With government officials looking to arrest or execute anyone supporting the French Revolution, William Blake had to be careful about addressing the war in his writing and art. Despite this, he still manages to get his word out through The Songs of Innocence and Experience. In The Tyger, especially, we get Blake’s view of revolutions. He informs his readers of the ups and downs of revolution; he gives his admiration and his criticisms. Most importantly, he suggests the way to have a successful revolution.

The most obvious image is that of the tyger. The tyger could be represented in many ways, but Blake’s representation of the tyger is best found by comparing it to his representation of the lamb from Songs of Innocence. The lamb is a soft, childlike figure. It was given “clothing,” and was bid to feed on the stream and meadow by its master. Moreso, it is talked down to by the narrator of the poem, and it does not even know who made it. The lamb has more questions than answers. In Blake’s painting, the sheep is in a flock, showing its dependency on a group. The sheep are near a house, civilization, while a child plays amongst the flock, proving them harmless no matter the numbers.

Blake’s tyger, on the other hand, is described as “fearful” and as having “fire” and “deadly terrors.” Instead of being asked the demeaning question of “do you know who made thee?” the tyger is asked what made it, or could contain it. It is asked questions based on reverence rather than an airiness of the narrator. The picture shows an independent tyger walking without another living thing in sight. It can survive in the wild.

Tigers are known to be predators, and therefore could easily eat the sheep, but that is not what Blake wishes to imply. With the question “Did he who made the lamb make thee?” Blake implies a sense of brotherhood between lamb and tyger (20). There are many sheep and one tyger, the sheep are dependent and the tyger independent. It would therefore be easy to draw the conclusion that the tyger could lead and watch over the sheep, and that leads to the true subject of The Tyger: Revolution.

“In what distant deeps or skies / Burnt the fire of thine eyes?” refers to passion, which is the first necessary element for a revolution (5-6). Passion for change to right an injustice upon the people is the most common start of a revolution. “Hammer,” “chain,” and “furnace” are used in the fourth stanza, along with the line “Dare its deadly terrors clasp?” (16). Their usage represents being free from bondage, breaking chains and breaking the restrictions of authority. Revolution was an obvious threat to those in power, and those involved in the movement were often hunted down and killed.

Blake shows his admiration for revolutionaries in the lines “On what wings dare he aspire? / What the hand, dare seize the fire?” (7-8). He compares whoever is capable of giving a revolutionary spirit to Prometheus, who seized the fire of Hephaestus in Greek mythology for the benefit of humanity. Prometheus was, in a way, stronger than the god of gods, Zeus himself, because Prometheus could see the future and had information Zeus wanted. In the end, Prometheus stood up to Zeus’ punishments, which were pretty much self-serving, as with most corrupt leaders, and humanity was able to advance. This parallels what a revolutionary had to go through in Blake’s time.

During the French Revolution, the king and aristocracy on the whole were far more interested in personal gain than the well-being of the common people. The country was falling apart, and the free-thinkers who believed the solution was democracy were branded treasonous. Supporters of the revolution were also killed, which is why Blake never addresses the revolution outright. However, the French Revolution, with all its ideals, went horribly wrong. Blake addresses the downside of the revolution in his poem as well.

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