It would be hard, if not impossible, for any genuine lover of poetry not to love Blake. He really is the real deal when it comes to works that are visionary, insightful, and full of rhythm. Nice reading, David.
Blake was one of my primary influences, then I discovered that I have a number of Blakes in my family tree, including my great-great-grandfather on my father's side. And there were some very mysterious synchronicities in my life, related to Blake.
Several years ago I visited a tiger sanctuary run by Buddhist monks. The tigers were not caged, and humans and tigers mingled freely with one another. Tigers like water, and there were several pools of clean water for them. I sat briefly at the edge of one of these pools, close enough to a large male to feel his breath on my face. His fur, although it looked smooth, was actually coarse to the touch. The sanctuary is no longer there. The government shut it down.
At the monastery where I had been
a monk, there was a statuary group. A great cobra was sheltering the Budda as he preached from under its hood. Deer lay listening beside leopards and tigers, and monkeys danced and played their flutes. It was a grand vignette of Gold illuminating our Age of Iron.
I love Blake for his complete unwillingness to compromise his integrity. And his very personal take on Christianity. In many ways he was a tyger himself: a tyger of faith!
'The tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.'
It bears noting that "The Tyger" has a companion poem, "The Lamb," and that Blake refers to the companion poem when he asks, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" Blake was asking, "Did he who made the lamb make thee, a ferocious predator, to rip it to shreds and eat it?" Blake was not a fan of the biblical creator-god, whom he called Nobodaddy and equated with the Devil. So this seemingly innocent poem is not so innocent, after all.
I have written poems about Blake's tyger:
evol-u-shun
by michael r. burch
for and after william blake
does GOD adore the Tyger
while it’s ripping ur lamb apart?
does GOD applaud the Plague
while it’s eating u à la carte?
does GOD admire ur brains
while ur claiming IT has a heart?
does GOD endorse the Bible
you blue-lighted at k-mart?
In the segmented title “evol” is “love” spelled backwards: thus “love u shun.” The title questions whether you/we have been shunned by a "God of Love" and/or by evolution. William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” questions the nature of a Creator who brings innocent lambs and savage tigers into the same world.
***
dark matter(s)
by Michael R. Burch
for and after William Blake
the matter is dark, despairful, alarming:
ur Creator is hardly prince charming!
yes, ur “Great I Am”
created blake’s lamb
but He also created the tyger ...
and what about trump and rod steiger?
Rod Steiger is best known for his portrayals of weirdos, oddballs, mobsters, bandits, serial killers, and fascists like Mussolini and Napoleon.
It would be hard, if not impossible, for any genuine lover of poetry not to love Blake. He really is the real deal when it comes to works that are visionary, insightful, and full of rhythm. Nice reading, David.
Blake was one of my primary influences, then I discovered that I have a number of Blakes in my family tree, including my great-great-grandfather on my father's side. And there were some very mysterious synchronicities in my life, related to Blake.
His 'thirteeners' are a bit difficult to take though.
My mom used to read this to me at bedtime, when i was wee.
If your mother had read my note above, she might have chosen another poem for bedtime. ;-)
Several years ago I visited a tiger sanctuary run by Buddhist monks. The tigers were not caged, and humans and tigers mingled freely with one another. Tigers like water, and there were several pools of clean water for them. I sat briefly at the edge of one of these pools, close enough to a large male to feel his breath on my face. His fur, although it looked smooth, was actually coarse to the touch. The sanctuary is no longer there. The government shut it down.
At the monastery where I had been
a monk, there was a statuary group. A great cobra was sheltering the Budda as he preached from under its hood. Deer lay listening beside leopards and tigers, and monkeys danced and played their flutes. It was a grand vignette of Gold illuminating our Age of Iron.
Bob, you are full of surprises, as well as good poetry.
I love Blake for his complete unwillingness to compromise his integrity. And his very personal take on Christianity. In many ways he was a tyger himself: a tyger of faith!
'The tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.'
Another very nice reading, BRAVO!
It bears noting that "The Tyger" has a companion poem, "The Lamb," and that Blake refers to the companion poem when he asks, "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" Blake was asking, "Did he who made the lamb make thee, a ferocious predator, to rip it to shreds and eat it?" Blake was not a fan of the biblical creator-god, whom he called Nobodaddy and equated with the Devil. So this seemingly innocent poem is not so innocent, after all.
I have written poems about Blake's tyger:
evol-u-shun
by michael r. burch
for and after william blake
does GOD adore the Tyger
while it’s ripping ur lamb apart?
does GOD applaud the Plague
while it’s eating u à la carte?
does GOD admire ur brains
while ur claiming IT has a heart?
does GOD endorse the Bible
you blue-lighted at k-mart?
In the segmented title “evol” is “love” spelled backwards: thus “love u shun.” The title questions whether you/we have been shunned by a "God of Love" and/or by evolution. William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” questions the nature of a Creator who brings innocent lambs and savage tigers into the same world.
***
dark matter(s)
by Michael R. Burch
for and after William Blake
the matter is dark, despairful, alarming:
ur Creator is hardly prince charming!
yes, ur “Great I Am”
created blake’s lamb
but He also created the tyger ...
and what about trump and rod steiger?
Rod Steiger is best known for his portrayals of weirdos, oddballs, mobsters, bandits, serial killers, and fascists like Mussolini and Napoleon.