Heaven and Hell
For two of the Romantic’s poets, the usage of animals was not just a symbol of nature but one that superseded the natural world and looked beyond to the realms of Heaven and Hell. In this manner, William Blake’s “The Tyger” went in one direction while Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” went in the other. Through imagery of elements and mythological descriptors, both authors gave earthly creatures an unearthly message.
In William Blake’s “The Tyger”, the narrator is praising the physical prowess of a tiger, or tigers as a species. The imagery Blake uses for these fearsome creatures calls forth a picture of Hellfire, such as when the narrator questions “In what distant deeps or skies/ Burnt the fire of thine eyes?/ …What the hand dare seize the fire?” (5-8, Blake). The idea of a tiger being forged in fire is later used, giving rise to the thought that the tiger itself is a creation made in Hell where fire is abundant. This can be seen in the stanza where the narrator continues to question the creation of this large cat, asking “What the hammer? what the chain?/ In what furnace was thy brain?/ What the anvil? what dread grasp/ Dare its deadly terrors clasp?” (13-16, Blake). Hell is seen as a place of fire and brimstone, opposite of Heaven which is shrouded in clouds and air. This is possibly the direction in which Blake was taking when discussing the tiger, where he continues, “Did he who make the Lamb make thee?” (20, Blake). The Lamb in this instance can be both a reference to another poem by Blake but also to Jesus Christ, known as the Lamb of God. After contemplating the creation of the tiger and using frequent references to unearthly creation, especially with the imagery of fire, the narrator seems to wonder whether or not God made the tiger or did Satan in Hell. With descriptors such as “…deadly terror” (16, Blake) and “What dread hand? & what dread feet?” (12, Blake), the narrator wants the reader to draw the conclusion that the tiger is not a creature Heaven-made but rather one from Hell which is why the poem repeats twice “What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” (4, Blake). God is less likely to have made something viewed as fearful while Hellfire produces things which are seen as terrifying.
In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, an old sea captain is cursed to walk the Earth and tell his story to those who will listen. In his story, an albatross follows their ship and is seen as a good omen, one of peace and purity. The bird appears out of the fog and is the only creature seen. Upon first seeing the bird, the narrator tells “As if it had been a Christian soul,/ We hailed it in God’s name” (65-66, Coleridge). As a large, lone, white bird, the albatross is welcomed by the crew, much like a dove of Christian mythology. It’s link to a Christian soul can also be determined from the line “In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,/ It perched for vespers nine;” (75-76, Coleridge). Breaking through clouds can be viewed as coming down from Heaven which is typically imagined as a clouded paradise. The “vespers nine” (76, Coleridge) that the narrator speaks of refers to prayers given but can also signify the phrase “cloud nine” which means a state of elation or happiness that can be associated with Heaven. The bird, however, is shot down by the captain who is then cursed and forced to wear the body of the dead albatross around his neck, much like the story of Jesus Christ who was crucified with arms outstretched. Alongside the story taking place on the open ocean, seen as the opposite of fire, it can be said that the albatross itself is an icon of Heaven and Jesus, a peaceful sign sent by God to the captain who, in his sin, kills the bird, much like the Jews killed Jesus.
Both of these works feature creatures that are linked to the supernatural with both natural imagery but also through use of mythological references such as Christian souls and images of hellfire. Both creatures are also polar opposites in the natural world; the tiger is a creature bound to the earth and is considered an apex predator in its realm, a fearsome beast at the top of the food chain while the albatross masters the skies and sea and although feasts upon fish, sharks and other carnivorous animals can easily make this bird its meal. This adds to the idea of hell versus heaven where the creature from Hell, the tiger, is fearsome and dangerous while the creature from Heaven, the albatross, is gentle and kind.
For both poets, these animals took on a job outside of their natural state and showcased how ordinary creatures can relate the images of Heaven and Hell. For William Blake, his tiger became a beast forged in the fires of Hell and for Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the albatross became a symbol of Heaven and a figure much like Jesus Christ. Both men used the natural state of these creatures and turned them into a means of portraying meaning beyond this world.
Works Cited and Consulted
Blake, William. “The Tyger.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen
Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. 92-93. Print.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” The Norton Anthology of
English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. 430-446. Print.
