 |
| Carolyn Well |
Introduction:
In the poem, the poet explains the characteristics of
various wild animals in a humorous manner. She is introduces various kinds of
wild animals like Asian lion, Bengal tiger, bear, crocodile, hyena telling
their unique qualities in a funny way.
About the Poet:
Carolyn Wells (1862-1942) was an American writer who was
famous for books based on mystery. Her famous works are at the sign of the
Sphinx, The Jingle book, and the story of Betty.
Summary:
The poet is describing various wild animals in this poem. These
animals are very dangerous and she has introduced them one by one in a funny
way.
First of all she tells us about an Asian lion. She says that
if you are visiting the jungles of the east and if you happen to see an animal
which has tawny skin and he roars so loudly that you will die out of fear, you
can be sure that he is an Asian lion.
Secondly, she tells us about the Bengal tiger. She says that the royal animal attacks and
kills a human at once. She humorously says if this beautiful, black striped
animal kills you and eats you, then you have surely met a Bengal tiger.
The third animal is a leopard. She says that if the reader
meets an animal with black spotted skin and if it at once jumps on the reader
him, it means that the reader has met a leopard. Moreover, she says that even
if a person cries out in pain, it is of no use as the leopard will not stop
attacking the person.
The fourth animal that she tells about is a bear. She says a
bear will hug very tightly. This is the way to recognize a bear as it kills a
person by hugging very tightly. She tells us the only way to recognize a bear
is by the animal’s tight hug.
After this, she asks the readers whether they know how to
recognize beasts which hunt their prey. She feels that recognizing these animals
is like a puzzle. She goes on telling us about crocodiles, and hyenas and
chameleons. She says that crocodiles always shed tears and hyenas make noise
resembling human as they hunt.
The last one in her list is the Chameleon. She says that it
is a lizard like creature which doesn’t have ears and wings just like a lizard.
She further says that the chameleon has a quality of changing its color
according to the colour of its surroundings. Only this can help us to
differentiate between a lizard and a chameleon.
As she explains this quality of a chameleon, she says that if the reader
looks at a tree and if the reader can only see the tree, it means that there is
a chameleon sitting on it. The chameleon has already turned its color to brown
just like the branch of the tree.
Explanation:
If ever you should go by chance
To jungles in the east;
And if there should to you advance
A large and tawny beast,
If he roars at you as you’re dyin’
You’ll know it is the Asian Lion...
Tawny: yellowish brown color
The poet is telling the readers that how they can recognize
various animals in the jungles of the east. So, in first stanza she says that
if the reader comes across an animal whose skin is yellowish brown in colour
and if it roars so strongly that the reader can die out of fear, it means that
the reader has encountered an Asian lion. She has humorously explains that an
Asian lion can kill a person with its roar.
Literary Devices:
Inversion: Change in the format of a sentence (if there
should to you advance)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ’o’ (you should go, should to
you, roars,)
Allusion: Reference to a famous thing, place, species of
animal, etc (Asian Lion)
Rhyme:
Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (chance-advance, east-beast,
dyin-lion)
Or if some time when roaming round,
A noble wild beast greets you,
With black stripes on a yellow ground,
Just notice if he eats you.
This simple rule may help you learn
The Bengal Tiger to discern.
Noble: high born, aristocratic
Discern: recognize
She explains an animal that roams in the jungle and belongs
to a royal clan. The colour of its skin is yellowish with black stripes. She
says that if the reader notices the animal and it kills and eats the reader,
then the reader has surely seen a Bengal Tiger.
Literary Devices:
Inversion: Change in the format of a sentence (The Bengal
Tiger to discern)
Allusion: Reference to a famous thing, place, species of
animal, etc (Bengal Tiger)
Assonance: Use of vowel sound ’o’ (or if some time when
roaming round)
Rhyme:
Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (round-ground, you-you
learn-discern)
If strolling forth, a beast you view,
Whose hide with spots is peppered,
As soon as he has lept on you,
You’ll know it is the Leopard.
’Twill do no good to roar with pain,
He’ll only lep and lep again.
Strolling: walking casually
Forth: forward
Hide: skin of animal
Peppered: Here it means the spots
Lept (Leapt): jump towards someone
The poet says that if the reader is casually walking in a
jungle, and meets an animal who has a skin with spots on it. The animal is so
fast that it leaps on the reader at once. This leaping or jumping is an
indication that the animal is none other than the leopard. Even if the reader
cries out in pain, it is of no use as the animal keeps on jumping on the
reader.
Literary Devices:
Poetic license: A liberty to the poet to change the
spellings in order to create rhyme or rhythm in a poem (use of lept instead of
leapt)
Repetition: use of ‘lep’ word in the last line.
