"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.

The poem consists of three stanzas (strophes), each containing four verses with alternating feminine and masculine cadence: German Sein Blick ist vom Vorübergehn der Stäbe so müd geworden, daß er nichts mehr hält.

The soft the supple step and sturdy pace, that in the smallest of all circles turns, moves like a dance of strength around a core in which a mighty will is standing stunned.

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.