'd 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?
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Poetry Journal Entries
The King Fisher – (Haiku)
The red breasted King
A fish in his beak, he flies
Ripples on the lake
The Lighthouse, She Grieves – (Villanelle)
A candle in the night,
Don’t worry, she is watching!
A darkness-splitting light.
Slim, white tower perched upright,
My gaze does span, searching!
A candle in the night.
Guidance of grounded might,
A beacon that is signaling!
A darkness-splitting light.
On misty nights the light does fight
To find our eyes; relieving!
A candle in the night.
But one night there is no sight,
Oh! How she must be grieving.
A darkness-splitting light.
Darkness still, the second night
Now I know she’s finding
Her candle in the night,
Her darkness-splitting light.
The Stars, They Are His Too – (Sonnet)
It trickles down the streams of time to rest
Upon the eyes of children looking up
The light of burning fires, a cradling nest
The origin of Life and of His cup
An understanding weakened by mere men
Restricted to the inroads of the mind
For He exists within a closed-off den
The fence to keep the unknown from mankind
But like the Good and Evil coexist
Like light does trickle down to bathe us so
He watches over us as sparkling mist
Night skies are dotted with a speckled glow
His presence covers all, not just the blue
And once we leave our Earth we’ll know it true
Of Dualism – (Free Verse)
Of dualism
Manifests
Love enduring
Without rest.
Like seeds would grow to blossom true
Until Time does rear its head
To pick apart the wilting petals.
Fear in a smile’s stead!
The Storm – (Haiku)
Howling and windswept
Trees swaying violently
A wrathful typhoon
Cycle of Meat Farm – (Word Cinquain)
Pigs
Round, generous
Rolling, eating, squealing
Slice them and devour
Food
Ubiquitous Summer – (Haiku)
Beating, hitting heat
Summer noon with Sun perched high
Fades to cool breeze blue
The Metal Man Meets His Father – (Villanelle)
Running hard on heavy feet
Turning, jumping, thrashing
It is him you meet
Deceive you did he? Cheat!
You marvelous, marvelous thing
Running hard on heavy feet
You were told you were elite
Different, evolving
It is him you meet
You will never ever be replete
You are but man's thing!
Running hard on heavy feet
Nuts and bolts and joints so neat
A metal body you are heaving
It is him you meet
Caught; he has you beat!
Who should you be blaming?
Running hard on heavy feet
It is him you meet!
My Den; Protecting - (aba cdc ee ff – quadrametre)
I yield to light and wind and rain
Natural force, it sways me so
The elements I can't contain
But broken hearts are faults of men
And women too; the Human Flaw
Lock myself in a loveless den!
Like prison might protect a man
From enemies outside, it can
I'll protect myself forever
My heart's without any tether
Faux Faces – (Word Cinquain)
Smiles
Wear, fix
Widening, loving, lying
They invite but also
Deceive
The red breasted King
A fish in his beak, he flies
Ripples on the lake
The Lighthouse, She Grieves – (Villanelle)
A candle in the night,
Don’t worry, she is watching!
A darkness-splitting light.
Slim, white tower perched upright,
My gaze does span, searching!
A candle in the night.
Guidance of grounded might,
A beacon that is signaling!
A darkness-splitting light.
On misty nights the light does fight
To find our eyes; relieving!
A candle in the night.
But one night there is no sight,
Oh! How she must be grieving.
A darkness-splitting light.
Darkness still, the second night
Now I know she’s finding
Her candle in the night,
Her darkness-splitting light.
The Stars, They Are His Too – (Sonnet)
It trickles down the streams of time to rest
Upon the eyes of children looking up
The light of burning fires, a cradling nest
The origin of Life and of His cup
An understanding weakened by mere men
Restricted to the inroads of the mind
For He exists within a closed-off den
The fence to keep the unknown from mankind
But like the Good and Evil coexist
Like light does trickle down to bathe us so
He watches over us as sparkling mist
Night skies are dotted with a speckled glow
His presence covers all, not just the blue
And once we leave our Earth we’ll know it true
Of Dualism – (Free Verse)
Of dualism
Manifests
Love enduring
Without rest.
Like seeds would grow to blossom true
Until Time does rear its head
To pick apart the wilting petals.
Fear in a smile’s stead!
