by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
Translation © by Salvador Pila

Tyger Tyger, burning bright
Language: English 
Available translation(s): CAT FRE GER RUS
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 sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?  

What the hammer? what the chain,  
In what furnace was thy 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?

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Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El tigre", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le tigre", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , "Der Tiger", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Thomas Schubert) , "Der Tiger", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Тигр", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 143

El tigre
Language: Catalan (Català)  after the English 
Tigre, tigre, flama llampant,
a les selves de la nit,
quina mà o ulls immortals,
han pogut concebre la teva temible simetria?

A quins mars o cels llunyans
crema el foc dels teus ulls?
Damunt quines ales gosa aspirar?
Quina mà gosa agafar el foc?

I quin muscle o quina faiçó
han pogut tòrcer els tendons del teu cor?
I quan el teu cor començà a bategar,
quina mà temorosa? I quins peus temorosos?

Quin martell? Quina cadena,
en quin forn estava el teu cervell?
Quina enclusa? Quin aferrament temorós
gosa prendre llurs terrors mortals!

Quan les estrelles llançaren llurs llances
i el cel regà amb les seves llàgrimes:
somrigué al veure la seva obra?
El qui creà l’anyell, t’ha creat a tu?

Tigre, tigre, flama llampant,
a les selves de la nit,
quina mà o ulls immortals,
han pogut concebre la teva temible simetria?

Authorship:

  • Translation from English to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2014 by Salvador Pila, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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This text was added to the website: 2014-03-12
Line count: 24
Word count: 145