The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt/The Panther

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The Glove and the Lions

The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt
by James Henry Leigh Hunt

The Panther

The Feast of the Poets

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4643655The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt — The PantherJames Henry Leigh Hunt

THE PANTHER.

The panther leap'd to the front of his lair,And stood with a foot up, and snuff'd the air;He quiver'd his tongue from his panting mouth,And look'd with a yearning towards the south;For he scented afar in the coming breezeNews of the gums and their blossoming trees;And out of Armenia that same dayHe and his race come bounding away.

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Over the mountains and down to the plainsLike Bacchus's panthers with wine in their veins,They came where the woods wept odorous rains;And there, with a quivering, every beastFell to his old Pamphylian feast.

The people who liv'd not far away,Heard the roaring on that same day;And they said, as they lay in their carpeted rooms,The panthers are come, and are drinking the gums:And some of them going with swords and spearsTo gather their share of the rich round tears,The panther I spoke of follow'd them back;And dumbly they let him tread close in the track,And lured him after them into the town;And then they let the portcullis down,And took the panther, which happened to beThe largest was seen in all Pamphily.

By every one there was the panther admir'd,So fine was his shape and so sleekly attir'd,And such an air, both princely and swift,He had when giving a sudden lift

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To his mighty paw, he'd turn at a sound,And so stand panting and looking around,As if he attended a monarch crown'd.And truly, they wonder'd the more to beholdAbout his neck a collar of gold,On which was written, in characters broad,"Arsaces the king to the Nysian God."So they tied to the collar a golden chain,Which made the panther a captive again,And by degrees he grew fearful and still,As if he had lost his lordly will.

But now came the spring, when free-born loveCalls up nature in forest and grove,And makes each thing leap forth, and beLoving, and lovely, and blithe as he.The panther he felt the thrill of the air,And he gave a leap up, like that at his lair;

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He felt the sharp sweetness more strengthen his veins,Ten times than ever the spicy rains,And ere they're aware, he has burst his chains:

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He has burst his chains, and ah, ha! he's gone,And the links and the gazers are left alone,And off to the mountains the panther's flown.

Now what made the panther a prisoner be?Lo! 'twas the spices and luxury.And what set that lordly panther free?'Twas Love!—'twas Love!—'twas no one but he.^[1]

↑ "What is said of that Taurus which is so called by us, extending beyond Armenia, (though this has been called in question), is now made apparent from the panthers, which I know have been taken in the spice-bearing part of Pamphylia; for they, delighting in odours, which they scent at a great distance, quit Armenia, and cross the mountains in search of the tears of the storax, at the time when the wind blows from that quarter, and the trees distil their gums. It is said that a panther was once taken in Pamphylia, with a gold chain about its neck, on which was inscribed, in Armenian letters, "Arsaces the king to the Nysæan God." Arsaces was then king of Armenia, who is supposed to have given it its liberty on account of its magnitude, and in honour of Bacchus, who, amongst the Indians, is called Nisius, from Nysa, one of their towns: this, however, is an appellation which he bears among all the oriental nations. This panther became subject to man, and grew so tame, that it was patted and caressed by every one. But on the approach of spring, a season when panthers become susceptible of love, it felt the general passion, and rushed with fury into the mountains in quest of a mate, with the gold chain about its neck."—Life of Apollonius of Tyana, p. 68.

[p78-1] "What is said of that Taurus which is so called by us, extending beyond Armenia, (though this has been called in question), is now made apparent from the panthers, which I know have been taken in the spice-bearing part of Pamphylia; for they, delighting in odours, which they scent at a great distance, quit Armenia, and cross the mountains in search of the tears of the storax, at the time when the wind blows from that quarter, and the trees distil their gums. It is said that a panther was once taken in Pamphylia, with a gold chain about its neck, on which was inscribed, in Armenian letters, "Arsaces the king to the Nysæan God." Arsaces was then king of Armenia, who is supposed to have given it its liberty on account of its magnitude, and in honour of Bacchus, who, amongst the Indians, is called Nisius, from Nysa, one of their towns: this, however, is an appellation which he bears among all the oriental nations. This panther became subject to man, and grew so tame, that it was patted and caressed by every one. But on the approach of spring, a season when panthers become susceptible of love, it felt the general passion, and rushed with fury into the mountains in quest of a mate, with the gold chain about its neck."—Life of Apollonius of Tyana, p. 68.

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