"The Panther" (subtitled: "In Jardin des Plantes, Paris"; German: Der Panther: Im Jardin des Plantes, Paris) is a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke written between 1902 and 1903.[1] It describes a captured panther behind bars, as it was exhibited in the Ménagerie of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. It is one of Rilke's most famous poems and has been translated into English many times, including by many distinguished translators of Rilke, like Stephen Mitchell, C. F. MacIntyre, J. B. Leishman and Walter Arndt, Jessie Lamont and poets like Robert Bly. It is used in the film Awakenings (1990) by the protagonist Leonard Lowe as a metaphor for his physical disability.

The Panther
In Jardin des Plantes, Paris
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Artists at the Jardin des Plantes.
Original titleDer Panther
TranslatorStanley Appelbaum
C. F. MacIntyre
J. B. Leishman
Walter Arndt
Robert Bly
Jessie Lamont
LanguageGerman
FormNarrative
Publication date ()
Media typePaperback
Full text
Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke (1918)/The Panther at Wikisource

Content

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The poem consists of three stanzas (strophes), each containing four verses with alternating feminine and masculine cadence:

References

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Further reading

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  • Hans Kügler: Rainer Maria Rilke. Der Panther. In: Karl Hotz (Hrsg.): Gedichte aus sieben Jahrhunderten. Interpretationen. Buchner, Bamberg 1987, ISBN 3-7661-4311-5, p. 211 German)
  • Manfred Back: „Das Anschauen ist eine so wunderbare Sache …“. Rilkes Panther nach dem Sprung ins Dinggedicht. In: Ingo Wintermeyer (Hrsg.): Kleine Lauben, Arcadien und Schnabelewopski. Festschrift für Klaus Jeziorkowski. Königshausen und Neumann, Würzburg 1995, ISBN 3-8260-1053-1, pp. 123–131 (excerpt at Google books, German).
  • Erich Unglaub: Panther und Aschanti. Rilke-Gedichte in kulturwissenschaftlicher Sicht. Lang, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 2005, ISBN 3-631-53791-3 (German)
  • Lawrence Ryan: Neue Gedichte - New Poems. In: Erika Alma Metzger (ed.), Michael M. Metzger (ed.): A Companion to the Works of Rainer Maria Rilke. Boydell & Brewer, 2001, ISBN 9781571130525, pp. 128-153
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