A Tiger in

the Zoo

Leslie
Norris 1
 About the Poet
George Leslie Norris (21 May 1921 - 6 April 2006) was
a prize-winning Welsh Poet and story writer. He was
one of the most important Welsh poets / writers of the
post-war period. Norris knew at the age of 12 that he
would be a poet. As a teenager, he would ride his bike
to a nearby town to listen to poets such as Dylan
Thomas and Vernon Watkins.
Works:- Finding Gold, Phoenix Living Poets: Ransom
Awards:- Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award
AML Award for Poetry 2
 About the Poem
The poet’s mode of writing is a very intelligent one
here. By setting up a contrast between the real and
the ideal, he makes an important point about wildlife
conservation. The tiger belongs in the forest. There it
can hunt as and when required. It hunts not out of
envy or out of hatred, as human beings do, but only
as a survival strategy. Humans believe that the tiger
is dangerous, but in fact it is humans who are a
danger to each other, and the tiger is relatively
benign. 3
 About the Poem
SETTING:
This poem has two distinct settings. The first setting
is that of the zoo and it is the setting that the tiger
inhabits in reality. The second setting is that of the
forest and it is the setting that the tiger has been
taken out of and no longer has access to. These two
settings are contrasted against each other. The poet
wants to show that the tiger belongs to the wild and
that is where it should remain.
4
 About the Poem
RHYME SCHEME: ABCB in each stanza.
CENTRAL IDEA:
The poet shows his readers that a tiger is better suited to living in the wild
where it can roam freely and hunt as and when it requires food. It never
kills or harms humans unless it is provoked. On the other hand, in the zoo,
its radius of movement is very small, it feels like a prisoner in a jail cell. It
is fed by the zoo authorities and is made lazy. It cannot even sleep at night
because it is angry at being caged. All in all, the tiger lives an unnatural and
unhappy life in the zoo.
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 About the Poem
TONE: The tone of this poem is quite ambiguous. When the poet describes
the setting of the zoo, his tone is one of regret because he believes that
this is not the kind of life that a tiger should be living. There is also a tone
of suppressed anger, of the same kind that the tiger feels at being caged.
When the poet describes the setting of the forest, the tone is one of
admiration and awe at seeing the tiger in its natural habitat. Only in the
last two lines, the tiger’s defiance comes through and the poet makes it
seem that the tiger is issuing a challenge to all the worlds to produce
something as majestic as itself.
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 Title
The title ‘A Tiger in the Zoo’ is quite
appropriate as the poem deals with the
physical and mental state of a tiger who
has been put in a cramped cage in a zoo.
The poem also presents a contrast between
the life of a tiger in a jungle and in a zoo.
The title presents the first setting of the
poem – a zoo but contains in itself the
other picture – the tiger in a forest. The zoo
is not the natural home of the tiger. 7
 Theme
Tiger as a proud creature: In this poem, the poet
shows how proud a creature the tiger is, and as a
consequence, why it should never be caged. In the wild,
the tiger hunts its own food all alone. The tiger hunts
only when it needs to eat. Even when the tiger
occasionally strays into human habitation, it only
growls at the inhabitants but does not kill them or harm
except under extreme provocation. In the zoo as well,
the tiger’s pride is noticeable to all. It ignores the
visitors and proudly strides the length of the cage. 8
 Theme
Conservation of natural habitat: Due to
increasing population, many forest lands have
been cleared for agriculture or industrialisation.
As a result, many animals like the tiger have
lost their natural habitat and have been forced
to live in an artificial setting such as a zoo. The
poet wants to give a message to readers that
we should all strive to conserve the natural
habitat of the animals on earth.
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 Message
Leslie Norris wants to convey that wild animals
must be left free in their natural environment. A
wild animal, enslaved and put in a cage in a zoo
is not only deprived of its freedom but also of its
natural essential self. The natural instincts of an
animal in a zoo are suppressed and it becomes
an object of entertainment for the visitors. It is
cruel of man to snatch away the natural habitat
of the animals. Man must let them lead their life
in natural environments. 10
 A TIGER IN THE ZOO

He stalks in his vivid stripes

The few steps of his cage,
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.

