Poetic Device (Alliteration)

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 of 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 they brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

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?

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

In poetry, alliteration is a pattern of sounds that includes the repetition of consonant sounds. An example of alliteration is in William Blake’s poem “The Tyger”. In “the Tyger” Blake uses alliteration to emphasize the fear and dread that the speaker feels towards the tiger. The alliteration of frame thy fearful and dead grasp dare its deadly terrors draws the readers attention to the fear and deadliness that is associated with the tiger in the poem. Also, the alliteration of began to beat suggests the sound of an irregular heart beat instilling a subconscious anticipation and fear.