"Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" is a 1951 poem by American poet Adrienne Rich. It appeared in her first published book of poems, A Change of World. Told from the perspective of an anonymous speaker, the poem describes a woman, Aunt Jennifer, who crafts vibrant tapestry panels (depicting tigers) to escape—mentally, at least—her unhappy marriage. Written at a time when divorce was unacceptable, the poem criticizes the traditional institution of marriage, suggesting that it oppresses women.
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The Full Text of “Aunt Jennifer's Tigers”
The Full Text of “Aunt Jennifer's Tigers”
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“Aunt Jennifer's Tigers” Summary
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“Aunt Jennifer's Tigers” Themes
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Marriage, Gender, and Power
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-12
- Lines 5-10
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Creative Expression and Personal Freedom
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-12
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Aunt Jennifer's Tigers”
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Lines 1-2
Aunt Jennifer's tigers ...
... world of green. -
Lines 3-4
They do not ...
... sleek chivalric certainty. -
Lines 5-6
Aunt Jennifer's fingers ...
... hard to pull. -
Lines 7-8
The massive weight ...
... Aunt Jennifer's hand. -
Lines 9-10
When Aunt is ...
... was mastered by. -
Lines 11-12
The tigers in ...
... proud and unafraid.
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“Aunt Jennifer's Tigers” Symbols
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The Tigers
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-4: “Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen, / Bright topaz denizens of a world of green. / They do not fear the men beneath the tree; / They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.”
- Lines 11-12: “The tigers in the panel that she made / Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.”
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The Tree
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 3: “They do not fear the men beneath the tree”
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The Wedding Band
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 7-8: “The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band / Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.”
- Lines 9-10: “When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie / Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.”
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“Aunt Jennifer's Tigers” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Personification
Where personification appears in the poem:- Line 3: “They do not fear the men beneath the tree;”
- Line 4: “They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.”
- Lines 11-12: “The tigers in the panel that she made / Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.”
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Imagery
Where imagery appears in the poem:- Lines 1-4
- Lines 5-12
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Hyperbole
Where hyperbole appears in the poem:- Line 6: “Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.”
- Lines 7-8: “The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band / Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “Aunt,” “Jennifer's,” “tigers,” “prance,” “across,” “screen”
- Line 2: “topaz,” “denizens,” “green”
- Line 4: “pace,” “sleek,” “chivalric,” “certainty”
- Line 5: “Jennifer's,” “fingers,” “fluttering”
- Line 6: “Find,” “even,” “ivory,” “needle,” “hard,” “pull”
- Line 7: “weight,” “wedding,” “band”
- Line 8: “upon,” “Aunt,” “Jennifer's,” “hand”
- Line 9: “dead,” “terrified,” “hands,” “will,” “lie”
- Line 10: “Still,” “ringed,” “ordeals,” “mastered”
- Line 11: “panel,” “made”
- Line 12: “prancing,” “proud,” “and,” “unafraid”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “screen”
- Line 2: “green”
- Line 3: “fear,” “beneath,” “tree”
- Line 4: “sleek,” “certainty”
- Line 5: “wool”
- Line 6: “even,” “needle,” “pull”
- Line 7: “band”
- Line 8: “hand”
- Line 9: “terrified,” “lie”
- Line 10: “by”
- Line 11: “tigers,” “panel,” “made”
- Line 12: “prancing,” “unafraid”
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 5: “fingers,” “fluttering”
- Line 7: “weight,” “wedding”
- Line 8: “heavily,” “hand”
- Line 11: “panel”
- Line 12: “prancing,” “proud”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 5-6: “wool / Find”
- Lines 7-8: “band / Sits”
- Lines 9-10: “lie / Still”
- Lines 11-12: “made / Will”
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 9: “dead, her”
- Line 12: “prancing, proud”
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Allusion
Where allusion appears in the poem:- Line 3: “They do not fear the men beneath the tree;”
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Line 10: “ringed with ordeals”
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“Aunt Jennifer's Tigers” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Prance/Prancing
- Screen
- Topaz
- Denizens
- The tree
- Chivalric
- Ivory
- Wedding band
- Ringed
- Ordeals
- Panel
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(Location in poem: Line 1: “prance”; Line 12: “prancing”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Aunt Jennifer's Tigers”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Aunt Jennifer's Tigers” Speaker
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“Aunt Jennifer's Tigers” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Aunt Jennifer's Tigers”
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More “Aunt Jennifer's Tigers” Resources
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External Resources
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A Biography of Adrienne Rich — Learn more about the poem's author.
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The National Book Award Ceremony — Read the speech given by Adrienne Rich upon her acceptance of the 1974 National Book Award for Poetry. She wrote it with Alice Walker and Audre Lorde, the other two feminist poets nominated that year. The three women wrote had agreed to accept the prize together if any one of them won.
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A History of Marriage — Learn about the history of marriage as traditionally configured in societies in which women are dependent on men in the family hierarchy.
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A "Feminist Awakening" — Learn about Adrienne Rich’s "feminist awakening," as seen through previously unpublished letters.
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Adrienne Rich's Obituary — Adrienne Rich died in 2012 at age 82. Read her obituary, including career highlights.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Adrienne Rich
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