"As he paces in cramped circles, over and over, the movement... in which a mighty will stands paralyzed."
The diction throughout the poem indicates confinement. The fact that the animal is not only pacing in circles, but that those circles are cramped within a small area. The mighty will is paralyzed because it does not have enough space to release itself. The animal's potential is being held back by the limited amount of space. He is confined within the bars. Another phrase that indicates confinement is that behind the bars, there is no world. The "panther" has been confined in the cage for so long that it cannot even imagine the world outside the bars. The living are it must occupy is too small for it to know the world for what it is. The verb plunges also seems to have a negative connotation. Rather than just saying that the image entered the heart the author used a vivid verb to describe the negative effect it had. Also, I think the use of the word curtain in line 9 is significant because usually a closed curtain happens at the end of a scene or play. It usually signifies an end. I think the fact that the "curtain" lifts occasionally and quietly indicates that the end is near. My interpretation of the poem could possibly be that the panther is a prisoner on death row, constantly staring at the bars of his cell. In the end, the fatal injection is what causes the heart to stop.
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