Verified Document

Panther, By Reiner Maria Rilke And Travelling Essay

¶ … panther, by Reiner Maria Rilke and Travelling through the Dark, by William Stafford, are two poems about wild animals and the effects of human kind's interference into their existence. In the case of Rilke's poem, the interaction is intentional: the man has locked one of the most impressive creatures in the wild, a panther, behind bars. In the second poem, the interaction is unintentional: the narrator finds a road kill in the dark, a deer. Even if so different, the animals are symbols for the same world: the world of wilderness. The Panther, expresses the image such an impressive creature as a panther evokes when seen behind bars. The eyes of the panther draw the onlooker, leaving a lasting impression on him. One of the most powerful gazes in the animal world has lost its meaning for the one who sees it behind bars. It is as if the world, as we know it, has ceased to exist. It is a timeless world of nothingness for the wild displaced creature. The new context has no meaning for it.

The caged panther, with its gracious, powerful steps moving in circles, its fixed gaze, its impressive body, its black, shiny, luxurious hair, suggests the mystical dance of an ancient priest. The person on the other side of the bars is aware that he or she stands in the nothingness for this captured animal. That person is looking at it, analyzing it, trying to understand what a wild animal feels when behind bars. Captivity seems to have rendered almost everything in that animal redundant. Only its will, a powerful will is in a state of numbness, like under the effect of a powerful drug the caretakers have injected in its limbs. Those limbs, with their perfect lean and strong muscles, complete the picture of what the panther is there for: to remind the one looking...

The mighty in the middle, the narrator evokes, may wake up some day and push the bars aside. Another thing the narrator seems to guess when looking at the caged panther is that humans are hopeless in their efforts to dominate the other worlds. Physical barriers can only contain the body of a being, but they will never retain and render the essence.
The last verse of the poem shows the creature whose power to kill is still there actually killing. It shows it killing an occasional image it penetrates what one thought was perfectly still. The meaning of that creature in this world is there in spirit, unattained. The panther, like a magician, freezes from time to time, to absorb and bring an image to its very heart where it finds the end. It fulfills thus its destiny.

In the second poem, Travelling Through the Dark, the narrator starts innocently with what could be described as a common image: riding through the nigh, on the edge of a river, a driver almost bumps into road kill. The two beings, the man vs. that of the dead body of an animal, are presented first in a completely disjointed world: "it is usually best to roll them into the canyon." The use of an impersonal voice is deliberate, thus the delimitation between the person behind the wheel and the object of its possible future action being suggested. The pronoun "them" from "to roll them" finishes this separation between those who have the rule "to role them into the canyon," the humans that is, and them, the animals in the wild.

The wilderness is present in the first verse through three symbols: the darkness, the Wilson river…

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Travel Blog: Year 2012 Travel
Words: 1043 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Bangkok, the capital of the country, can present the visitor with an out of body experience, with a focus on religion, history and a larger-than-life temple. In contrast with Thailand, Brazil is just a few hours' flight away, and in the same time zone as the East Coast of the U.S. In Brazil, one could visit any of the three large cities: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo or Brasilia, the

Travel Project the 2010 World
Words: 631 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

The Stellenbosch Wine Route covers the area around that city; the Constantia wine route is the oldest in Africa and the Durbanville wine route is an up-and-coming tour with unique cellars, horse racing and ample opportunities for high-adventure outdoor recreation (South Africa Guide, 2010). Many wineries and towns along these routes now have guesthouses to host visitors, and wonderful restaurants, to create the most idyllic experience possible. Back in the

Travel Agents Analysis the Following
Words: 6342 Length: 23 Document Type: Term Paper

A company's success or survival, no matter the field it operates in, relies on the satisfaction that the company is able to provide for its clients. Research Scope The scope of the research regards the synthetic definition of the information that must be obtained through this research. The scope of this research project is determining and evaluating the current situation and estimating the future situation of high street travel agents compared

Travel Industry Demand Management Competitiveness
Words: 1450 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Yet, there is still tremendous opportunity for many procurement organizations of travel industry operators to improve their performance as a significant gap exists between the Best in Class companies and the rest of the field. Best in Class enterprises understand that technology is a process-enabler, not a process in and of itself; successful organizations have efficient, proven processes in place before introducing a new technology. This translates into patience in

Travel and Tourism U.S. China Compare and
Words: 783 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Travel and Tourism U.S. China Compare and Contrast USA & China -- Implications of Political Change Statistics indicate that now more than ever tourism is booming among the Chinese, with Chinese tourists numbering just under 41 billion in 2007, a number that was up 18.6% from the previous year (Xola, 2008, p.2). Roughly 90% of those tourists traveled within other Asian countries, with just 3% traveling to U.S. destinations (Xola, 2008; Roy,

Travel Agents Service Customization and
Words: 789 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Similarly, in a study of 60,000 Internet users, Forrester found that the number of people booking online travel has dropped by 9% from 2005 to 2007. Apparently, found Forrester, people do not like to spend hours using search filters to sort through billions of pages. Also, these travel websites consumers want to talk to a person about their travel needs. Instead of typing in their needs into their computer and

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now