Poem – 3

A Tiger in the Zoo

In this post, we have given the Important Questions of Poem 3 “A Tiger in the Zoo”. It is the 3rd chapter of Class 10th English.

Board	CBSE Board, UP Board, JAC Board, HBSE Board, UBSE Board, PSEB Board, RBSE Board
Textbook	NCERT
Class	Class 10
Subject	English Beehive
Chapter no.	Poem 3
Chapter Name	A Tiger in the Zoo
Category	Class 10 English Important Questions
Medium	English

Poem 3 A Tiger in the Zoo

Question 1. Read the poem again and work in pairs or groups to do the following tasks.

• Find the words that describe the movements and actions of the tiger in the cage and in the wild. Arrange them in two columns.
• Find the words that describe the two places and arrange them in two columns.

Now try to share ideas about how the poet uses words and images to contrast the two situations.

Answer 1 :

In the Cage	In the Wild
Stalks, Few steps of his cage, Quiet rage Locked in concrete cell, Stalking-the length of his cage Ignoring visitors. He hears the last voice Stares at the brilliant stars.	Lurking in shadow, Sliding through long grass, Snarling around houses, Baring his white fangs, his claws, Terrorising the village.

Answer 2:

Cage	Wild
Few steps of his cage,	Shadow, Long grass, Water
Locked, Concrete cell,	hole, Plump deer,
Behind bars, Visitors,	Houses at jungle’s edge,
Patrolling cars	Village

Question 2. Notice the use of a word repeated in lines such as these

• On pads of velvet quiet, In his quiet rage.
• And stares with his brilliant eyes At the brilliant stars.

What do you think is the effect of this repetition?

Answer: This repetition is a poetic device used by the poet in order to increase the intensity of the tiger’s rage and his helpless silence. ‘Velvet quiet’ refers to the quiet velvet pads of the tiger, which cannot run or leap. They can only walk around the limited space in the cage. The use of ‘quiet rage’ symbolises the anger and ferocity that is building up inside the tiger as it wants to run out into the forest and attack a deer, but the rage is quiet because he is locked in the cage and is helpless. The repetition of ‘quiet’ has, thus, brought immense beauty to the poem. Similarly, the use of ‘brilliant’ for the tiger’s eyes as well as the stars also brings out the magnificence of these lines. The tiger stares at the brilliant stars with his brilliant eyes dreaming about how beautiful his life could be in the forest. The repetition thus, gives a wonderful effect to the poem.

Question 3. Describe some of the activities of the tiger as stated by the poet.

Answer. Some of the activities of the tiger as stated by the poet are – walking along the cage, hearing the patrolling of cars, ignoring visitors and staring at the brilliant stars of the sky.

Question 4. What is the next thought of the poet about the tiger?

Answer. The next thought of the poet is that the tiger should be in the open forest because forest is his natural habitat. There he would lurk in the shadow to hunt a deer.

Question 5. Why does the tiger express his anger quietly?

Answer. The tiger expresses his anger quietly, because he is helpless. He can do nothing from behind the bars. He is not free as he was in the forest. The tiger’s strength is locked behind the bars. Thus it can only show anger.

Question 6. How does the tiger feel locked in the concrete cell of the zoo? Why does he ignore the visitors?

Answer. The tiger is basically an animal of the wilds. He is a denizen of the forest. Being locked in a concrete cell of the zoo, he fells quite helpless. His immense strength is of no use to him as he is put behind the bars. He only stalks the length of his cage. He ignores the visitors who came to see him after buying their tickets. He doesn’t want to present himself as an object of entertaining others.

Question 7. What does the poet want to convey through the poem?

Answer. The poet exhibits the miserable life led by the animals in the zoo. He shows the two different lives i.e., in the zoo and the life at a natural habitat. According to the poet, animals should not be caged. They should be let free in the wild. Even they have a right to remain free. They should not be caged for our personal interests.

Question 8. Do you agree that wild animals should be caged? Comment ‘yes’ or ‘no’ giving reasons.

Answer. Wild animals should not be caged. This is a well known fact that tiger is a royal species which is on the verge of extinction. In ancient times, tigers moved around freely in the forests. But today, they are caged and left in the zoo for the entertainment of people. In fact, they are not meant for confinement. The result is that their off spring also do not learn to hunt, when they are caged. Caging wild animals also leads to disturbance of ecological balance. So, wild animals should be let free. They belong to the forest. Cages are not meant for a wild animal, specially a tiger. We should not cage them for our personal interests. Even animals love to live in their natural habitat along with their families. We should not separate them from their families.

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