Which British poet wrote 'The Tyger'?

The British poet who wrote “The Tyger” was William Blake.

Blake published the poem in 1794 as part of Songs of Experience, a collection that contrasts with his earlier Songs of Innocence. “The Tyger” asks how a creator could make something so beautiful, powerful, and frightening. Its repeated questions about the tiger’s “fearful symmetry” give the poem its distinctive rhythm and leave its central religious mystery deliberately unresolved.

The poem is often paired with Blake’s “The Lamb,” which appeared in Songs of Innocence. The lamb represents gentleness and innocence, while the tiger suggests danger, energy, and experience. A common mistake is to identify another major Romantic poet, such as John Keats or William Wordsworth, because Blake is frequently taught alongside them. However, the poem’s striking imagery of furnaces, anvils, and forging belongs specifically to Blake’s symbolic world.

Blake was not only a poet but also an artist and printmaker. He designed, illustrated, and often hand-coloured his books, combining words and images in ways that were unusual for his period. Some early copies of “The Tyger” differ in their artwork and details, but the authorship remains firmly attributed to Blake.