Tiger in the night March 15, 2013
She posted her second positive poem in a row, alluding to what
she once claimed was here favorite poet. William Blake
In referencing one of the most iconic poems in English
literature, she is making a powerful statement on the nature of good and evil.
In his poem, Blake is questioning the wisdom of God in much
the same way Job did in the Bible, asking how the same hand that made the sheep
also make something as dangerous and evil as the tiger.
At the same time, Blake admires the potency and power of the
tiger, an alluring symbol of strength.
In her poem, she draws on this same potent image of the tiger,
creeping into her life at night “that carries me with all its might,” full of fear,
terror and yet a sense of incredible strength.
It is easy to read into her poem the comparison between the
tiger and her ambition, and the flame that – even in her most pessimistic
outlook – cannot be or has not yet been extinguished, and even in the deepest
dark of night, she still catches the spark of it, the tiger moving, even when
what she seeks still eludes her.
Her reaching out to Blake – from whom she draws strength and
hope – is also a reaching out into her past, from lessons taught – when she
still foresaw greatness ahead – her Personal Legend, as her other hero, Coelho
put it.
“Everyone when they are young knows what their Personal
Legend is,” Coelho’s King of Salem points out. “At that point in their lives,
everything is clear, and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream,
and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their
lives. But as times passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it
will be impossible for them to realize their personal legend.”
In one of the darkest times of her life, she seems to be saying
that there is still a spark left of what she envisioned when she was younger.
At the same time, she struggles with doubt as to whether she
can actually attain it in the real world.
This spark, no doubt, came from her recent success at
putting together the international women’s day event.
The poem finds it strange that she can still find enlightenment
after having been in the dark for so long. This may also allude to a new lover,
who is also offering her hope and encouragement.
This light of hope is something primitive, “fearsome” and
yet offering something “better” in fight for life.
The use of the word “unrequited” in this context suggests how
much she has dedicated to this pursuit of happiness, which fate has not
returned to her with her desire for success.
This may well allude back to several of her previous poems
about her pursuit of a married man, whether to keep this unactuated in her head
or to pursue, love on her part as yet unrequited in regard to him.
This idea of tiger in her, this ambition, still survives puzzles
her. Why has it not faded into a pool of despair?
Night, after all, has always brought out her most primitive fears.
Somehow, she is also making a comment about how her ambition
may seem terrible or wrong to other people, fearsome, frightening in appearance,
yet its survival brings her hope for the future.
Since her most recent poems have mostly been variations of a
love poem, this spark of hope may well be in the guise of a person, someone
helping her without asking for anything back. But it is keeping her from
falling back in a fit of despair.
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