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (strolling-forth-you,
whose-spot, do no good to roar)
Consonance: use of ‘l’ sound (he’ll only lep lep)
Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (view- you, peppered-
Leopard, pain-again)
If when you’re
walking round your yard
You meet a creature there,
Who hugs you very, very hard,
Be sure it is a Bear.
If you have any doubts, I guess
He’ll give you just one more caress.
Yard: backyard or the lawn area of a house
Caress: A gentle touch
If the reader is walking in the lawn area of the reader’s
house and the reader meets a creature which hugs the reader tightly, it is a
bear. She further adds that if the reader is still in doubt regarding the
animal, the easiest way is to make sure is by the continued hugging .
Literary Devices:
Alliteration: use of ‘w’ sound (when-walking), use of ‘h’
sound (who- hugs), use of ‘b’ sound (be-bear)
Assonance: use of vowel ‘e’ (meet a creature there)
Rhyme:
Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (yard-hard, there- bear,
guess-caress)
Though to distinguish beasts of prey
A novice might nonplus,
The Crocodile you always may
Tell from the Hyena thus:
Hyenas come with merry smiles;
But if they weep they’re Crocodiles
Distinguish: Differentiate
Beast of Prey: Any animals that hunts other animals for
food
Novice: Someone new to a job
Nonplus: be confused
The poet says that some people may find it a puzzle to recognize
the animals that hunt other animals for food. The poet tries to help out the
readers by telling the difference between two animals. He says that Hyenas make
sounds like human laughter and crocodiles shed tears. Both the animals are
dangerous.
Literary Devices:
Alliteration: use of consonant sound ‘n’ (novice-nonplus),
use of ‘th’ sound (the-thus)
Enjambment: continuation of sentence to the next line
(though to distinguish….might nonplus, The crocodile…..hyena thus)
Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (prey-may, nonplus-thus,
smiles-crocodiles)
The true Chameleon is small,
A lizard sort of thing;
He hasn’t any ears at all,
And not a single wing.
If there is nothing on the tree,
’Tis the chameleon you see.
The poet tells about Chameleon, which is a small creature.
It looks like a lizard but the difference between the two is that chameleon
does not have ears and wings. Chameleon has the ability to change its color
according to the surface on which it is sitting. Therefore, if you see a tree
and find nothing else on it, then there must be a chameleon sitting on it.
Literary Devices:
Alliteration: use of ‘h’ sound (he hasn’t)
Consonance: use of ‘g’ sound (single wing)
Rhyme:
Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (small-all, thing-wing,
tree-see)
Textual Question and Answers:
Q1-Does ‘dyin’ really rhyme with ‘lion’? Can you say it in
such a way that it does?
The actual word is dying. But the word does not rhyme with
lion. In order to maintain rhyme, it is written as ‘dyin’ in the poem. Poets
often take liberty to modify words to suit the rhyme.
Q2- How does the poet suggest that you identify the lion and
the tiger? When can you do so, according to him?
The poet differentiates between the two in the following
manner-
She says that if the beast is of yellow- brown colour that
is tawny colour and it roars out so fiercely that you may die out of fear, the
animal is an Asian lion.
If the animal has black stripes on yellow background of the
skin and he attacks to kill you, the animal is a Bengal tiger.
Q3- Do you think the words ‘lept’ and ‘lep’ in the third
stanza are spelt correctly? Why does the poet spell them like this?
The verb forms of leap are – Leap, Leapt, Leapt. In this
poem the words ‘lept’ and ‘lep’ are misspelled. They are not spelled correctly.
The poet did this to emphasize the actions of leopard and to maintain the rhyme
with the animal’s name. Poets occasionally do like this. This is a poetic
device known as poetic license.
Q4- Look at the line
“A novice might nonplus”. How would you write this ‘correctly’? Why is the
poet’s ‘incorrect’ line better in the poem?
The correct form of the sentence should be ‘a novice might
be nonplussed’. The poet wrote it in order to bring rhyme to her poem. We can
see that ‘nonplus’ rhymes with ‘thus’. This is a poetic device known as poetic
license.
Q5- Much of the humour in the poem arises from the way
language is used, although the ideas are funny as well. If there are particular
lines in the poem that you especially like, share these with the class,
speaking briefly about what it is about the ideas or the language that you like
or find funny?
Yes, I agree. It is true that the poet has used the language
in a jocular way. The poet has used many lines that are funny. One such line is
‘If he roars at you as you’re dyin’. You’ll know it is the Asian Lion...’ Another line is ‘A noble wild beast greets
you’. So her idea of explaining the characteristics of the wild animals is
really humorous.
