The Panther by Rainer Maria Rilke

Written in November 1902 and subtitled ‘In Jardin des Plantes, Paris,’ this poem describes a captive panther exhibited at the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes in Paris, France.

Translated by Jessie Lemont

His weary glance, from passing by the bars,
Has grown into a dazed and vacant stare;
It seems to him there are a thousand bars
And out beyond those bars the empty air.

The pad of his strong feet, that ceaseless sound
Of supple tread behind the iron bands,
Is like a dance of strength circling around,
While in the circle, stunned, a great will stands.

But there are times the pupils of his eyes
Dilate, the strong limbs stand alert, apart,
Tense with the flood of visions that arise
Only to sink and die within his heart.