Tiger Poems

Table of Contents

1. The Tyger

   by William Blake

   
   

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   Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
   In the forests of the night;
   What immortal hand or eye,
   Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
   

   In what distant deeps or skies.
   Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
   On what wings dare he aspire?
   What the hand, dare seize the fire?
   

   And what shoulder, & what art,
   Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
   And when thy heart began to beat,
   What dread hand? & what dread feet?
   

   What the hammer? what the chain,
   In what furnace was thy brain?
   What the anvil? what dread grasp,
   Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
   

   When the stars threw down their spears
   And water'd heaven with their tears:
   Did he smile his work to see?
   Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
   

   Tyger Tyger burning bright,
   In the forests of the night:
   What immortal hand or eye,
   Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
   

2. Tiger and Elephant

   by James McIntyre

   
   

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   On Ganges banks roams the tiger,
   And lion rules by the Niger,
   Hunter heard shrill cry of peacocks,
   In Indian jungles go in flocks.
   

   And he saw tiger crouch and spring,
   To crush a bird with beauteous wing,
   But the tiger missed his aim,
   And he hung his head with shame.
   

   Then there came a mighty crush,
   Of elephants rush through the bush,
   The tiger cat-like crouched on ground,
   And elephants rushed in with bound.
   

   In front was baby elephant,
   To crush its bones did tiger want,
   But mother saw fierce forest ranger,
   And she gave a cry of danger.
   

   Leader of herd he madly rushed,
   Resolved the tiger should be crushed,
   But tiger strove to run away,
   Willing to relinquish prey.
   

   But when he found that he must fight,
   On elephant's back he strove to light,
   But elephant struck him with his foot,
   And then with tusks he did him root.
   

   So now once more must praise be sung;
   To beasts who nobly fight for young,
   And grateful feelings were now stirred,
   Towards the leader of the herd.
   

3. Eeny meeny miny moe

   by Anonymous

   Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
   Catch a tiger by the toe.
   If he hollers, let him go,
   Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
   

4. The Tiger

   by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

   
   

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   In the still jungle of the senses lay
   A tiger soundly sleeping, till one day
   A bold young hunter chanced to come that way.
   

   "How calm," he said, "that splendid creature lies,
   I long to rouse him into swift surprise!"
   The well aimed arrow shot from amorous eyes,
   

   And lo! the tiger rouses up and turns,
   A coal of fire his glowing eyeball burns,
   His mighty frame with savage hunger yearns.
   

   He crouches for a spring; his eyes dilate—
   Alas! bold hunter, what shall be thy fate?
   Thou canst not fly, it is too late, too late.
   

   Once having tasted human flesh, ah! then,
   Woe, woe unto the whole rash world of men,
   The wakened tiger will not sleep again.
   

5. Little Tiger Cat

   by Annette Wynne

   
   

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   Little Tiger Cat, with the spotted face,
   Do you think you've found a baby-jungle place?
   Going through the grass, stealthily and slow,
   Are you waiting to jump out and scare the folks you know?
   And send them running to the house as fast as they can go?
   

   Little Tiger Cat, it's no use at all,
   No matter what you think yourself, you're rather tame and small,
   And with all your hiding and your stern contemplation,
   You cannot scare a single one of high or lowly station,
   And so, there's no use trying to be like your wild relation.
   

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