Bruce Cockburn's "Pacing the Cage": I Hear Rilke Echoes

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Driving home from the pharmacy last night I was listening to The North 103.3 when a song came on that compelled me to listen. Each verse ended with the line "pacing the cage." The accompaniment was haunting and, for me, it brought to mind Rilke's The Panther. As the song was ending I was just pulling into my driveway. The radio host, thankfully, shared the title of the song and its creator, Bruce Cockburn.

As soon as I got in the house I looked to see if the song were on YouTube. After finding it I listened again while looking online for the lyrics. Then I listened yet again.

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The power of Rainer Maria Rilke's The Panther is that it becomes a metaphor that most of us can relate to. It is a poignant portrait of something magnificent that has become impotent after being caged. There are all manner of ways in which we can become caged. How that affects us may not readily be recognized. When the loss of freedom becomes the loss of hope, we are doomed.

The Panther

His vision from the passing of the bars
is grown so weary that it holds no more.
To him it seems there are a thousand bars
and behind a thousand bars no world.

The padding gait of flexibly strong strides,
that in the very smallest circle turns,
is like a dance of strength around a center
in which stupefied a great will stands.

Only sometimes the curtain of the pupil
soundless parts--. Then an image enters,
goes through the tensioned stillness of the limbs
--and in the heart ceases to be.

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It is against this backdrop, Rilke's Panther, that I share Bruce Cockburn's poignant piece.

Pacing the Cage

Sunset is an angel weeping
Holding out a bloody sword
No matter how I squint I cannot
Make out what it's pointing toward
Sometimes you feel like you live too long
Days drip slowly on the page
You catch yourself
Pacing the cage

I've proven who I am so many times
The magnetic strip's worn thin
And each time I was someone else
And every one was taken in
Powers chatter in high places
Stir up eddies in the dust of rage
Set me to pacing the cage

I never knew what you all wanted
So I gave you everything
All that I could pillage
All the spells that I could sing
It's as if the thing were written
In the constitution of the age
Sooner or later you'll wind up
Pacing the cage

Sometimes the best map will not guide you
You can't see what's round the bend
Sometimes the road leads through dark places
Sometimes the darkness is your friend
Today these eyes scan bleached-out land
For the coming of the outbound stage
Pacing the cage
Pacing the cage

© Rotten Kiddies Music Llc, Bro N Sis Music Inc

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Here's the song on YouTube so you can appreciate the mood it creates.

URL:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNIFFZBfewo

According to Wikipedia, Bruce Cockburn was born three days after Bob Dylan's fourth birthday, May 27, 1945. Like Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, Cockburn is a Canadian-born singer/songwriter and guitarist. He's written more than 350 songs for 34 albums.

For poetry lovers, here's a web page that has assembled a variety of alternative translations for Rilke's Der Panther. Enjoy! http://www.thebeckoning.com/poetry/rilke/rilke3.html