I got a request from my wife's friend to interpret the following poem, but I'm not good with poetry myself either. She wants to interpret it using a psychological approach based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. I would appreciate any one's help. Thank you!
A Leopard Hanging in a Tree
By Eric Rawson
A leopard hanging in a tree:
Impossible this time of year.
The tree鈥檚 a maple! But looking
At the silhouette in evening,
I see a leopard in the tree:
A black figure limned on the blue
Horizon, hanging like a snake,
Coughing in the leafy branches,
A leopard weeping for its prey
As the twilight subsides, subsides.
Listen: those are kids on scooters
And a neighborly radio.
Look: a wife鈥檚 walking down the street.
The air鈥檚 as sweet as buttercups.
I won鈥檛 be going out for tea.
A leopard鈥檚 hanging in the tree. Can't imagine why she's chosen this poem; but I'll give it a go.
The contrasting elements of this poem are the narrator and the Leopard. Using Maslow, we can see that the Leopard is clearly on the first (and lowest) wrung of the hierarchy -- his main concern is for food (a lepoard weeping for his prey). He doesn't even have a proper shelter (which is why he's hanging in a tree).
The narrator, on the other hand, has shelter and food. He's on Maslow's second level, and is concerned with safety and security issues (I won't be going out for tea; a leopard's hanging in the tree).
The interesting thing is that both the leopard and the narrator are on the bottom two levels of the hierarchy. Each is concerned with a purely visceral, physiological phenomenon (food and security). Neither is concerned with the psychological aspects of the higher levels -- so perhaps what the poet is saying is that there really isn't much of a Maslowian difference between the two.
We tend to think that there's a world of difference between a dumb animal and a human being. The one is hanging in a tree, and the other, an evolved being in a real home. But stripped bare, the poet is telling us that there really isn't that great a distinction between the predator and the prey. On the lower levels of the hierarchy, the impulses of humans are not that different from those of other animals. It's only on the higher psychological levels that the distinction between animals and people become apparent.
Hope this helps -- it's the best I can do. Cheers, mate. |
