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-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.
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.
· Tarts: Slang for prostitutes, used
here to describe the parrots’ flamboyant, attention-seeking behavior. The term
"cheap" adds a derogatory tone, highlighting artificiality.
· Visionary his cell: Compares the
jaguar to a visionary (like a prophet or dreamer) whose confinement (cell)
cannot limit their imagination or spirit. The jaguar’s cage is similarly no
barrier to its wild essence.
Explanation
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.
In this stanza, Ted Hughes uses
vivid and often ironic imagery to emphasize the unnatural behaviour and subdued
vitality of animals in captivity. The apes are portrayed as lethargic and
bored, yawning and “adoring their fleas” as they lie in the sun—an image that
highlights their loss of wild energy, reduced now to idle grooming. The
parrots, usually vibrant and free-flying, are shown either shrieking in
agitation —“as if they were on fire”—or strutting vainly, compared to “cheap
tarts” seeking attention. This simile conveys a sense of artificiality and
degraded dignity, suggesting that even beauty becomes vulgar in the confined
zoo setting. The phrase “to attract the stroller with the nut” reflects how the
animals perform to catch the interest of human visitors, driven by boredom or
dependency. The stanza ends with the tiger and lion, iconic symbols of wild
power, now lying motionless, “fatigued with indolence”—so overcome with
laziness and confinement that they have become as still and unchanging as the
sun itself. Hughes uses this imagery to criticize how the zoo strips animals of
their natural strength, vitality, and instincts, leaving behind only passive
remnants of their true selves.
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.
In this stanza, Ted Hughes continues to emphasize
the lifelessness and stagnation of the zoo. The boa constrictor, a snake normally associated with stealth
and deadly movement, is described as so still that its coiled body appears fossilized—a powerful metaphor
suggesting that captivity has drained it of life and turned it into something
ancient, inert, and lifeless. The phrase "cage
after cage seems empty" reinforces this sense of emptiness and
absence of vitality, even when animals are present. The ones that are not
visibly absent are merely sleeping, and their cages are reduced to “stinking” enclosures—evoking a sensory
image of unclean, stagnant air, as the “breathing
straw” signals the minimal life left in them. Hughes then shifts to a
striking contrast: the entire zoo scene “might
be painted on a nursery wall.” This ironic statement suggests that the
zoo has become so dull and decorative—so stripped of reality—that it resembles
an innocent, idealized children’s mural,
completely at odds with the raw wildness these animals once embodied. Through
this, Hughes critiques the artificial, sanitized world of captivity, where the
essence of wild life is reduced to lifeless display.
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.
This stanza marks a dramatic
shift in the poem’s tone and energy. While most zoo visitors casually walk past
the lifeless or passive animals, there is one
cage that stops them in their tracks: the jaguar’s. Unlike the other creatures,
the jaguar is not subdued by captivity.
The crowd gathers in front of his cage, mesmerized,
their awe likened to that of a child
entranced by a dream—suggesting that the jaguar evokes something
primal, mysterious, and deeply stirring. The animal is described as “hurrying enraged / Through prison darkness,”
an image that captures both his raw power
and restlessness. Unlike the
still, defeated animals, the jaguar’s movement is furious and purposeful,
revealing his refusal to be mentally or spiritually caged. The phrase “after the drills of his eyes” emphasizes
his intense focus and penetrating gaze, suggesting that his vision is sharp,
active, and possibly predatory. Finally, he is said to be “on a short fierce fuse”, likening him
to an explosive about to detonate—tense,
volatile, and alive with energy. This stanza reinforces the idea that
while most animals have succumbed to captivity, the jaguar retains his wild spirit and defiant vitality, making
him the central symbol of unbroken freedom in the poem.
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.
In this powerful stanza from “The Jaguar”, Ted Hughes deepens the contrast
between the jaguar and the other caged animals. He clarifies that the jaguar’s
wild movement and restless energy are “not
in boredom”—he is not aimlessly pacing like other captive animals.
Instead, his “eye satisfied to be blind in
fire” suggests that he is consumed by an inner blaze of passion or instinct, so intense that it
blinds him to the outside world. Similarly, the phrase “by the bang of blood in the brain deaf the ear” conveys
how the internal rhythm and vitality
within him are so overwhelming that they drown out all external sounds. These
lines portray the jaguar as a creature entirely driven by raw energy and primal consciousness. When
Hughes writes, “He spins from the bars, but
there’s no cage to him / More than to the visionary his cell,” he
implies that the jaguar, like a visionary or prophet, is not limited by physical constraints. Just
as a visionary can mentally transcend the prison of a cell, the jaguar remains spiritually and mentally free, despite
being locked in a cage. This elevates the jaguar to a symbol of indomitable freedom, representing the power of
the wild spirit to resist confinement and retain its essential nature.
His stride is wildernesses of freedom:
The world rolls under the long thrust of his heel.
