Tiger

At noon thepaper tigers roar

— Miroslav Holub

The paper tigers roar at noon;

The sun is hot, the sun is high.

They roar in chorus, not in tune,

Their plaintive, savage hunting cry.

O, when you hear them, stop your ears

And clench your lids and bite your tongue.

The harmless paper tiger bears

Strong fascination for the young.

His forest is the busy street;

His dens the forum and the mart;

He drinks no blood, he tastes no meat:

He riddles and corrupts the heart.

But when the dusk begins to creep

From tree to tree, from door to door,

The jungle tiger wakes from sleep

And utters his authentic roar.

It bursts the night and shakes the stars

Till one breaks blazing from the sky;

Then listen! If to meet it soars

Your heart’s reverberating cry,

My child, then put aside your fear:

Unbar the door and walk outside!

The real tiger waits you there;

His golden eyes shall be your guide.

And, should he spare you in his wrath,

The world and all the worlds are yours;

And should he leap thejungle path

And clasp you with his bloody jaws,

Then say, as his divine embrace

Destroys the mortal parts of you:

I too am of that royal race

Who do what we are born to do.

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Poems in English 

• For What As Easy by W H Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• Five Songs – II by W H Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• Fish in the Unruffled Lakes by W H Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• Eyes Look Into The Well by W H Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• Eyes Look Into The Well by W H Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• Edward Lear by W H Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• Doggerel by a Senior Citizen by W H Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• Deftly, Admiral, Cast Your Fly by W H Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• Two Songs for Hedli Anderson by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• The Shield of Achilles by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• The More Loving One by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• The Fall of Rome by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• September 1, 1939 by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• On the Circuit by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• In Memory of W. B. Yeats by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• In Memory of Sigmund Freud by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• If I could tell you by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• For Friends Only by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• Epitaph on a Tyrant by W. H. Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)
• Death’s Echo by W H Auden by Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H. Auden)

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