Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 476 views

    AT AT AT AT A Tiger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo

    Uploaded by

    Noorudheen Megar
    The poem contrasts a tiger in the zoo with a tiger in its natural habitat. In the zoo, the tiger stalks in a small cage, quietly raging, while in the jungle it would lurk in shadows and grasslands near water holes, threatening villages. The zoo confines the tiger's strength behind bars as it ignores visitors, while in nature it would be free and powerful, hearing cars instead of prey at night, and staring at stars instead of hunting.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    AT AT AT AT A Tiger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo

    Uploaded by

    Noorudheen Megar
    476 views3 pages
    The poem contrasts a tiger in the zoo with a tiger in its natural habitat. In the zoo, the tiger stalks in a small cage, quietly raging, while in the jungle it would lurk in shadows and grasslands near water holes, threatening villages. The zoo confines the tiger's strength behind bars as it ignores visitors, while in nature it would be free and powerful, hearing cars instead of prey at night, and staring at stars instead of hunting.

    Original Title

    03._a_tiger_in_the_zoo.pdf

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The poem contrasts a tiger in the zoo with a tiger in its natural habitat. In the zoo, the tiger stalks in a small cage, quietly raging, while in the jungle it would lurk in shadows and grasslands near water holes, threatening villages. The zoo confines the tiger's strength behind bars as it ignores visitors, while in nature it would be free and powerful, hearing cars instead of prey at night, and staring at stars instead of hunting.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    476 views3 pages

    AT AT AT AT A Tiger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo Iger in The Zoo

    Uploaded by

    Noorudheen Megar
    The poem contrasts a tiger in the zoo with a tiger in its natural habitat. In the zoo, the tiger stalks in a small cage, quietly raging, while in the jungle it would lurk in shadows and grasslands near water holes, threatening villages. The zoo confines the tiger's strength behind bars as it ignores visitors, while in nature it would be free and powerful, hearing cars instead of prey at night, and staring at stars instead of hunting.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    A Tiger in the Zoo

    Tiger
    This poem contrasts a tiger in the zoo with the tiger in its natural
    habitat. The poem moves from the zoo to the jungle, and back again
    to the zoo. Read the poem silently once, and say which stanzas
    speak about the tiger in the zoo, and which ones speak about the
    tiger in the jungle.

    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 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,
    Terrorising 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.
    LESLIE NORRIS
    snarls: makes an angry, warning sound

    1. Read the poem again, and work in pairs or groups to do the following tasks.
    (i) Find the words that describe the movements and actions of the tiger in
    the cage and in the wild. Arrange them in two columns.
    (ii) Find the words that describe the two places, and arrange them in two
    columns.
    Now try to share ideas about how the poet uses words and images to contrast
    the two situations.
    2. Notice the use of a word repeated in lines such as these:
    (i) On pads of velvet quiet,
    In his quiet rage.
    (ii) And stares with his brilliant eyes
    At the brilliant stars.
    First Flight

    What do you think is the effect of this repetition?


    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 useful for educating the public? Are there alternatives
    30 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.
    PETER NIBLETT
    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

    4. Take a point of view for or against zoos, or even consider both points of view
    and write a couple of paragraphs or speak about this topic for a couple of
    minutes in class.

    31

    A Tiger in the Zoo

    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

    You might also like