1. The Jaguar By Ted Hughes 4/28/2017 1:56 AM
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2. Ted Hughes
This poem was included in Ted Hughes' prize-winning, first collection The Hawk in the Rain (1957).
In a letter to Ben Sonnerberg (Undated 1990) Hughes wrote:
“During the autumn of 1954 I’d worked in Regent’s park Zoo, and got to know a particular Jaguar. It lived in a ‘transit’ cage near the kitchen window at which I stood for most of the day washing up.“
-from The Letters of Ted Hughes (edited by Christopher Reid).

3. The Jaguar
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-constrictor’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.

4. 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.

5. Spiritless condition created by encaged lifestyle
Diction is tangible throughout poem.
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
Animals deprived of natural habitat
Simile shows how desperate the birds are to attract attention as they have no real character; rather, they act on instinct.

6. Enjambment continues state of caged animals without energy
Simile reveals emptiness of caged life. Animals are reduced to a purely uninspiring biological condition.
Lie still as the sun. The boa-constrictor’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.
Animals are so listless that they could be a painting that holds no threat.

7. Note change in rhythm and diction as crowd approaches the jaguar’s cage.
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
Jaguar possesses energy and restlessness
Jaguar contrasts with rest of animals.
The jaguar’s spirit cannot be contained in a cage.

8. Superlative expression elevates jaguar’s status
Jaguar’s power indicates that he has dominion over the entire world.
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.

9. Setting
Poet uses zoo, cages and anonymous human cages to reinforce individuality of the jaguar.
Speaker interacts with jaguar’s physical and metaphysical presence.

10. Structure Four-line stanzas
Poem moves from one cage to the next by following the crowd to the jaguar’s cage.
Some lines are end-stopped while others employ enjambment to create fluidity

11. Figurative Language and Devices
Identify examples of the following and explain each example’s purpose.
Imagery
Simile
Metaphor
Alliteration (Sibilance)
Consonance
Diction
Tone

12. 2015 Prompt
Comment closely on ways in which the language and imagery of “The Jaguar” presents the jaguar and its situation. (Poem included.)

13. Works Cited Williams, Steve. "Commentary Notes: "Jaguar" by
Ted Hughes." 3 September IBcando. 14
March 2016.