Der Panther [English translation]

The Panther

In the Jardin des Plantes, Paris

His gaze, because of the bars flashing by,

has grown so tired that it's lost its hold.

To him it's as though there were thousands of bars

and behind the thousands of bars, no world.

That soft stride's supple, powerful steps

that turn in the smallest of circles

are like a dance of power around a center

in which a great will stands benumbed.

Only on occasion does the curtain hanging before the pupils

silently rise-- . Then an image goes in,

goes through the limbs' tensed stillness--

and is, in the heart, extinguished.

• Artist:Rainer Maria Rilke