Academic Year 2024-25

Grade: 10 Subject: English

A TIGER IN THE ZOO (Poem)

INTRODUCTION
The poem “A Tiger in the Zoo” Leslie Norris explains the agony and helplessness of a caged tiger
that lives in a zoo. The poet explains what his life could be if he had been a free animal. The poet
has tried to explain about the condition of animals that are caged by human beings for their own
fun.
EXPLANATION
The poem begins by describing the physical features of the tiger, which is kept in a little cage. The
poet then goes on to describe how a tiger’s life would have been, if he was in the jungle. In the
end, the poet once again explains the situation of the tiger in the cage. The poet says that cage
life has changed the personality of the tiger. He further elaborates that the tiger was a powerful
and brave animal in the jungle and villagers were terrified by his power. However, now the tiger
has been confined in the cage and has turned into a helpless and powerless animal.
In the opening stanza, the poet describes the appearance of the tiger in the zoo. He says that the
stripes on the tiger’s body are visible from a far distance. These stripes are darker in colour than
the rest of his body structure. The tiger moves in the cage but can walk only a few steps as the
cage is small. He walks quietly due to its smooth velvet pads. The tiger is full of anger, but he
suppresses it due to his helplessness.
In the second stanza, the poet imagines the life of the tiger in the jungle. He describes the other
side of the tiger when he is a free animal. The poet says that, in the natural habitat, i.e the dark
forest, the tiger would have been lying in the shadow of the tree or hiding in the long grass to
prevent other animals from noticing his movement. In this way, he would reach the water hole
where all the animals of the forest come to drink water. When a deer would pass through the water
hole, he would attack him and have him as a meal for the day.

In the third stanza, the poet says that the tiger would be growling at the edge of the jungle near the
village. The tiger would show his white long sharp teeth and long carved nails while moving here
and there to scare the villagers. Here, the poet wants to convey that if we destroy the forests, then
tigers will forcefully come out to towns and villages for their food. Thus, they will become the cause
of terror to humans.
In the fourth stanza, the poet stops imagining the tiger’s forest life and returns to the real condition.
The poet says that the tiger is locked in a strong cell, which is made up of sturdy material. He has
all the strength and power, but he is still behind bars. The tiger moves slowly and quietly in his
cage and pays no attention to people who are coming to see him.
In the last stanza, the poet says that the tiger does not sleep at night. He hears the sound of the
patrolling car. The noise of the patrolling car disturbs the tiger and does not allow him to sleep. He
keeps staring at the stars with his brilliant eyes. He gets lost in his thoughts and wonders why he
has been imprisoned in the cage.

LITERARY DEVICES
1) Rhyme Scheme: abcb
2) Personification: The tiger is personified because the poet refers him as ‘he’.
3) Metaphor: Tiger’s paws are compared with velvet (pads of velvet)
4) Enjambment: Sentence is continuing to next line without any punctuation mark.
- Sliding through…….deer pass
- He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle’s edge,
- And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.
5) Imagery: poet tries to create an image about the tiger
- He stalks in his vivid stripes
- The few steps of his cage
- lurking in shadow
6) Consonance: use of ‘s’ sound
- stalks, his, stripes
- his, fangs, his, claws
- his, strength, bars
7) Assonance
- use of vowel sound ‘i’ (in his vivid stripes); (Baring, his, white, his);
(with, his, brilliant)
- use of vowel sound ‘o’ (should, around, houses)
- use of vowel sound ‘e’ (he, locked, concrete, cell)
8) Oxymoron: use of adjectives opposite in meaning (quiet rage)
9) Alliteration
- use of sound ‘p’ at the start of two words (plump pass)
 - use of sound ‘b’ at the start of two words (behind bars)
- use of sound ‘h’ in the starting of two words (he hears)
10) Onomatopoeia: using words which denote sound (snarling)

The poet uses words and images to contrast the two situations.

CAGE WILD

Few steps of his cage Shadow, long grass

Locked in concrete cell Snarling around houses

His strength behind bars Baring his white fangs, his claws

Ignoring visitors Terrorising the village

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT

He should be lurking in shadow,

Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where plump deer pass.

a. Where is the tiger hiding?

He is hiding in a shadowy dark place in the long grass.

b. Who is going to be his prey?

A fat deer who will come that way to drink water is going to be his prey.

c. Why should he be lurking in shadow?

He should be lurking in shadow to attack the deer who comes to drink water at the water hole.

d. What is the rhyme scheme of these lines?

The rhyme scheme of these lines is: a b c b.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

1. What do you understand by `His strength behind bars’? What kind of a cage is he locked in?

The tiger is wretched in its cage. His power is confined behind the bars. He was locked in a small
cage where he is devoid of freedom. He feels unhappy, frustrated, restless and angry.
 2. The tiger in the poem ‘A Tiger in the Zoo’ has some obvious limitations, describe them in contrast
to its natural habitat.

The tiger in the zoo was confined to a small space. He was angry that he couldn’t be free to move,
hunt and do what he pleased forced to be a showpiece; and the cage’s bars obstructed his view of
the starry night. This was all unlike his natural habitat where he hunted fiercely and slept fitfully.

3. What is the theme of the poem?

The poet wants to convey that it is cruel to keep wild animals in small enclosures of the zoo, away
from their natural habitat. They feel angry, helpless and unhappy and remember their life and
environment in the forest.

4. Why do you think the tiger was stalking in the cage? What does it show?

I think the tiger was feeling restless and uneasy in that small cage. He seems to be frustrated and
helpless as he could not come out of the cage in the open and enjoy his freedom. He did not want to
be a mere showpiece and a source of entertainment for human beings.

5. How does the poet contrast the tiger in the cage with a tiger in the forest?

The poet says that the caged tiger is imprisoned. He is not free. He is angry. On the other hand the
tiger in the jungle is free. He walks in the tall grass and hunts the deer that pass near the water hole.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING IN 100 WORDS.

1. Give contrasting pictures of the tiger in his natural habitat and in the locked cage of the zoo. How
does he feel and behave differently in both places?

The tiger is a denizen of the forest. He loves to roam around freely in his natural habitat – the
jungle. There, he is totally free with no restrictions on his movements and activities. He knows how to
ambush his prey. He waits for his prey lurking silently in the shadow of the trees. Then he slides unseen
and unnoticed through the long grass. He knows where he can find his favourite hunt—plump deer. It is
the water hole where they come for drinking water and become easy victims of the mighty tiger. The tiger
knows no boundaries and limits. Sometimes he roams around the houses which are situated on the edge of
the jungle. With his open white teeth and powerful paws, he terrorises the villagers. He rarely attacks them
until he is provoked.

However, it is a pathetic picture of the same tiger when he is locked in a concrete cell in the zoo.
The mighty and ferocious animal is put behind the bars. There he stalks in ‘quiet rage’ the length of his
cage. He becomes just a piece of entertainment for visitors. But the proud tiger just ignores them. At night
from behind the bars, he keeps on staring at the brilliant stars in the vast sky. The vastness of the sky and
the brilliance of stars only intensifies his loss of freedom.