Ch 13How to Tell Wild Animals

How to Tell Wild Animals

Poet: Carolyn Wells (1862–1942), a popular American writer known for her humorous verse, parodies and mystery novels. She wrote more than a hundred books, and her light, witty poems for children remain widely loved for their playful use of language.

Introduction

"How to Tell Wild Animals" is a humorous poem that pretends to teach us how to identify dangerous wild animals. The joke, of course, is that in every case you can be sure of the animal's identity only when it is attacking you — when it is already too late! Through funny "tests" for the lion, tiger, leopard, bear, hyena, crocodile and chameleon, the poet uses exaggeration, irony and playful spellings to make us laugh, while also slipping in real distinguishing features of each animal.

Stanza-wise Explanation

Stanza 1 — The Asian Lion

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…

If you happen to visit the jungles of the east (Asia) and a large animal with tawny (yellowish-brown) skin comes towards you, there is a sure way to identify it: if it roars so terrifyingly that you feel you are dying of fright, it is the Asian Lion. The humour lies in the "test" — you can confirm the identification only at the point of death! Note the deliberate misspelling "dyin'" to force a rhyme with "Lion" — an example of poetic licence.

Stanza 2 — The Bengal Tiger

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.

While roaming, if a "noble" beast with black stripes on a yellow body greets you, just check whether it eats you — if it does, it was certainly the Bengal Tiger! The irony is savage: the tiger "greets" you by devouring you, and the poet calls this deadly encounter a "simple rule". The polite words "noble" and "greets" clash comically with the horror of being eaten.

Stanza 3 — The Leopard

If strolling forth, a beast you view,
Whose hide with spots is peppered,
As soon as he has lept on you,
You'll know it is the Leopard.
'Twill do no good to roar with pain,
He'll only lep and lep again.

If you see a beast whose skin is dotted all over with spots (as if pepper were sprinkled on it), and it leaps on you at once, it is the Leopard. Crying or roaring in pain is useless, because the leopard will keep leaping on you again and again. The poet playfully misspells "leapt" as "lept" and "leap" as "lep" to rhyme with "Leopard" — more poetic licence for comic effect.

Stanza 4 — The Bear

If when you're walking round your yard
You meet a creature there,
Who hugs you very, very hard,
Be sure it is a Bear.
If you have any doubts, I guess
He'll give you just one more caress.

You need not even go to a jungle for this one — if a creature meets you in your own yard and hugs you very, very tightly, it is a bear. And if you still have any doubt, it will lovingly "caress" you once more — that is, crush you in another deadly hug. Words of affection like "hugs" and "caress" are used ironically for the bear's killing embrace.

Stanza 5 — The Hyena and the Crocodile

Though to distinguish beasts of prey
A novice might nonplus,
The Crocodile you always may
Tell from the Hyena thus:
Hyenas come with merry smiles;
But if they weep they're Crocodiles.

A beginner (novice) may get confused in telling beasts of prey apart, but there is an easy trick for these two: hyenas seem to smile merrily (their cry sounds like laughter), while crocodiles shed tears as they swallow their prey. The stanza rests on two popular sayings — the "laughing hyena" and "crocodile tears" (false tears of sympathy).

Stanza 6 — The Chameleon

The true Chameleon is small,
A lizard sort of thing;
He hasn't any ears at all,
And not a single wing.
If there is nothing on the tree,
'Tis the chameleon you see.

The chameleon is a small, harmless, lizard-like creature with no ears and no wings. Its special power is changing colour to match its surroundings. So, says the poet with a final wink, if you look at a tree and see nothing on it, that "nothing" is the chameleon — it has blended perfectly with the tree!

Poetic Devices

• Humour and Irony: the entire poem — each "identification test" works only when the victim is being attacked, e.g. "Just notice if he eats you."
• Poetic licence: deliberately wrong spellings and grammar for rhyme and fun — "dyin'" (dying) to rhyme with "Lion", "lept"/"lep" for "leapt"/"leap" to rhyme with "Leopard".
• Hyperbole (exaggeration): "If he roars at you as you're dyin'" — dying of mere fright at a roar.
• Irony of word choice: "A noble wild beast greets you"; "He'll give you just one more caress" — gentle words for deadly actions.
• Metaphor: "Whose hide with spots is peppered" — the leopard's spots are compared to sprinkled pepper.
• Allusion to idioms: the "laughing" hyena and "crocodile tears" (weeping while devouring prey).
• Alliteration: "roaming round"; "lep and lep again".

Theme / Central Idea

The poem is a piece of pure humour built on an absurd idea: teaching identification of dangerous animals through experiences no one could survive. Beneath the laughter, it does convey real information — the lion's tawny colour and roar, the tiger's black stripes on yellow, the leopard's spots, the bear's hug, the hyena's laugh-like cry, the crocodile's tears and the chameleon's camouflage. The poem shows how playful language, rhyme and exaggeration can turn even danger into delight.

Rhyme Scheme

Each six-line stanza follows the rhyme scheme ababcc — alternate rhymes in the first four lines followed by a rhyming couplet (e.g. chance–advance, east–beast, dyin'–Lion). The bouncy, regular rhythm adds to the comic effect.

Important Word Meanings