Songs of Experience: The Tyger
Original title: Songs of Experience: The Tyger
kurzbeschreibung
William Blake's 'The Tyger' from the Songs of Experience of 1794, printed around 1825, sets the famous poem within an ornamental border, with a hand-colored tiger crouching along the bottom edge of the sheet.
Description
The title 'The Tyger' sits at the middle of the page, with the English text of the poem running beneath it. A tiger closes off the lower part, looking left in a restless pose, its coat striped in orange and brown. Vines and foliage adorn the frame, while the ground behind is blue. The number '42' appears at the upper right.
Context
This print belongs to Blake's illuminated series Songs of Experience, first issued in 1794; the present copy was pulled around 1825, when the artist printed his works again. 'The Tyger' ranks among the best-known texts of English Romanticism and circles around the question of what kind of creator could stand behind so fearsome a creature.
Impact
Text, decorative frame and colored tiger merge into a dense, almost mystical atmosphere. The strong colors and the animal's lively stance stand in tension with the poem's menacing theme, leaving a powerful visual impression.
Technique
The sheet was printed as a relief etching in orange-brown ink. Hand-coloring with watercolor and shell gold followed, giving each copy its own character.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)