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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE BLACK PANTHER, by JOHN HALL WHEELOCK Poet's Biography First Line: There is a panther caged within my breast Last Line: And I lie silent, but my body shakes. Variant Title(s): Panther! Panther! Subject(s): Panthers; Passion | |||
There is a panther caged within my breast, But what his name there is no breast shall know Save mine, nor what it is that drives him so, Backward and forward, in relentless quest: That silent rage, baffled but unsuppressed, The soft pad of those stealthy feet that go Over my body's prison to and fro, Trying the walls forever without rest. All day I feed him with my living heart, But when the night puts forth her dreams and stars The inexorable Frenzy reawakes; His wrath is hurled upon the trembling bars, The eternal passion stretches me apart -- And I lie silent, but my body shakes. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...APPULDURCOMBE PARK by AMY LOWELL FIVE ACCOUNTS OF A MONOGAMOUS MAN by WILLIAM MEREDITH ON PASSION AS A LITERARY TRADITION by JOHN CIARDI LES GRANDES PASSIONS MANQUEES by IRVING FELDMAN |
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