"The Tiger" By Nael, Age 6

Submission 38,170

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About

"The Tiger" by Nael, Age 6, also known as The Tiger Is Out, refers to a poem written by a 6-year-old child about a tiger escaping a cage. After it was shared online in late 2016, The Tiger went viral on social media thanks to users who praised it, with many referencing it in memes or jokes online as a copypasta.

Origin

"The Tiger" was published in the anthology You Will Be Able To Say A Thousand Words^[1] and They're Singing A Song In Their Rocket^[2] by 826DC, an organization that encourages young writers ages 6-18. The original poem reads:

The tiger
He destroyed his cage
Yes
YES
The tiger is out

The earliest known post of the poem appeared on December 10th, 2016, by Twitter user @Peterbourgon,^[3] gaining over 5,100 retweets and 12,000 likes in roughly six years (shown below).

Spread

Over the following years, the poem periodically came up on social media as users praised it. On April 21st, 2017, Twitter user @Johnvvariety^[8] joked that Nael had outclassed William Blake, who also has a famous poem called "The Tyger" (shown below, left). On February 17th, 2018, John and Hank Green talked about it on their podcast, Dear Hank and John.^[4] Around this time, it was also posted on Tumblr,^[5] where it gained over 177,000 notes. On February 20th, 826DC^[6] thanked the Greens for amplifying the poem (shown below, right).

Around this time, the poem began seeing more attention and analysis in the media. WTOP^[7] covered the poem's virality in March 2018 and reached Nael for comment. Nael, now 8, said he was "super happy" his poem reached so many readers around the world. In September 2020, poetry blogger Brett Milam praised the poem,^[9] writing:

In short order, the poem went viral, and a lot of people like to say it’s the best poem ever written, or at least, the best poem of the 21st century, or at least, the best poem of the 2010s. I would agree with the latter. Genuinely.

The poem saw a significant spread in February 2022 in honor of the Chinese Lunar New Year, as it had become the "Year of the Tiger" in the Chinese calendar. Twitter user Trungles^[10] posted the poem referencing this, gaining over 6,500 retweets and 25,000 likes (shown below).