February 28, 2004

on my mind

Rilke's "The Panther"

His vision, from the constantly passing bars,
has grown so weary that it cannot hold
anything else. It seems to him there are
a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.
As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,
the movement of his powerful soft strides
is like a ritual dance around a center
in which a mighty will stands paralyzed.
Only at times, the curtain of the pupils
lifts, quietly--. An image enters in,
rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles,
plunges into the heart and is gone.

by Rainier Maria Rilke, tr. by Stephen Mitchell

Posted by jonsligh at February 28, 2004 10:17 PM
Comments
Post a comment

Please note: Comments will not appear immediately. Your comment will appear upon approval by the blog's editor. We had to implement this to decrease the amount of spam that our site receives. Please forgive the inconvenience. We are looking into other, friendlier options.










Remember personal info?



Receive an email if someone
else comments on this post?

(by leaving this box checked you will also receive your own comment via email to confirm your subscription)