Page 2 - LN3-MODULE

Explanation

Stanza 1

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 colour

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 at him so strongly that he can die out of fear, it means that he has
encountered an Asian Lion. She has humorously explained the Asian Lion which could kill a person
with its roar.

Literary Devices

1. Rhyme: Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (chance-advance, east-beast, dyin-lion)
2. Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence to the next line (and if there…..tawny beast)
3. Inversion: Change in the format of a sentence (if there should to you advance)
4. Assonance: use of vowel sound ’o’ (you should go, should to you, roars,)
5. Allusion: Reference to a famous thing, place, species of animal, etc (Asian Lion)

Stanza 2

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.

1. Noble: high born, aristocratic
2. 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 you notice that he kills you and eats you up, then this
means that you have surely seen a Bengal Tiger. This time also she has used dark humour to
explain how a tiger looks like because once a person has been eaten up by a wild animal; there is
no use in determining which wild animal it is.

Literary Devices

1. Rhyme: Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (round-ground, you-you learn-discern)