Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright…

William Blake’s immortal poem on the Tiger:

The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! 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 in 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 watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb, make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

For the literature buffs, there are various interpretations of Blake’s immortal poem.  But here’s the one I like best:  Blakes uses the tiger to depict the good and evil side of humans during the Industrial Revolution in Europe.  The tiger, just as the lamb, are all Nature’s creations, capable of good and evil, and it is up to us to decide which side we want to be on, and how we perceive our fellow beings, human as well as animal.  The tiger is often depicted as a ferocious animal, capable of harming us, and yet, is that really true? 

Do we want to continue perceiving some animals as harmful, and use this as an excuse to harm them?  Or do we want to rise above this conventional perception, and see the good in each animal.  More importantly, see how much good we can do to help them, because we are “superior” in some ways, and this enables us to do more to help the animals. 

Anyway, here’s the Tiger in my house…

Frame thy sweet and gentle symmetry? 

Flashback:

Tiger was rescued in PJ, in Aug, 2006, by a Japanese lady.

Initially, the other cats were hostile to him,
so Bobby took it upon himself to look after little Tiger.

Soon, Cow became his mentor and taught him “the ways of the cat”.

The mentor and the mentee.

Best of friends until today.