大象传媒

Is it possible to capture a tiger in a poem?

The poet laureate, Simon Armitage, has written a lot about animals in the past, but always at a distance. He wants that to change - to feel that he has captured the spirit of an animal, and done it justice in a brand new poem.

In this episode Simon measures William's Blake's poem 'The Tyger' against the real thing, and asks whether it's true that if a big cat could speak, we still wouldn't understand anything it could say.

Contributors:
Daniel Simmonds from ZSL London Zoo
Pascale Petit - poetry collections include 'Tiger Girl' and 'Beast' (forthcoming)
Crispin and Zac - Sumatran tigers at ZSL London Zoo
Rupert Read - philosopher and author of 'Why Climate Breakdown Matters'

Voices heard in programme reading lines from William Blake's 'The Tyger':
John Nettles
Angela Thorne
Sir Michael Tippett

Produced by Faith Lawrence
Mixed by Sue Stonestreet