Poetry Comparison Essay for IGCSE English Literature (4ET1)

Compare how the writers present theme of fear in The Tyger and Prayer Before Birth.

In Prayer Before Birth and The Tyger, both poets explore fears of the depths of humanity’s evil. While The Tyger questions a non-responsive Christian God how he could have created both a fearful predator such as a tiger, in Prayer Before Birth, the speaker is far more concerned with the fear that society will rob them of their innocence and reshape them into an instrument of violence, highlighting a deeper terror of losing one’s humanity.

The poems explore themes of fear through form, with The Tyger’s playful lyrical form contrasting the speaker’s deep fears, whereas Prayer Before Birth’s use of free verse can better express the speaker’s resignation to the cruelty of the world they will be born into. Firstly, The Tyger’s use of lyricism may at first be deceiving; the bouncing AABB rhyme scheme creates a child-like tone, akin to a nursery rhyme. The opening lines mirror this, with “Tyger, Tyger, burning bright” utilising alliteration. Again, this is creates a playful and light-hearted sound patterning which contrasts with the mature and philosophical nature of the poem, as the speaker wonders what kind of God could have made both predator and prey, perhaps as a wider metaphor for creating humanity, which is also capable of great kindness and great evil. Furthermore, this AABB rhyme scheme might symbolise the aforementioned dualities: predator versus prey; humanity’s goodness versus our capacity for evil; or even the Christian God, both compassionate and punishing. By contrast, Prayer Before Birth uses free verse and thus avoids rhyme altogether, giving the poem a far more bleak and naturalistic tone. The use of free verse may symbolise the unpredictability and senselessness of the world that the unborn child is afraid to enter. Furthermore, the poem indents each line, which creates the visual metaphor of building up to an unstoppable climax, almost as if the unborn child is sliding from one line to the next. This may represent their journey to being born, or it could symbolise their fears of the inevitable way that society will take control of them and “shape” them into a “weapon”.

Furthermore, both poems utilise a tone of horror in their language choices to express their fears of the capability of evil in the world. The Tyger explores its central message in the line: “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” This question is not entirely rhetorical, as the speaker is genuinely asking God to clarify his motivations. The speaker wonders how a God who makes a fierce predator like a tiger can also make a harmless innocent like a “lamb”, which may also be a metaphor for Jesus Christ. This poem could also be read as an extended metaphor for exploring the duality of mankind, which is also both cruel and kind. Blake repeats the word “dread” three times, a word that has connotations of coming horrors in future times, which might be questioning whether God “dread[ed]” the consequences of giving mankind free will. Blake also uses an extended metaphor of blacksmithing with references to “hammer”, “anvil” and “furnace” to portray God like a blacksmith carefully crafting a tiger. Blacksmiths create weapons, so through this metaphor, Blake is suggesting that God has likewise created something capable of harm when he created the tiger, or humanity more broadly. Like Blake, McNiece also considers the horrors of the world more as a consequence of war as this poem was written in 1944 during the Second World War. In the poem, the speaker is an unborn child who is fearful of losing their “shape” and being turned into a “lethal automaton” of war, a “weapon” to be used in a war, devoid of humanity. It is interesting that both poets reference weapons, but McNiece suggests it is society that shapes us into weapons whereas Blake believes it is in our very nature to commit acts of great evil. McNiece blames dictators for the speakers’ fears, particularly with the metaphor of “the man who is beast”, which may symbolize Hitler, or autocrats more broadly. The speaker also believes that their fears will inevitably come true, as shown in the line “when they murder by means of my / hands”. Here, it is not a question of if, but “when”. Not only this, but by making “they” the subject of the sentence and “my hands” the object, McNiece makes the speaker the passive object of the action, showing they feel unable to control their actions. This could also be suggested by the enjambment in this line, as even the sentence slips from one line to the next, symbolising a terrifying loss of agency, as if fear itself has taken control of the speaker’s fate.

Finally, both poems use structural features, particularly repetition, to express their fears. Prayer Before Birth repeats “I am not yet born” as a refrain, which continually reminds the reader that the speaker is an unborn child, a complete innocent yet who is already wishing to be “kill[ed]” rather than be born into the horrors of the world. This refrain is always followed by an imperative, such as “hear me”, “rehearse me” and “forgive me”. Imperatives are typically associated with domination, yet in this poem their tone is more similar to a plea – a plea that goes unanswered. This is similar to The Tyger, which is likewise structured with a series of unanswered questions. Blake might be suggesting that God’s plans or intentions are ultimately unknowable to mere humans – or he may be implying that God is indifferent to our prayers. This is, after all, a God capable of creating a tiger, suggesting a lack of empathy for human concerns. The Tyger also utilises a circular structure, with the first and final stanzas being almost identical, perhaps celebrating the complexity of God and that the questions will never be answered. The only word that has changed is “could” to “dare” to create the tiger. In the first instance, this suggests capability and the second suggests bravery, as the speaker questions if God fears the capabilities of his own creation. A circular structure can create a sense of completion, of something coming whole, yet Prayer Before Birth resists this same effect by ending abruptly on a two-line stanza. Previous stanzas were considerably longer, and this two-line stanza creates a sense of something being incomplete, perhaps just as the child believes their life path has already been decided for them. All opportunities have been prematurely stripped from them, just as the poem’s abrupt ending mirrors the speaker’s fear that their life will be cut short or lived without purpose, dictated by forces beyond their control.

In summary, both Blake and McNiece use fear to explore forces beyond human control—Blake questions a creator’s morality in making both beauty and violence, while McNiece warns of society’s power to corrupt innocence. While Blake’s fear is rooted in divine mystery, McNiece’s is grounded in historical reality, showing how each poet channels fear to expose different sources of human vulnerability.