His gaze has been so worn by the procession
Of bars that it no longer makes a bond.
Around, a thousand bars seem to be flashing,
And in their flashing show no world beyond.

The lissome steps which round out and re-enter
That tightest circuit of their turning drill
Are like a dance of strength about a center
Wherein there stands benumbed a mighty will.

Only from time to time the pupil’s shutter
Will draw apart — an image enters then,
To travel through the tautened body’s utter
Stillness — and in the heart end.

translation by Robert Bly (original poem in German called Der Panther by Rainer Rilke)
center, bars, cycles and motion gained from sequence of still images are a few of the elements I will focus on in composition. This is a Muybridge image of "cat trotting".




a translation by Robert Bly