A TIGER IN THE ZOO

Leslie Norris
Reference to context
1) He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where plump deer pass.
Questions :
(a) How should the tiger walk through the grass?
(b) Why does the tiger lurk in the shadow?
(c) Who passes near the water hole?
(d) Where should the tiger hide to himself?
(e) Which are the rhyming words in this stanza?

Answers :
(a) The tiger should slide through the grass.
(b) The tiger lurks in the shadow to hunt for food.
(c) The fat deer pass near the water hole.
(d) The tiger should hide to himself near the water hole.
(e) The rhyming words are grass-pass.

Q2. What do you understand by `His strength behind bars’? What kind of a cage is he
locked in?
Ans. 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.
Q3. What message does the poet want to convey through the poem—Tiger in the Zoo’?
Ans. The poet wants to convey that it is cruel to keep the 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.
Q4. Where should the tiger have been according to the poet?
Answer:
The poet thinks that the tiger should have been in the jungle, lurking in the shadow of
long grass to prey on the deer near the water hole. He should also be on the outskirts of
the jungle snarling around houses and terrifying villagers.

Q5. What does the tiger do in his cage?

Answer:
The tiger is locked in a concrete cell where he can hardly take a few steps along the
length of the cage. He doesn’t take any notice of the visitors who come there. With his
shining eyes, he keeps staring at the bright stars in the sky.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. “Freedom is a birth right. It is the most beautiful gift of god. It is valuable for all
human beings as well as for creatures,” Discuss with reference to the poem “A
Tiger in the Zoo.”.

2. What does the poet want to convey through this poem?