The Hind and the Panther Literary Elements

The poem is told from the perspective of a third person objective point of view.

The poem is written in an iambic pentameter.

An important similarity which appears in the poem is the way in which the narrator compares the light with the truth. This comparison has the purpose of transmitting the idea that truth does not depend on the religion claims to be and that truth is something which is universal.

We find an alliteration in the lines "With broken tusks, and with a borrow’d name,/ He shun’d the vengeance, and concealed the shame’’.

One of the ironical ideas presented in the poem is the way in which the hind and the panther reach a common ground in the third part of the poem. This idea is ironical because in the beginning of the poem, the panther is described as being extremely violent and as wanting to have nothing to do with the rest of the animals.

Allegory

The time and place where the action of the allegory takes place is not mentioned.

The tone used by the characters in the poem is a neutral one, the idea which the characters transmit being that unity is possible.

The protagonist in the poem is the Hind and the antagonist is the Panther.

The major conflict presented in the poem is a religious one between different religious factions.

The poem reaches its climax when the Hind and the Panther reach common ground regarding the need to unify against corruption in the middle of the Church.

In the first part of the poem, the narrator mentions how the life of the Hind was at often times put in dangers by other animals and by ill intended people. This initial description foreshadows the future problems the Hind will have to face.

When the rest of the animals are introduced, the narrator describes them as being just as grand and as dangerous as the panther. In fact, when the bear is described for example, the idea transmitted is that the bear could easily subdue the panther. This however is an understatement as the narrator later describes how the panther dominated every animal mentioned.

At the end of the poem, the narrator alludes the idea that many people use religion as a way to further their political agenda. Because of this problem, the Hind and the Panther decide to unite to purge religion from those who want to use it for their own gains.

The term "seed’’ is used in the poem as a general way to make reference to ideas which a person inherits.

We find a personification in the line "bolts and barrs impervious to the light’’.

We find a hyperbole in the lines "Could He his god-head veil with flesh and bloud / And not veil these again to be our food?’’.

We find an onomatopoeia in the lines "whose vocal bloud arose/ And cry’d for pardon’’ in the first part of the poem.