The Storm – (Haiku)
Howling and windswept
Trees swaying violently
A wrathful typhoon
Cycle of Meat Farm – (Word Cinquain)
Pigs
Round, generous
Rolling, eating, squealing
Slice them and devour
Food
Ubiquitous Summer – (Haiku)
Beating, hitting heat
Summer noon with Sun perched high
Fades to cool breeze blue
The Metal Man Meets His Father – (Villanelle)
Running hard on heavy feet
Turning, jumping, thrashing
It is him you meet
Deceive you did he? Cheat!
You marvelous, marvelous thing
Running hard on heavy feet
You were told you were elite
Different, evolving
It is him you meet
You will never ever be replete
You are but man's thing!
Running hard on heavy feet
Nuts and bolts and joints so neat
A metal body you are heaving
It is him you meet
Caught; he has you beat!
Who should you be blaming?
Running hard on heavy feet
It is him you meet!
My Den; Protecting - (aba cdc ee ff – quadrametre)
I yield to light and wind and rain
Natural force, it sways me so
The elements I can't contain
But broken hearts are faults of men
And women too; the Human Flaw
Lock myself in a loveless den!
Like prison might protect a man
From enemies outside, it can
I'll protect myself forever
My heart's without any tether
Faux Faces – (Word Cinquain)
Smiles
Wear, fix
Widening, loving, lying
They invite but also
Deceive
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Explanation of Adaptation
The Tiger by William Blake is a poem that explores the nature of good, evil, human nature and the divine. The word 'symmetry' ultimately implies a kind of perfection, something so far removed from "humanity" that it must be divine - the work of God(s). When Blake implores "Did He who made the lamb make thee?", it is a juxtaposition of the innocence of the lamb and the deadly nature of the Tiger.
We are faced with a query of God - but more importantly, human nature. It is in the realisation that both the lamb and the Tiger are made by the same thing - whether God or simply the labeling, naming nature of humanity - that spells the end of innocence.
Did we, as humans, make lamb innocent? Or did God? Did we, as humans, make the Tiger ferocious? Or did God? What the lamb and Tiger have come to symbolize could be a direct consequence of either "possibility" - but it is the understanding that hand in hand with innocence comes its breaking is what I feel is important.
Perhaps, most importantly, is that the Tiger does not just symbolize the opposite of innocence - it symbollizes human nature and the breaking of innocence that must happen to every child. Presumably, Blake does not believe in the concept of Original Sin.
We are faced with a query of God - but more importantly, human nature. It is in the realisation that both the lamb and the Tiger are made by the same thing - whether God or simply the labeling, naming nature of humanity - that spells the end of innocence.
Did we, as humans, make lamb innocent? Or did God? Did we, as humans, make the Tiger ferocious? Or did God? What the lamb and Tiger have come to symbolize could be a direct consequence of either "possibility" - but it is the understanding that hand in hand with innocence comes its breaking is what I feel is important.
Perhaps, most importantly, is that the Tiger does not just symbolize the opposite of innocence - it symbollizes human nature and the breaking of innocence that must happen to every child. Presumably, Blake does not believe in the concept of Original Sin.
Of Tigers and Lambs
Simon, sweat-drenched and all of five feet high, was perched high on the bough of a tree and gripping onto its green parasite, those hanging, creeping tentacles - a decade long death. He peered into the gloomy, moonlit night and jewels of light were winking at him; dew droplets scattered on the jungle canopy. Simon wondered at their beauty, that a million gems could form in this harsh, unforgiving place.
He looked down, seeking the base of the trunk that promised him safety, wondering if he would see those flashing eyes again. Oh, those eyes! They tormented him so, hunted him in mind and body, mocked him from afar in some deep recess of imagination before springing, leaping, pouncing to grip his heart with all the ferocious terror of that whiskered beast, that orange beast.
He groaned and clutched at his head and felt the warm, sticky breath against his cheek. His head snapped right, then left. Nothing. She could not catch him up here. No... a Tiger cannot climb this high.
He looked down, seeking the base of the trunk that promised him safety, wondering if he would see those flashing eyes again. Oh, those eyes! They tormented him so, hunted him in mind and body, mocked him from afar in some deep recess of imagination before springing, leaping, pouncing to grip his heart with all the ferocious terror of that whiskered beast, that orange beast.
He groaned and clutched at his head and felt the warm, sticky breath against his cheek. His head snapped right, then left. Nothing. She could not catch him up here. No... a Tiger cannot climb this high.
