The Tyger The Tyger "The Tyger" is a poem by the English poet William Blake published in 1794 as part of the "Songs of Experience" collection. Literary critic Alfred Kazin calls it "the most famous of his poems", and "The Cambridge Companion to William Blake" says it is "the most anthologized poem in English". It is one of Blake's most reinterpreted and arranged works. The "Songs of Experience" was published in 1794 as a follow up to Blake's 1789 "Songs of Innocence." The two books were published together under the merged title "Songs of Innocence and of Experience, showing the Two Contrary
Blues in the Night cell. As usual with Mercer, the composer wrote the music first, then Mercer wrote the words. Arlen said, The whole thing just poured out. And I knew in my guts, without even thinking what Johnny would write for a lyric, that this was strong, strong, strong! When Mercer wrote "Blues in the Night", I went over his lyric and I started to hum it over his desk. It sounded marvelous once I got to the second stanza but that first twelve was weak tea. On the third or fourth page of his work sheets I saw some lines—one of them