The poem describes a tiger that is confined to a small cage in a zoo. In the cage, the tiger quietly stalks back and forth in rage at being trapped. The poem contrasts this with how the tiger should be free in the wild, lurking in the jungle and striking fear into nearby villages. Now locked in a concrete cell, the tiger can only stare at the night sky with brilliant eyes as it listens to the last voices at night, confined by the bars that contain its strength.

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A Tiger in the zoo
LESLIE NORRIS

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Brief Biography
 Born: May 21, 1921; Merthyr Tydfil, United
Kingdom
 Died: April 6, 2006 (aged 85 years); Provo, Utah
 Notable works: “Finding Gold”, “Ransoms”,
“Mountains, Polecats, Pheasants”, “Collected
Stories” etc.
 Honour and Awards: David Higham Memorial
Prize, Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award, AML
Award for Poetry, Welsh Arts Council Senior
Fiction Award.
(Source: The Royal Society of Literature)

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THEMES
The value of freedom
Helplessness in captivity
Indomitable nature of the tiger’s
spirit.
Conservation of nature

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A PICTOGRAPHIC
COMPARISON
TIGER IN CAPTIVITY TIGER IN THE WILD

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THE POEM
He stalks in his vivid stripes
The few steps of his cage,
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.

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2ND VERSE STANZA
He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where the plump deer pass.

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3RD VERSE STANZA
He should be snarling around
houses
At the jungle’s edge,
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!

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4TH VERSE STANZA
But he’s locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars,
Stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors.

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5TH VERSE STANZA
He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.

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SUMMARY
 A tiger stalks the short length of his cage in silence.
 He was supposed to be free, and out in the wild.
 He was supposed to be hunting, stalking, driving fear
into the hearts of those who live in the fringes of the
forest.
 Instead he is locked up in a cell.
 His strength has been locked up.
 Even his rage is futile.
 Only the brilliance in his eyes is left, as he looks up at
the night sky.

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TONE
Regret
Suppressed Anger
Awe

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SETTING
The tiger is in a zoo, behind the
bars.
The poem however, parallelly
depicts how he was supposed to
live free in a jungle.

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CHARACTER ELEMENTS
The Tiger.
The cage, captivity.
A forest, freedom.
Stars.

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ANALYSIS OF THE
POEM: 1ST STANZA
 Stripes are the first thing
that we associate with a
tiger.
 The poet doesn’t mention
the tiger directly.
 He starts making a sketch in
bits and pieces.
 The tiger can not move
properly, its space is brutally
limited.
 The tiger moves noiselessly,
his rage is also muffled in
helplessness.
He stalks in his vivid
stripes
The few steps of his
cage,
On pads of velvet
quiet
In his quiet rage.

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BWORD
NOTES
 Collegiate definition:
Stalks means to pursue
quarry or prey stealthily.
 The tiger’s predatory
nature is highlighted by
using this word.
 The repetition helps in
highlighting and
emphasizing the
helplessness of the tiger
in the cage.
Stalks
Repetition of
‘quiet” in the
third and
fourth line

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BANALYSIS OF THE
POEM: 2ND
STANZA
 The poet’s regret is
apparent in this stanza.
 Zoo is no place for such a
beast.
 He imagines the tiger out in
the wild.
 The tiger is stealthily
approaching his prey.
 The poet continues to sketch
the tiger.
 He adds the “lurking” quality
in the previous quiet
stalking movement.
He should be
lurking in the
shadow
Sliding through
long grass
Near the water hole
Where plump deer
pass.

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BWORD
NOTES
 Lurking
Collegiate Definition: to lie in wait in
a place of concealment especially for
an evil purpose.
 The sinister nature of the tiger is
highlighted here.
 He is a creature belonging to the
shadows.
 He himself is like the shadow of
Death.
 The sliding movement builds on
the lurking posture as we see the
tiger finally getting ready to leap.
lurking
shadow
sliding

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A Beast of Prey
He should be lurking in the shadow, sliding
through long grass

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BANALYSIS OF THE
POEM: 3RD
STANZA
 A tiger is the lone ranger
of a forest.
 It can, however, move out
of it too.
 When in its natural
habitat, a tiger terrorises
all around him, humans
included.
 The villagers are held in
thrall of his fangs and
claws which are like Death
reincarnate for them.
He should be
snarling around
houses
At the jungle’s
edge,
Baring his white
fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the
village!

