Tyger (heraldry) to have its home in Hyrcania in Persia and its swiftness is supposed to have given its name to "tygris", the Persian word for "arrow", and to the swift River Tigris. If pursued by a tyger, it was supposed to be possible to get away from it by leaving a mirror, which would perplex the tyger. The spelling appears in William Blake's poem "The Tyger". Although his illustration is more like a real tiger than the mythical one, the two are completely different. Tyger (heraldry) Tyger, also known as heraldic tiger is a beast used as a charge in heraldry.
Burning Bright was too long and too literary by the producers of the play led to the change to the shorter excerpt from the same poem: "Burning Bright". Friend Ed has been pointed out as one in a line of characters inspired by Steinbeck's best friend Ed Ricketts. At the time Steinbeck wrote "Burning Bright", Ricketts had recently been killed in a car accident, and as well as reflecting his friend's character in that of Friend Ed, it is thought that the settings of the circus and the sea may have had significance for Steinbeck: he had apparently been at the circus