FIRST FLIGHT - POEM NO 2 A TIGER IN THE ZOO - LESLIE NORRIS GLOSSARY, SUMMARY, QUESTIONS, AND ANSWERS THE POEM - He stalks in his vivid str...
FIRST FLIGHT - POEM NO 2
A TIGER IN THE ZOO - LESLIE NORRIS
GLOSSARY, SUMMARY, QUESTIONS, AND ANSWERS
THE POEM -
He stalks in his vivid stripes
The few steps of his cage
On pads of velvet quiet
In his quiet rage.
He should be lurking in the shadow
Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where plump deer pass.
He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle's edge
Baring his white fangs, his claws
Terrosing the village.
But he's locked in a concrete cell
His strength behind bars
Stalking the length of his cage
Ignoring visitors.
He hears the last voice at night
The patrolling cars
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.
Glossary -
1. vivid - bright.
2. rage - anger.
3. lurking - resting.
4. plump - healthy.
5. snarling - angry.
6. baring - to show, expose.
7. fangs - teeth.
8. stalking - walking slowly.
9. patrolling -keep watch over an area by regularly walking or traveling around it.
10. stares - to see.
11. terrorizing - to frighten.
Summary - The Poem, " A Tiger in the Zoo" written by Poet, Leslie Norris, and in the poem he talks about the virtue of freedom for wild creatures like tigers. The poem is in 5 stanzas, having a rhyming scheme of ABCB, ABCB, ABCB, ABCD, and ABCB, and it gives controversy of when a tiger is confined in a cage in the Zoo, and another is his natural habitat, and that is forest.
In the cage of the Zoo, he feels helpless, loses his strength, and most importantly is his freedom. Even in the limited space of the cage, he is unable to walk freely, therefore he walks slowly, his strength is locked in the concrete cell behind the bars, so he shows anger, ignores the visitors, and stares at the shining stars with his shining eyes.
On the contrary, he should live in his natural habitat and which is the forest, where he can slide through long grass, hunt the plump deer that passes near the water hole, sometimes terrorize the villagers with his teeth and claws.
The moral and central theme of the poem is that any creature can not live and survive happily when his freedom is lost, and all his bravery, strength, and boldness is in vain, rather he must be allowed to live in his natural habitat where he can lead his life happily and naturally. Each and every creature, whether it is a wild beast or a human being has got a birthright to live in his natural habitat. Actually, the poet feels a great concern about the creatures who are confined in the cage and lost their freedom.
Thinking about the poem -
1. Read the poem again, and work in pairs or groups to do the following tasks.
1. Find the words that describe the movements and actions of the tiger in the cage and in the wild. Arrange them in two columns.
2. Find the words that describe the two places, and arrange them in two columns.
Ans 1. - Movements and actions of the tiger
In the cage In the wild
1. Stalks a few steps out of his cage. 1. Lurking in the shadow.
2. Quiet rage. 2. Sliding through long grass.
3. Locked in a concrete cell. 3. Snarling around houses.
4. Stalking the length of his cage. 4. Baring his white fangs, his claws.
5. Ignoring visitors, stares at the brilliant stars. 5. Terrorising the villagers.
Ans 2. - Words that describe the two places.
In the cage In the wild
1. Pads of velvet quiet. 1. Lurking in the shadow.
2. concrete cell 2. Sliding through long grass.
3. Behind bars. 3. Water hole, deer pass.
4. Length of the cage. 4. Jungle edge, village.
Now try to share ideas about how the poet uses words and images to contrast the two situations.
Ans - The poet has used the two images of the tiger, in the jungle which is his natural habitat. How he wonders in the jungle boldly and fearlessly but on the contrary when he is put behind bars in the cage, he loses his freedom and his natural behavior.
2. Notice the use of a word repeated in lines such as these:
1. On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
2. And stares with his brilliant eyes,
At the brilliant stars.
What do you think is the effect of this repetition?
Ans - The first word, quiet refers to the tiger's frustration and anger at being confined, and the word brilliant refers to his wish to freely roam in the wild as the stars are moving in the sky, both words express his sadness and anger.
3. Read the following two poems, one about a tiger and the other about a panther. Then discuss: Are zoos necessary for the protection or conservation of some species of animals? Are they helpful in educating the public? Are there alternatives to zoos?
THE TIGER-
The tiger behind the bars of his cage growls,
The tiger behind the bars of his cage snarls,
The tiger behind the bars of his cage roars,
Then he thinks,
It would be nice not to be behind bars all the time,
Because they spoil my view,
I wish I were wild, not on show,
But if I were wild, hunters might shoot me,
But if I were wild, food might poison me,
But if I were wild, water might drown me,
Then he stops thinking,
And..........
The tiger behind the bars of his cage growls,
The tiger behind the bars of his cage snarls,
The tiger behind the bars of his cage roars.
THE PANTHER-
His vision, from the constantly passing bars,
has grown so weary that it cannot hold,
anything else, it seems to him there are,
a thousand bars, and behind the bars, no world.
As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,
the movement of his powerful soft strides,
is like a ritual dance around a centre,
in which a mighty will stands paralysed.
Only at times, the curtain of the pupils
lifts, quietly, An image enters in,
rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles,
plunges into the heart, and is gone. ---------- RAINER MARIA RILKE
Ans - Zoos can not be recommended for the protection and conservation of wild animals but may be useful for some species of animal, especially for those animals that are at the edge of becoming extinct provided due care is taken and created zoo as good as their natural habitat because, in a man-made environment, wild creatures can not survive.
I don't think zoos play a good role in educating people, because especially, parents or adults visit the zoo to entertain their kids not to educate them, rather the visitors irritate the animals because they are behind bars and they become assured that these wild creatures would not harm them.
The better option for the zoo is always wildlife sanctuaries where wild creatures live in a natural habitat but under the eyes of the concerned authorities, where they can put identification tags on each animal and trace out their progress, health, breeding, diseases, and overall well-being.
As the above two poems suggest that nothing is more important than freedom for every creature on the earth, how could we expect that the animals behind bars will remain happy, There is no way possible, just imagine, if we are confined in a very small square provided with all the delicious food but with strict criteria that not allowed to go out, we would go mad within a few hours, and we expect that these brave and bold animals would remain happy, we have snatched their foremost right to be free, so they can not be happy, rather they would growl, snarl, and roar behind the bar, and they do so because they are behind the bars and behind the bars their exists no world.
To show the same concept, we can have another poem but with the same meaning of freedom.
THE GREATER CATS-
The greater cats with golden eyes,
Stare out between the bars.
Deserts are there, and different skies,
And night with different stars. --------- VICTORIA SACKVILLE-WEST
Ans - The meaning of the above short but meaningful poem is the same as the above two poems describe. The greater cats with golden eyes, meaning shining and bold eyes think behind the bars that no world exists behind the bars, but a paradise lies outside the bars, it may be desert or a different colorful sky and at night we can enjoy the different shining stars. They want to be alive and feel the breath of freedom that can not be accomplished between or behind bars.
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