William Blake’s “The Tyger” Syntax in William Blake’s “The Tyger”

Sentence functions and structures

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? interrogative sentence, rhetorical question fragments complex sentence participial phrase and preposition

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? interrogative sentence, rhetorical question fragments complex sentence participial phrase and preposition

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? interrogative sentence, rhetorical question fragments complex sentence participial phrase and preposition

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? interrogative sentence, rhetorical question fragments complex sentence participial phrase and preposition

In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes 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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions simple sentences prepositions

In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes 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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions simple sentences prepositions

In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes 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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions simple sentences prepositions

And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions fragments compound sentences dependent adverb clause preposition

And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions fragments compound sentences dependent adverb clause preposition

And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions fragments compound sentences dependent adverb clause preposition

And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions fragments compound sentences dependent adverb clause preposition

And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions fragments compound sentences dependent adverb clause preposition

What the hammer. what the chain. In what furnace was thy brain What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

What the hammer. what the chain. In what furnace was thy brain What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions fragments simple sentences preposition

What the hammer. what the chain. In what furnace was thy brain What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions fragments simple sentences preposition

What the hammer. what the chain. In what furnace was thy brain What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions fragments simple sentences preposition

What the hammer. what the chain. In what furnace was thy brain What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions fragments simple sentences preposition

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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions yes/no questions compound-complex sentence simple sentence dependent adverb clause dependent adjective clause preposition

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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions yes/no questions compound-complex sentence simple sentence dependent adverb clause dependent adjective clause preposition

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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions yes/no questions compound-complex sentence simple sentence dependent adverb clause dependent adjective clause preposition

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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions yes/no questions compound-complex sentence complex sentence dependent adverb clause dependent adjective clause preposition

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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions yes/no questions compound-complex sentence complex sentence dependent adverb clause dependent adjective clause preposition

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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions yes/no questions compound-complex sentence complex sentence dependent adverb clause dependent adjective clause preposition

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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions yes/no questions compound-complex sentence complex sentence dependent adverb clause dependent adjective clause preposition

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? interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions yes/no questions compound-complex sentence complex sentence dependent adverb clause dependent adjective clause preposition

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? interrogative sentence, rhetorical question complex sentence participial phrase and preposition

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? interrogative sentence, rhetorical question complex sentence participial phrase and preposition

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? interrogative sentence, rhetorical question complex sentence participial phrase and preposition

Syntactical structures

repetition and emphasis with exclamation points Tyger! Tyger! burning bright, In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? repetition and emphasis with exclamation points participial modifying subject prepositional phrase modifying subject

rhetorical question modal verb to emphasize ironic doubt Tyger! Tyger! burning bright, In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? rhetorical question modal verb to emphasize ironic doubt

In what distant deeps or skies, Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare sieze the fire? question of “where” question of “which” question of “who” rhetorical questions Absence of auxiliary verb “does” emphasizes “dare”

Question marks are used ironically instead of exclamation points In what distant deeps or skies, Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare sieze the fire? Question marks are used ironically instead of exclamation points Modified question form to create parallelism

More rhetorical questions… 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? Repetition of the conjunction “and” emphasizes the quick succession of events More rhetorical questions…

adverb clause indicates the moment of “dread” 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? adverb clause indicates the moment of “dread”

represents separation in nature from what is good 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? caesura represents separation in nature from what is good

More ironic question marks modal verb to emphasize ironic doubt 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? modal verb to emphasize ironic doubt More ironic question marks lack of verbs create fragments which emphasize emotion

lack of verbs create fragments What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? caesura lack of verbs create fragments

Absence of auxiliary verb “does” emphasizes “dare” What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? More ironic question marks Absence of auxiliary verb “does” emphasizes “dare”

adverb clauses indicate the moment of God’s joy (smile) 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? adverb clauses indicate the moment of God’s joy (smile)

inversion adjective clause emphasizes the “almost answer” to the 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? inversion adjective clause emphasizes the “almost answer” to the rhetorical questions

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? These are honest to goodness question marks!!! Use of the auxiliary verbs here makes these questions stand out from the others.

Modal verb “could” replaces the verb “dare” to reinforce the Tyger! Tyger! burning bright, In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? Modal verb “could” replaces the verb “dare” to reinforce the rhetorical nature of the question.