A few Haikus
Beating, hitting heat
Summer noon with sun perched high
Fades to cool breeze blue
--
The red breasted King
Without but a splash
A fish in his beak
--
Jellyfish stretched long
With tentacles all trailing
Traps its prey in shock
--
Howling and windswept
The trees sway violently
A wrathful typhoon
Summer noon with sun perched high
Fades to cool breeze blue
--
The red breasted King
Without but a splash
A fish in his beak
--
Jellyfish stretched long
With tentacles all trailing
Traps its prey in shock
--
Howling and windswept
The trees sway violently
A wrathful typhoon
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Adaptation
Poem --> Story
Original:
Original:
| William Blake. 1757–1827 |
| 489. The Tiger |
| 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? |
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Some Poems
My den; protecting - aba cdc ee ff - iambic quadrammetre
I yield to light and wind and rain
Natural force, it sways me so
The elements I can't contain
But broken hearts are faults of men
And women too; the Human Flaw
Lock myself in a loveless den!
Like prison might protect a man
From enemies outside, it can
I'll protect myself forever
My heart's without any tether
aa bb ab - iambic trimetre
To escape the crimson
Journeys without reason
Save for the fatal flaw:
Instead of heart a claw!
Others would be treason,
Opposed to red love's law
For claws instead of heart
Should so remain apart
Unfitness they posess
To spark a happiness
A blackness that would start
In others; a sadness
Do people look into the night? - Villanelle
Do people look into the night?
Bridge the void that time is travelling
A star is calling, gleaming bright
They look upon blotches of white
On blue; the shining songs they sing!
Do people look into the night?
They tremble with life-giving might
Around which we hover in elliptical sling
A star is calling, gleaming bright
The rings of giants are quite a sight
But to compare would be blaspheming
Do people look into the night?
The moon it dances without fright
Reflecting the gift of Sol, shimmering
A star is calling, gleaming bright
Sol, she gives us warming light
And bestows upon the land the living!
Do people look into the night?
A star is calling, gleaming bright.
Father of a metal man - Villanelle
Running hard on heavy feet
Turning, jumping, escaping
It is him you meet
Deceive you did he? Cheat!
You marvelous, marvelous thing
Running hard on heavy feet
You were told you were elite
Unique as well; realizing
It is him you meet
You will never ever be replete
You are but man's thing!
Running hard on heavy feet
Nuts and bolts and joints so neat
A metal body you are heaving
It is him you meet
Caught; he has you beat!
Who should you be blaming?
Running hard on heavy feet
It is him you meet!
I yield to light and wind and rain
Natural force, it sways me so
The elements I can't contain
But broken hearts are faults of men
And women too; the Human Flaw
Lock myself in a loveless den!
Like prison might protect a man
From enemies outside, it can
I'll protect myself forever
My heart's without any tether
aa bb ab - iambic trimetre
To escape the crimson
Journeys without reason
Save for the fatal flaw:
Instead of heart a claw!
Others would be treason,
Opposed to red love's law
For claws instead of heart
Should so remain apart
Unfitness they posess
To spark a happiness
A blackness that would start
In others; a sadness
Do people look into the night? - Villanelle
Do people look into the night?
Bridge the void that time is travelling
A star is calling, gleaming bright
They look upon blotches of white
On blue; the shining songs they sing!
Do people look into the night?
They tremble with life-giving might
Around which we hover in elliptical sling
A star is calling, gleaming bright
The rings of giants are quite a sight
But to compare would be blaspheming
Do people look into the night?
The moon it dances without fright
Reflecting the gift of Sol, shimmering
A star is calling, gleaming bright
Sol, she gives us warming light
And bestows upon the land the living!
Do people look into the night?
A star is calling, gleaming bright.
Father of a metal man - Villanelle
Running hard on heavy feet
Turning, jumping, escaping
It is him you meet
Deceive you did he? Cheat!
You marvelous, marvelous thing
Running hard on heavy feet
You were told you were elite
Unique as well; realizing
It is him you meet
You will never ever be replete
You are but man's thing!
Running hard on heavy feet
Nuts and bolts and joints so neat
A metal body you are heaving
It is him you meet
Caught; he has you beat!
Who should you be blaming?
Running hard on heavy feet
It is him you meet!
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