Over the cage floor the horizons come.
In this concluding stanza, Ted
Hughes brings the jaguar’s untamed spirit
to its most triumphant expression. The line “His stride is wildernesses of freedom” emphasizes that
every movement the jaguar makes embodies the vastness and wildness of the natural world. His stride is
not just a physical act—it symbolizes his mental
and spiritual freedom, untouched by the limitations of his cage. The
next line, “The world rolls under the long
thrust of his heel,” uses powerful, almost mythic imagery to suggest
that the jaguar is so dominant and alive
that the very earth seems to move beneath him. It presents him as a majestic,
unstoppable force. Finally, “Over the cage
floor the horizons come” implies that although he is physically
enclosed, his mind conjures up limitless
possibilities—horizons appear to unfold beneath his feet. The jaguar's
internal vision and fierce energy transform the cage into a symbolic landscape
of freedom and power. Through
this stanza, Hughes completes the poem’s central idea: the jaguar, unlike the
other animals, remains mentally
unconquered, his spirit
expansive and wild, no matter how small or confining the physical
space around him may be.
Critical Appreciation
Introduction
Ted Hughes's
“The Jaguar” is a powerful poem that explores the themes of captivity
and freedom, using stark and contrasting imagery to depict the lifelessness of
most zoo animals and the fierce vitality of a single jaguar. First published in
Hughes’s 1957 collection The Hawk in the Rain, the poem reflects his
signature style—visceral, energetic, and focused on the raw forces of nature.
Through intense visual and auditory imagery, Hughes critiques the effects of
confinement and celebrates the unyielding spirit of wildness.
Themes
- Captivity vs. Freedom:
The central theme is the contrast between the passive,
broken spirits of most animals in the zoo and the jaguar's defiant,
undiminished freedom. While others are subdued, the jaguar’s spirit remains
wild and unbounded.
- The Power of the
Imagination:
The jaguar is compared to a "visionary" who
transcends the physical limitations of his cage. This elevates the poem into
the realm of the symbolic—where imagination or inner fire can defy external
control.
- Human Gaze and Spectacle:
The poem also critiques how zoos reduce majestic
creatures into objects of human amusement. Yet, the jaguar resists this
objectification, mesmerizing the crowd not with tameness but with his wild
energy.
Structure and Form
The poem is
composed in five unrhymed quatrains (four-line stanzas). The free
verse structure reflects the chaotic, unpredictable energy of the jaguar
and avoids the neatness and order that rhyme might impose—mirroring the theme
of wildness within confinement.
The enjambment
(continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line)
throughout the poem enhances its momentum and mimics the jaguar’s relentless
motion and intensity.
Style and Tone
Hughes’s
style in this poem is highly sensory and metaphorical. His language is
physical and vivid, often bordering on violent, which underscores the raw force
of nature he aims to capture. The tone shifts significantly:
- In the opening stanzas,
the tone is satirical and lethargic, mocking the subdued, almost
decorative lives of the caged animals.
- In the later stanzas, the
tone becomes reverent and awe-struck, especially when describing
the jaguar.
Mood
The mood at
the beginning is dreary and dull, evoking a sense of lifelessness and
stagnation in the zoo. This changes dramatically when the jaguar is
introduced—the mood becomes tense, electric, and exhilarating, capturing
the power of untamed life.
Literary Devices
- Imagery:
The poem is rich in visual imagery: - “The boa-constrictor’s
coil is a fossil” evokes lifelessness.
- “Over the cage floor the
horizons come” gives a surreal,
expansive image of mental freedom.
- Simile:
- “Like cheap tarts” – The parrots are degraded, their natural
beauty made gaudy in captivity.
- “As a child at a dream” – The crowd's fascination with the jaguar is
pure, awe-filled, and almost mystical.
- Metaphor:
- “His stride is
wildernesses of freedom” – The
jaguar becomes a living embodiment of the wild.
- “The eye satisfied to be
blind in fire” – The jaguar is
consumed by inner energy and instinct.
- Alliteration:
- “Stinks of sleepers” and “stands, stares” use sound
patterns to emphasize mood and tone.
- Contrast:
The biggest structural and thematic device in the poem is contrast—between the inert animals and the vibrant jaguar; between outer captivity and inner freedom. - Symbolism:
The jaguar becomes a symbol of resistance, wild instinct, and spiritual independence in the face of oppression.
Conclusion
Ted Hughes’s
“The Jaguar” is more than a poem about animals in a zoo—it is a
philosophical meditation on freedom, power, and the indomitable nature of
the wild spirit. With his fierce and unflinching language, Hughes not only
critiques the artificiality and sterility of confinement but also celebrates
the enduring force of life that refuses to be caged. The jaguar, in this
context, emerges as a mythic symbol of strength, imagination, and
liberation, making the poem a profound and enduring work in modern poetry.
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