LESLIE NORRIS

One OF THE BEST POETS OF OUR TIME ……….

Maharishi Dayanand Public School

Name : gautam kumarClass : xRoll no : 1Subject : English LANGUAGE and literature Fa 2 activity

Biography

Born : 21 May 1921, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales.

Died : 6 April 2006, Provo.

Parents : George and Mary Jane Norris.

Occupation : Poet, Author.

Brothers : Eric and Gordon.

Biography Leslie Norris ‘s career as a poet began to take off when his first collection Finding Gold was published in 1967. By 1980 Norris published three volumes in the Phoenix Living Poets. His publication Ransoms had won the Poetry Society's Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize in 1970.His work was won numerous awards, such as Cholmondeley Poetry Prize,David Higham Memorial Prize,Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award,AML Award for poetry (in 1996), andWelsh Arts Council Senior Fiction Award. He was also an honorary Doctor of Letters of the University of Glamorgan, and honorary Doctor of Humane Letters of BYU. Leslie was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Welsh Academy.

Publications

1. Finding Gold (1967)2. The Loud Winder (1967)3. Phoenix Living Poets series: Ransoms (1970)4. Mountains, Polecats, Pheasants (1974)5. Sliding (1978)6. The Girl from Cardigan (1988)7. Norris's Ark (1988)8. The Collected Poems (1996)9. Collected Stories of Leslie Norris (1996)10. Holy Places (1998)

Poems And

Analysis

Camels Of The

Kings

The Shepherd's

Dog

THE TIGER IN THE

ZOO

OUT ON THE WINDY HILLUNDER THAT SUDDEN STARA BLAZE OF RADIANT LIGHTFRIGHTENED MY MASTER.

HE GOT UP, LEFT OUR SHEEP,TRAMPED OVER THE MOOR.AND I, FOLLOWING,CAME TO THIS OPEN DOOR,

SIDLED IN, SETTLED DOWN,HEAD ON MY PAWS,GLAD TO BE HERE, AWAYFROM THE WIND'S SHARPNESS.

SUCH WARMTH IS IN THIS SHED,SUCH COMFORT FROM THIS CHILD,THAT I FORGET MY HARD LIFE,IGNORE THE HARSH WORLD,

AND SEE ON MY MASTER'S FACETHE SAME JOY I POSSESS,THE KNOWLEDGE OF PEACE,TRUE HAPPINESS.

THE SHEPHERD'S DOG

THE CAMELS, THE KINGS' CAMELS, HAIE-AIE!SADDLES OF POLISHED LEATHER, STAINED RED AND PURPLE,POMMELS INLAID WITH IVORY AND BEATEN GOLD,BRIDLES OF SILK EMBROIDERY, WORKED WITH FLOWERS.THE CAMELS, THE KINGS' CAMELS!'WE ARE GROOMED WITH SILVER COMBS,WE ARE WASHED WITH PERFUMES.THE GRAIN OF RICHEST AFRICA IS FED TO US,OUR DISHES ARE SILVER.LIKE CLOTH-OF-GOLD GLISTEN OUR SLEEK PELTS.OF ALL CAMELS, WE ALONE CARRY THE KINGS!DO YOU WONDER THAT WE ARE PROUD?THAT OUR HOODED EYES ARE CONTEMPTUOUS?

AS WE SAIL PAST THE TENTED VILLAGESTHEY BEAT THEIR COPPER GONGS AFTER US.'THE WINDSWIFT, THE DESERT RACERS. SEE THEM!FASTER THAN GAZELLES, FASTER THAN HOUNDS,HAIE-AIE! THE CAMELS, THE KINGS' CAMELS!'THE SAND DRIFTS IN PUFFS BEHIND US,THE GLINTING QUARTZ, THE FINE, HARD GRIT.DO YOU WONDER THAT WE LOOK DOWN OUR NOSES?DO YOU WONDER WE FLARE OUR SUPERIOR NOSTRILS?ALL NIGHT WE HAVE RUN UNDER THE MOON,WITHOUT EFFORT, BREATHING LIGHTLY,SMOOTH AS A BREEZE OVER THE DESERT FLOOR,ONE WHITE STAR OUR COMPASS.WE HAVE COME TO NO PALACE, NO PLACEOF TOWERS AND MINARETS AND THE CALLING OF SERVANTS,BUT A POOR STABLE IN A POOR TOWN.SO WHY ARE WE BENDING OUR CRESTED NECKS?WHY ARE OUR PROUD HEADS BOWEDAND OUR EYES CLOSED MEEKLY?WHY ARE WE OUTSIDE THIS HOVEL,HUMBLY AND AWKWARDLY KNEELING?HOW IS IT THAT WE KNOW THE WORLD IS CHANGED?

CAMELS OF THE KINGS

THE TIGER IN THE ZOOHE STALKS IN HIS VIVID STRIPESTHE FEW STEPS OF HIS CAGE,ON PADS OF VELVET QUIET,IN HIS QUIET RAGE.

HE SHOULD BE LURKING IN SHADOW,SLIDING THROUGH LONG GRASSNEAR THE WATER HOLEWHERE PLUMP DEER PASS.

HE SHOULD BE SNARLING AROUND HOUSESAT THE JUNGLE’S EDGE,BARING HIS WHITE FANGS, HIS CLAWS,TERRORISING THE VILLAGE!BUT HE’S LOCKED IN A CONCRETE CELL,HIS STRENGTH BEHIND BARS,STALKING THE LENGTH OF HIS CAGE,IGNORING VISITORS.

HE HEARS THE LAST VOICE AT NIGHT,THE PATROLLING CARS,AND STARES WITH HIS BRILLIANT EYESAT THE BRILLIANT STARS.

Analysis

This poem contrasts a tiger when it is in its natural habitat and when it is imprisoned in a zoo. On a starry night, the poet sees a tiger in a zoo. The tiger moves slowly up and down in his cage. He is full of rage but is quiet in his helplessness. The poet is moved to pity for the tiger. He says that the tiger should have been in the jungle. He should have been moving quietly in the shadows near some water hole, and waiting for a plump deer to pass that way. But sadly he is locked behind bars in a concrete cell. He does not take any notice of the visitors and is looking at the brilliant stars with his brilliant eyes. Now he has to be content with merely looking at the stars .He is no longer free to move in his natural habitat and look at the brilliant stars from there .

Thank You

The End