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By Leslie Norris
ABOUT THE POET
The few steps of his cage,
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
2. He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where the plump deer pass,
3. He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle’s edge,
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!
4. But he is locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars,
stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors.
5. He hears the last voice at night ,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.
Stanza 1
1. How does the tiger look like?
He looks majestic as he moves slowly and quietly in his cage with prominent stripes on his body. He moves noiselessly because his paws are soft like velvet.
2. Why does the poet say ‘he’ for the tiger?
Here, the poet uses ‘he’ because the tiger is personified. Personification is a poetic device.
3. Pick out the poetic devices in stanza 1?
Quiet rage - The tiger is angry but quiet because he is helpless inside the cage and cannot avenge the humans who have shut him in the cage. It is an expression of helplessness. The two words quiet and rage are opposite in nature therefore the poetic device used is oxymoron.
Stalks - to move slowly and quietly.
Rage - anger.
Stanza 2
4. Where should the tiger live and what should the tiger do?
Now the poet suggests that the cage is not the natural habitat for the tiger. The tiger should be sitting under some thick bushes near a stream waiting for its prey as it comes there to drink water and then the tiger will slide silently through the grass and kill it. The second stanza is filled with vivid imagery.
Plump deer - a big fat deer
Lurking - to wait somewhere secretly.
Stanza 3
5. What will happen when the tiger escapes the jungle?
White fangs - white teeth of the tiger
Baring - opening wide.
Stanza 4
6. What actually is the situation of the tiger?
7. What does the tiger do at night?
The tiger hears the last voice of the zoo keeper at night who comes to feed the animals. Then the tiger hears the noise of patrolling cars in the city. The tiger has the dreams of being free in its ‘brilliant eyes’ as it sees the stars ‘brilliant stars’, with the eyes. The repetition of these words give the expression of helplessness.
8. What is the theme of the poem?
The theme of the poem is the expression of helplessness.
Refer stanza 1, stanza 4 and stanza 5 for words that express the feeling of helplessness.
9. What is the message conveyed?
The message conveyed by the poet is about freedom. As we all love to be free similarly animals also love to be free.
ABOUT THE POET
George Leslie Norris (1921 to 2006 ) was a prize winning Welsh poet and short story writer. He is considered as the most important Welsh writers of the post war period. (Welsh - kingdom of Wales UK).
1. He stalks in his vivid stripesThe few steps of his cage,
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
2. He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where the plump deer pass,
3. He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle’s edge,
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!
4. But he is locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars,
stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors.
5. He hears the last voice at night ,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.
Stanza 1
1. How does the tiger look like?
He looks majestic as he moves slowly and quietly in his cage with prominent stripes on his body. He moves noiselessly because his paws are soft like velvet.
2. Why does the poet say ‘he’ for the tiger?
Here, the poet uses ‘he’ because the tiger is personified. Personification is a poetic device.
3. Pick out the poetic devices in stanza 1?
Quiet rage - The tiger is angry but quiet because he is helpless inside the cage and cannot avenge the humans who have shut him in the cage. It is an expression of helplessness. The two words quiet and rage are opposite in nature therefore the poetic device used is oxymoron.
Stalks - to move slowly and quietly.
Rage - anger.
Stanza 2
4. Where should the tiger live and what should the tiger do?
Now the poet suggests that the cage is not the natural habitat for the tiger. The tiger should be sitting under some thick bushes near a stream waiting for its prey as it comes there to drink water and then the tiger will slide silently through the grass and kill it. The second stanza is filled with vivid imagery.
Plump deer - a big fat deer
Lurking - to wait somewhere secretly.
Stanza 3
5. What will happen when the tiger escapes the jungle?
In the third stanza the poet imagines that the tiger escapes the jungle and reaches the outskirts of the jungle where he moves around houses in the village, showing his teeth and claws which terrorises the villagers.
White fangs - white teeth of the tiger
Baring - opening wide.
Stanza 4
6. What actually is the situation of the tiger?
In contrast to third stanza, the tiger is confined inside a cage. Even though the tiger is a ferocious animal he is behind the bars. He just stalks in the cage and he never tries to terrorise the visitors because his strength is restricted by the cage. ‘Strength behind the bars’ is an expression of helplessness.
Stanza 57. What does the tiger do at night?
The tiger hears the last voice of the zoo keeper at night who comes to feed the animals. Then the tiger hears the noise of patrolling cars in the city. The tiger has the dreams of being free in its ‘brilliant eyes’ as it sees the stars ‘brilliant stars’, with the eyes. The repetition of these words give the expression of helplessness.
8. What is the theme of the poem?
The theme of the poem is the expression of helplessness.
Refer stanza 1, stanza 4 and stanza 5 for words that express the feeling of helplessness.
9. What is the message conveyed?
The message conveyed by the poet is about freedom. As we all love to be free similarly animals also love to be free.
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