The Zoo?

"...It seems to him there are
a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world."
("The Panther" - Rainer Maria Rilke)

The poem of the panther really caused a lot of controversy in my small group today.  When I first read through the poem, I honestly just thought it was pretty straight forward... just your regular old panther trapped inside a cage at the zoo.  However, from the circus to people who can not reach their potential, a wide variety of responses were mentioned. 

This poem relies heavily on hyperbole and dramatic imagery.  In the excerpt above, it states that behind the bars of the cage, there was "no world."  Now obviously, if the cage exists on Earth, the world exists beyond the zoo.  However, this exaggeration adds effect of confinement to the poem.  The panther feels trapped and has never seen the outside world; therefore, to him, there is no escaping the prison life he must lead. 

Another literary device used in the poem is irony.  I thought it was a little ironic that Rilke placed an image of a "ritual dance" in the poem.  Maybe this is a little far-fetched, but this reminded me of tribes of Indians.  I think Indians are being compared to animals trapped in captivity.  Just as animals live in captivity, Indian tribes were placed in Reservations as if they were animals.  This cruel act is still criticized today.