A Second Glance at a Jaguar

"The Second Glance at a Jaguar" gives a very different perspective of the jaguar compared to the first poem. In the first poem "The Jaguar", the jaguar is presented as an unending energy source, fueled by anger over his imprisonment behind bars. The jaguar in the first poem is represented as not seeing the cage that locks him in, but rather he is free inside of his mind. When compared to the rest of the animals in the first poem he is the only one to have not given up, he is still fighting for freedom. This is shown in line 19, "His stride is wilderness of freedom".
The second poem about the jaguar takes a much more realistic stance. In "The Second Glance at a Jaguar" the jaguar appears much more defeated, he has clearly been doing this dance for some time now and it is wearing on him. This is shown in lines 17 through 19, "His head Is like the worn down stump of another whole jaguar, His body is just the engine shoving it forward". The constant anger the jaguar is keeping up is taking a toll on him, and this poem represents a much deeper examination of the jaguar himself. In the first poem we are only presented with a snapshot of the jaguar, an image that the casual passerby would be subjected to. In the second we see the realistic side to the jaguars nonstop movement back and forth in his cell, how he is stuck in the rhythm of his movements, knowing that they will lead him no where.
What is prevalent in both poems is that anger that the jaguar carries inside of him. In both it is this anger that continues to drive him around and around the cage, "Muttering some mantrah, some drum-song of murder To keep his rage brightening," (lines 25-26). It is rage that propels him to continue to move, to avoid the lethargy and indifference that has infected the rest of the caged animals in the zoo.