Tigers

A tiger cub
When with its peers
Will play the day away,

Yet tiger cub
Receives the jeers
Of those who shy away.

Though tiger cub
When in its veldt
May come across a man

The tiger paw
May be witheld
When man extends its hand

Now paw withheld,
The man withdraws
And calls the cub aloof

Same man, when chased,
By tiger claw,
Is found upon his roof.

When tiger play
Is had by young
One bats his friend around

And friend bats back;
His clever tongue
Gives loudly rolling sound

But tigers know
Their company;
They know their habits well

They do not jump
Or turn and flee
If they smell tiger smell.

When tigers stretch
And show their claws
They know not to beware

For tiger knows
Its own kind's paw
And knows the dangers there.