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If the eyes are taken as the sign of the soul, the eyes that bum bright can be considered the indication of the fulfillment of the soul’s desire. The tiger’s emotions, desires and even anger are not seen in the forest.

The phrase refers to the eyes of the tiger. But unlike Blake’s tiger, the tiger depicted in Daruwalla’s poem does not have eyes which bum brightly. If we take the phrase ‘burning bright’ as ‘feeling emotion’ or ‘flourishing in life’, then we can conclude that the tiger lacks the spirit of life.

These lines are taken from the poem ‘Tiger’, written by Keki Daruwalla. Describing the plight of the tigers, the poet says that the king of the jungle is now hung on the wall. Jungles used to tremble at his roar and the birds perching on the treetops would fly away hearing it. Now, the lizards move behind the skin of the tiger, searching for insects.

The irony of the situation is brought forth in these lines. No one is scared of the tiger now. Even the lizards move behind his skin, hunting for insects. The pathos of the situation is highlighted in these lines.

The gecko is hunting on the wall.

All the birds and animals were afraid of the tiger. When he ‘ roared, the jungle trembled and the birds perching on top of the trees flew-up in fear. This appeared as if the ‘tree-tops flew-up’.

B) searching for insects in the skin of the tiger.

God stamped upon the skin of the tiger, equal stripes of yellow and black which looked like night and dawn.

The skin of the tiger is found hanging on a wall.

Keki Daruwalla’s poem ‘Tiger’ is a parody of Blake’s poem ‘The Tyger’. Blake pictures the tiger as a brute beauty, a majestic creation of God, indicative of God’s power. But Daruwalla’s tiger is a pitiable creature. Daruwalla sets the tone for what he wants to say right at the beginning by stating that the tiger is not burning bright. This is a complete contrast to the opening lines of Blake’s poem, ‘Tyger, Tyger burning bright, In the forest of the night/ Daruwalla says with irony that tiger is not burning bright in shadow or sun or in the forest of the night or the wilderness of the day.

The poet draws our attention to the dwindling number of tigers in two ways: he says that the tiger family is thinking two by two and one by one. He also refers to the father tiger Sheru missing. He makes an emotional appeal to the readers, right at the beginning, about the need to understand the tragic plight of the tiger. The tigers are hunted by poachers for their bones which are used in Chinese medicine, believed to revitalize sickly men, and the tiger skin is used for decorative purposes.

The bones are powdered and shipped out in plastic and the skin is hung on the wall as an ornamental piece. The pitiable condition is metaphorically described by the poet with references to the gecko which crawls on the skin in search of insects. The poet feels sad for the tiger which has lost its grandeur.

The tiger’s roar in the past made the jungle tremble, birds to take flight in fear and monkeys to scream in terror. But in the present, geckoes nibble at the ears of the dead tiger skin! God had created the tiger as a beautiful beast with gold and black stripes, representing dawn and night. But the gold no longer shines and the King of the forest who feasted on boars is hunted down by humans and is near extinction. Thus, Daruwalla points out the urgency of the need to protect the tiger, India’s national animal, which is God’s marvelous creation.

The poem ‘Tiger’ by Keki Daruwalla is a poignant plea not to kill tigers. It’s a parody of Blake’s poem ‘Tyger’ wherein Blake pictures the Tyger as a majestic, brute beauty of nature. But in the poem of Daruwalla, the tiger is shown as a pitiable creature as it is near extinction. The poet is condemning the killers.

He does not like the idea of killing animals for selfish reasons. The poet makes us feel and understand the difficulties of the life of the animals. The poet describes the significance of protecting the endangered species. People cruelly kill the animals. People kill animals for recreation and for financial benefits.

C) protect the tigers from extinction

1. The human souls were sick.

2. Their souls are described as sick because they are killing the tigers for their selfish reasons. 

3. The power of the tiger’s bone is used to heal sick men. The tiger’s skin is used as a wall decoration. So, the tigers are killed.