Meaning of vivid stripes

Stanza 1
He stalks in his vivid stripes
The few steps of his cage,
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.

WORD MEANINGS
stalks – stride, to move quietly and slowly in a threatening way
vivid – bright
stripes – long narrow bands
pads – the soft part under the foot of the tiger
rage – anger

Exp – The poet sees a tiger locked in a concrete cell in the zoo. It is a very small cage. The tiger can hardly take a few steps along the length of the cage. He looks majestic as he slowly moves up and down in his cage. The sharp and clear stripes on his body are of strong bright colour. His pads are velvet soft. Inspite of all his strength, he now lies imprisoned behind the bars. The caged tiger is angry. He is full of rage, but is quiet because he knows that he is helpless here.