The Tyger by William Blake

In the poem The Tyger” by William Blake, there are many different sound devices used to help the poet convey the theme of the poem; good and evil. William Blake follows an AABB rhyme scheme, helping to give the effect of two ideas (in this case, good and evil). This rhyming style is the first thing you would notice while reading this poem and it helps give the poem unity and makes it an easier read to follow. It is easily noticeable when lines fall out of the rhythmic pattern, an example of this is when Blake rhymed “eye” with “symmetry”. With the use of apostrophes, the poem acknowledges the use of an unseen force that created this creature. Blake has a number of rhetorical questions in this poem, mostly asking why this unseen force would ever create a creature this evil. He questions why this force would want to include both good and evil in this world. Another poetic device used in this poem is onomatopoeia. This is used when Blake writes the line “And when thy heart began to beat”. Since this poet used the word “beat” in context with the word “heart” you can imagine the sound of a heart beating while reading this poem, giving it a larger effect. Repetition is a large device used in this poem. In the first stanza the poet writes “What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” and this is repeated in the last stanza, with one word changed -could is changed to dare. He changes those two words to add to the intensity of this poem. By repeating these two lines, Blake is able to emphasize the theme of good and evil. Alliteration is also used as Blake often uses words with the letter “i”, and also the letter “r”. Overall, the poet William Blake successfully uses a number of literary devices to convey the theme of his poem of good and evil. This poem was fun to read and was easy to follow because of these