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The Jaguar-Note

Jaguar

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Tashnim z
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46 views

The Jaguar-Note

Jaguar

Uploaded by

Tashnim z
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Grade: VIII Note : 1 Teacher: Zarin Tashnim

Subject: E Lit Student:

Date: Topic: The Jaguar Session:2023-2024

The Jaguar
Ted Hughes

The apes yawn and adore their fleas in the sun.


The parrots shriek as if they were on fire, or strut
Like cheap tarts to attract the stroller with the nut.
Fatigued with indolence, tiger and lion
Lie still as the sun. The boa-constriktor’s coil
Is a fossil. Cage after cage seems empty, or
Stinks of sleepers from the breathing straw.
It might be painted on a nursery wall.
But who runs like the rest past these arrives
At a cage where the crowd stands, stares, mesmerized,
As a child at a dream, at a jaguar hurrying enraged
Through prison darkness after the drills of his eyes
On a short fierce fuse. Not in boredom —
The eye satisfied to be blind in fire,
By the bang of blood in the brain deaf the ear —
He spins from the bars, but there’s no cage to him
More than to the visionary his cell:
His stride is wildernesses of freedom:
The world rolls under the long thrust of his heel.
Over the cage floor the horizons come.

Summary
The apes look bored as they inspect their fleas in the sunshine. The parrots, meanwhile, scream as
though they've been set alight—either that, or they parade like prostitutes hoping passers-by
will throw them a snack. Bored of being bored, tigers and lions lie as stationary as the sun
itself.A coiled-up snake looks like a fossil. All the cages seem deserted, or they carry the
stench of sleeping animals from the straw-laden floor. The scene is so harmless, it might as
well be painted on the walls of a preschool.But whoever decides to rush past all of these boring
sights will soon come upon a cage in front of which stands a big group of people who seem
hypnotized or like dreaming children. The crowd watches a jaguar furiously rushing about, his
bright eyes piercing through his dark cage, like the lit end of a short, powerful fuse.The jaguar
isn't bored. His eyes are happy to be blinded by such fiery rage, and his ears are deafened by
the pulse of blood in his brain. He jumps from bar to bar, but he acts as if he's not in a cage at
all.Instead, he's like a mystic locked in a small room who nevertheless remains free through the
power of the mind. The jaguar's long steps convey the freedom of being in the wild. The planet
itself seems to spin under his strong steps, the new days rising to meet him.

Question Answer -

1. a. What is the primary focus of the poem "The Jaguar"?


Answer: The poem primarily focuses on describing the captivity and inner vitality of a jaguar
in a zoo.
b. How do the apes in the first stanza react to their surroundings?
Answer: The apes yawn and adore their fleas in the sun.
c. What is the behavior of the parrots in the poem?
Answer: The parrots shriek as if they were on fire or strut like cheap tarts to attract attention.
d. What is the physical state of the tiger and lion in the poem?
Answer: The tiger and lion lie still, fatigued with indolence.
e. How does the poet describe the boa-constrictor?
Answer: The boa-constrictor’s coil is described as a fossil.
f. What impression does the speaker give of the zoo in the poem's opening lines?
Answer: The speaker suggests a sense of lethargy and dullness in the zoo.
g. What is the mood of the crowd as they watch the jaguar?
Answer: The crowd stands mesmerized.
h. How does the jaguar behave in the poem?
Answer: The jaguar hurries enraged through prison darkness after the drills of his eyes.
i. What does the phrase "short fierce fuse" suggest about the jaguar's temperament?
Answer: It suggests that the jaguar is easily provoked and has a quick, intense temper.
j. How does the poet convey the jaguar's sense of freedom?
Answer: The poet describes the jaguar's stride as wildernesses of freedom.
k. What does the jaguar become king of in the poem?
Answer: The jaguar becomes the king of the spaces of the air.
l. What is the jaguar's body compared to in the poem?
Answer: The jaguar's body is compared to a wilderness of fur and darkness.
m. How is the jaguar's face described?
Answer: The jaguar's face is described as a forest of fallen tresses.
n. How does the poem convey the idea that the jaguar is not confined by its cage?
Answer: The jaguar's stride is described as wildernesses of freedom, and the world rolls
under the long thrust of his heel.
o. What is the overall impression of the jaguar in the poem?
Answer: The jaguar is portrayed as a powerful, untamed force with a wild and vibrant spirit.

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