This poem, "The Bear on the Delhi Road". What does it mean by Earle Birney?

Question

This poem, "The Bear on the Delhi Road". What does it mean by Earle Birney?

Answer 1

After doing a little Google research, I found the following, courtesy of the link I have provided underneath, in the source section.

The first verse: Here we see Birney talking about a Himalayan bear on a Delhi Road. He is unreal i.e. away from his natural habitat. He is very tall. Two bare thin men accompany him on the road. He beats the air with his crooked arms.

The second verse paragraph talks about the two men. The first man pulls on a ring in the soft great nose of the bear. The second one, his companion, flicks with a stick up at the rolling eyes of the bear.

In the third verse paragraph we are told that the purpose of the two men is to teach the bear to dance. That is why they have led him here down from the fabulous Himalayan hills to the bald alien plain and the clamorous world of Delhi. They do not want to kill him but to help them earn their living.

In the fourth verse paragraph, we are told that both these two men from Kashmir are peaceful. All they want is a living. They want the bear to stay alive. They dance around him on the Delhi road in a galvanic way. They want to wear out from his shaggy body the wish to stay forever on four legs amidst berries. They want him to be

like them (on two legs) and dance.

In the fifth verse paragraphs we are told that what they are doing does not give them much joy. They are also away from Kashmir's cool air in the hot dust of Delhi.