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WORD NOTES
 Snarling
Collegiate Definition: to
growl with a snapping,
gnashing, or display of
teeth.
 The fangs and claws are
symbol of death. They are
what that make a tiger a
terrible beauty.
 With these he terrorises
the village.
Snarling
White fangs,
claws

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Tiger, The Great and Terrible
Baring his white fangs, his claws, terrorising the
village!

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BRIEF INTERLUDE
 The poem is divided in two places: The
cage, and the wild.
 The structure imitates this caged feeling.
 Free wild setting is sandwiched between
the cage verses.
 The use of “should”: What was expected
vs what the tiger actually got.

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ANALYSIS OF
THE 4TH
STANZA
 We are back in front of the
cage.
 The strong and mighty tiger,
the living, breathing terror
has been put behind bars.
 His strength and anger has
been rendered helpless.
 His spirit is still
unconquered, as he stalks
his cage waiting for an
opportunity and ignoring all
the visitors seeking cheap
thrills.
But he’s locked in
a concrete cell,
His strength
behind bars,
Stalking the
length of his cage,
Ignoring the
visitors.

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WORD NOTE
The word hints that the tiger
perhaps is put behind bars,
but his soul is still free. His
freedom is hijacked, but he
is biding his time, because
the time for his hunt is yet
to come, and he may break
free yet.
stalking

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Patience is the biggest virtue here!
Stalking the length of his cage, ignoring visitors.

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ANALYSIS OF
THE POEM: 5TH
STANZA
 The poem comes to an end.
 The day is also over.
 The tiger is left alone.
 He looks up at the sky.
 The brilliance of the stars are
reflected in his eyes.
 Do they signify the undefeated
spirit of the tiger?
 Is he simply reminiscing the
golden old days when he
roamed free in the forest?
He hears the last
voice at night,
The patrolling
cars,
And stares with
his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant
stars.

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WORD
NOTE
 Second repetition in
the poem.
 May represent the
indomitable spirit of
the tiger.
 May be of nostalgic
nature as the tiger
reminisces of the past,
as all his fight is spent
away.
brilliant

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Waiting for the hunt
And stares with his brilliant eyes at the
brilliant stars.

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CONTEMPLATION ON THE
ENDING
The regret is clear in the final verse
stanza.
The ambiguous nature of “brilliant”.
May mean the indomitable spirit of
the tiger.
May also mean simple nostalgic
reminiscence.

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FORMS AND FIGURES
 Rhyme scheme: abcb pattern
 Personification: Non living or subhuman beings are
treated like a human being. Note the use of “he” for
tiger.
 Alliteration: Repetition of same consonant sound in
close succession. For example: plump deer pass, he
hears etc.
 Metaphor: An implicit comparison is made between
velvet and the tiger’s padded paws, to indicate the soft
and quiet nature of both.
 Metonymy: The part “strength” is used to indicate the
whole body of the tiger. When a part is used to indicate
the whole, that figure is called metonymy.

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SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE
The poem shows us a tiger in two different
circumstances. We see it behind the bars,
and we imagine it in the wild. However, the
tiger in the poem is actually behind the
bars, and imagining it in the wild only
heightens the regret and anger of seeing
the same majestic creature put inside a
cage. A Tiger in the Zoo thus succinctly
brings out the contrast between the image
that the word “tiger” generates in our mind
and a cage. Therefore the title is quite apt.

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CONSERVATION OF NATURE
Everyone has their own place and cage is
not a place for creatures born free, born
wild. The poet as if subtly hints at the fact
that instead of caging animals like tigers in
the name of conservation, we should give
proper effort in developing a safe forest
area to conserve their natural habitat.
Otherwise, they will keep encroaching upon
the poor villagers who depends on the
forest for their livelihood and finally end up
in some cage or the other.

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Nelson Mandela
The African tiger who leaped out of his cage to World
Leadership

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A Tiger in the Zoo
“Still hold on yet a while brave heart, victory is yours to come.” – Swami
Vivekananda

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“IT’S A METAPHOR” – AUGUSTUS WATERS
The parallels between the tiger
and Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela earned his
freedom.
The tiger perhaps lies in wait for
an opportune moment to earn his
freedom.