THE JAGUAR- Ted Hughes

Q- How does Ted Hughes make the poem impactful?

‘The Jaguar’ was included in Ted Hughes' prize-winning, first collection ‘The Hawk in the
Rain’, published in 1957. To read his poems is to enter a world dominated by nature, especially
by animals and so is the case in ‘The Jaguar’. The poignant themes, the striking language and
the unique structure of the poem makes it impactful.

Using a strong metaphor, the poet draws the picture of a boa constrictor lying immobile like “a
fossil”. The snake is so still that it seems dead since long. The poet’s striking image of a coiled-
up boa constrictor lying like a fossil conveys an atmosphere of inactivity and general malaise in
the zoo. Additionally, Hughes makes another jarring comparison of the parrots with “cheap
tarts”, portraying a humiliating image of the wildlife in the zoo. The parrots “strut” around with
their colorful feathers, trying to grab the attention of the visitors just like streetwalkers. At the
end of the second stanza, the poet strengthens the pathetic state of the animals which look as
unnatural and tamed as animals “painted on a nursery wall”. Just like the unreal pictures, the
children are not afraid of the predators in the zoo. Hughes therefore, strips the animals of their
grandeur and wildness. The striking imagery of all the animals furthers the state of their
helplessness. He forces the reader to introspect about human ethics in relation to these caged
animals. Also, Hughes brings focus to certain phrases in the poem by using sibilance. He
describes that most of the cages seem empty. However, the animal’s presence is not felt by
their physicality but by the “stinks of sleepers”. The sibilance helps to emphasize the terrible
hygiene and undignified conditions that the helpless animals are kept in. Furthermore, the poet
describes that at the Jaguar’s cage, the crowd “stands, stares, mesmerized”. The slowing down
the reading process of the reader due to the sibilant words, resonates with the crowd in the zoo
which has also slowed down to look at the Jaguar. Sibilance encourages the reader to repeatedly
read the phrases, drawing them to the essence of the poem. The use of powerful animal imagery
and sibilance leaves a lasting mark on the reader’s mind.

The central themes of the poem make it a moving one. The poet is quite clear about man’s
brazen cruelty against animals. The image of the colorful parrots who “shriek” as if they are “on
fire” cut a very sharp picture of mistreatment of animals by humans. The birds clearly are in
pain as one would be when on fire. The pain is both physical and mental as a result of captivity.
Similarly, the “tiger and lion” are psychologically affected and lie lifeless. The poet
undoubtedly underlines his contempt for man. He puts forth questions in front of the reader, not
only about the ethics of humans who keep animals behind bars but also those who enjoy
watching them. Resistance is another crucial theme that makes the poem impactful. The
jaguar’s resistance is reflected in his glowing eyes that are “satisfied to be blind in fire”. It is
reflected in the way he “spins from the bars” of the enclosure “enraged”, with strides that depict
“wildernesses of freedom” for him. The poet draws the reader’s attention to the jaguar, allowing
them to marvel over the animal’s strength of spirit that has remained invincible. He continues to
resist, at least emotionally, against its incarceration. The poem is made moving due the poignant
themes such as man’s disregard for nature and resistance of the wild to remain wild and free.
The ingenious structure of the poem is also what makes the poem memorable. To begin with,
the title ‘The Jaguar’ is thoughtful. The word ‘Jaguar’ is what immediately gives the reader a
solid idea of the poem’s subject. However, the presence of the article ‘The’ makes the reader
think that the poem is about a specific jaguar. It promptly makes the reader curious about
knowing as to what is special about this particular jaguar. Moving on to the rhyming pattern of
the poem, Hughes employs an uneven rhyme scheme. There is rhyme within the stanzas like
“strut” and “nut” in the first quatrain and “eyes” and “mesmerized” in the third stanza.
However, the rhyme scheme is not the same all throughout the poem. This unevenness of rhyme
reflects the inconsistency of the mood and atmosphere of the poem. The poet starts the first
quatrains building up an atmosphere of idleness and degradation. The mood is indignant and
dismissive. However, from the third quatrain the atmosphere becomes one of curiosity and
liveliness. The mood also turns hopeful. To add on, the employment of enjambment adds to the
fluidity of the poem. In the third quatrain when the poet quizzically asks “who runs past these
arrives”, he deliberately stops the line incomplete to arouse mystery. The enjambment
encourages the reader to read ahead quickly. In the next line, the readers are revealed that the
crowd has stopped “at a cage” to look at something. Another instance of enjambment is in the
last line of the fourth stanza and the next stanza. The poet claims that “there is no cage to” the
jaguar which is ironic because it is definitely behind bars in the zoo. The readers yet again read
further swiftly to the next line to understand this claim. The readers realise that the jaguar is like
a “visionary” whose creative energy and spirit cannot be broken by captivity. The structure of
the poem makes it impressive.

A close analysis of the poem reveals that the poem is so impactful because of the emotional
themes, the strong language and the unique structure used by the poet.