11
 Summary
In the first stanza, the poet says that the stripes
on its body are darker in colour than the rest of
its coat, and so they stand out distinctly, even
when seen from a distance. The tiger is caged and
can only walk the length of its cage, and it covers
that distance in a few mere steps only. The
underside of the tiger’s paws is as smooth as
velvet and so they do not make any sound as it is
walking. It seems as if all the anger that the tiger
feels at being caged is also suppressed. 12
 A TIGER IN THE ZOO

He should be lurking in
shadow,
Sliding through long grass
Near a water hole
Where plump deer pass.

13
 Summary
In the second stanza, the poet says
that the tiger should be hiding itself
behind the tall grass so that its prey
will not be able to detect its
movement. The tiger approaches the
water hole stealthily so that the
animals that come to drink water
cannot detect its movements and it
can catch a plump deer for food.
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 A TIGER IN THE ZOO

He should be snarling around

houses
At the jungle’s edge
Baring his white fangs, his
claws,
Terrorising the whole village!

15
 Summary
In the third stanza, the poet says that even in the
wild, the tiger would not lose all touch with human
civilization. Once in a while, its day to day
movements would lead it towards the outer boundary
of the forest, where a few human settlements can be
found. The tiger would growl in its low and
intimidating voice trying to scare the humans. It
would not bother to hide its fangs or its claws,
instead revealing them openly with the intention of
scaring all the inhabitants of that village. 16
 A TIGER IN THE ZOO

But he’s locked in a concrete

cell,
His strength behind bars,
Stalking the length of his
cage,
Ignoring visitors.

17
 Summary
In the fourth stanza, the poet once again
gets a reality check. He says that the tiger is
locked up, like a prisoner in a jail, within a
small concrete cell. All the strength that
resides in its body is locked behind metal bars
that make up the gate of its cell. Hundreds of
people come to see the tiger every day at the
zoo, but it does not pay any heed to these
visitors. Instead the tiger prefers to walk
stealthily in its cage by itself. 18
 A TIGER IN THE ZOO

He hears the last voice at

night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant
eyes
At the brilliant stars.

19
 Summary
In the last stanza, the poet describes how the day
ends for the tiger. It stays awake till the very last
voice of the zookeeper locking up and going home
can be heard. All night, park rangers keep a watch
over the surroundings of the zoo while driving
around in their official vehicles. The tiger stays
awake and hears the sounds made by the cars of
the patrolmen. The stars twinkle brightly in the
night sky, and so do the eyes of the tiger. The tiger
keeps staring at the stars as sleep eludes it. 20
 Conclusion
The poet creates a positive image of the tiger
in this poem. Instead of showing it to be a
man-eater or a cruel creature, the poet shows
that in fact it hardly ever bothers with human
beings and that it hunts only when it needs to
eat. By showing these relatively benign aspects
of the tiger’s life, he is telling us that it is
unjust to remove animals from their natural
habitat and that we must strive to conserve
that habitat for them at all costs. 21
 Literary Devices
He stalks in his vivid stripes (L-1)
❖ ANTHROPOMORPHISM – because the tiger is referred to as ‘he’ i.e. a
living creature is given human qualities.
❖ ALLITERATION – because the ‘s’ sound is repeated.
On pads of velvet quiet (L-3)
❖ METAPHOR – because the feet of the tiger are said to be as soft as
velvet.
❖ OXYMORON – because two opposite words ‘rage’ and ‘quiet’ are used to
describe the tiger. 22
 Literary Devices
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage. (L-3,4)
❖ REPETITION– because the word ‘quiet’ is repeated for emphasis.
Where the plump deer pass (L-8)
❖ ALLITERATION – because the ‘p’ sound is repeated for emphasis.
He should be snarling around houses (L-9)
❖ ONOMATOPOEIA – because the snarling sound is suggested.
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 Literary Devices
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village! (L-11,12)
❖ CLIMAX – because the words baring his fangs, baring his claws and
terrorizing the village are in the order of increasing importance.
❖ METONYMY – because village stands for the villagers (container for the
thing contained).
His strength behind bars (L-14)
❖ SYNECDOCHE – because ‘strength’ is used in place of ‘strong tiger’ – i.e.
abstract for concrete. 24
 Literary Devices
The patrolling cars (L-18)
❖ TRANSFERRED EPITHET – because the cars are not patrolling – the
rangers are patrolling. The adjective has been transferred from rangers
to cars.
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars. (L-19,20)
❖ REPETITION – because the word ‘brilliant’ is repeated for emphasis.

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 The End

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