Literature - G.C. E. (O/L) Poems on Nature -The Eagle

The Eagle

by 

Alfred Lord Tennyson

This is a short poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson which was first published in 1851.  It is composed of only two stanzas, with three lines each. However, it is full of figurative language and deeper meaning

Quick overview about the poet

    Alfred Tennyson was born on 6th of August 1809 and was the Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets.

       Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, such as "Break, Break, Break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "Tears Idle Tears", and "Crossing the Bar" and many others. His poems are as popular today as they were in his time. 

       In 1828 he enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge.At Cambridge, Tennyson met Arthur Henry Hallam and William Henry Brookfield, who became his closest friends. His first publication was a collection of "his boyish rhymes and those of his elder brother Charles" entitled Poems by Two Brothers, published in 1827.In 1850, Tennyson was appointed to the position of Poet Laureate. He held the position until his own death in 1892, the longest tenure of any laureate before or since. 

       As source material for his poetry, Tennyson used a wide range of subject matter ranging from medieval legends to classical myths and from domestic situations to observations of nature. The influence of John Keats and other Romantic poets is evident from the richness of his imagery and descriptive writing. He also handled rhythm masterfully.

      At the age of 41, Tennyson had established himself as the most popular poet of the Victorian era. Tennyson died on October 6, 1892, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Look at the picture below of an eagle 

What do you think about this bird? 

What kind of  bird is it ?

What are the qualities you find in eagles?

List out all the words that  comes to your mind about this bird of prey

  

Eagle is a rare kind of bird and cannot be sighted easily. Eagles are large, powerfully built and is a predatory bird full of strength and power. Like all birds of prey, eagles have very large, hooked beaks for ripping flesh from their prey, strong, muscular legs, and powerful talons. Eagles are mostly found in tall trees or perched on high cliffs. The eagle is used as a symbol of some organizations and institutions of some countries. The United States Air force for example. The eagle is admired in such ways for their strength and power and grandeur of looks. The eagle is the patron animal of the ancient Greek God Zeus and ancient classical writers also claimed that the eagle was able to look directly at the sun. Lord Tennyson uses this magnificent bird as the subject of his poem.

Let’s start reading the poem. First of all pay attention to the following vocabulary item which may help you to understand the  poem.

      Clasps              -      grasp or hold tightly with hands

      Crag                 -       mountain/ rock face

      Crooked           -       curved/ bent

   Azure               -       bright blue color (color of the bright blue     

                                     sky)

     Wrinkled         -       covered with lines, having lines

     Crawls             -       creeps

    Thunderbolt    -        crash of thunder / A flash of lightning with a

                                         simultaneous crash of thunder.

The Eagle

                                 He clasps the crag with crooked hands; 

                                Close to the sun in lonely lands, 

                                Ring'd with the azure world, he stands. 

                                 The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; 

                                 He watches from his mountain walls, 

                                 And like a thunderbolt he falls. 

Reading the poem for understanding      

Read the poem and answer the questions.

 • The poet creates a vivid picture of the eagle’s position. Where exactly do you think the bird is? What can you say about its lonely stature?

• Why do you think the poet uses the word “he” to describe the bird?

• Do you think it is easy to catch an eagle? Why?

• What impression does the poet wish to create by the line “the sea beneath him crawls”?

• What effect is created by the phrase “mountain walls”?

• Why do you think the poet uses the word “fall” instead of “flies”? 

• Power, strength, swiftness, and agility could be associated with the eagle. Do you find   these qualities within in this poem?

Let's read and understand the poem line by line

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

 The eagle holds on to a cliff with claws that look like "crooked" or deformed. It is holding on to the rock very tightly. The "crag" implies sharp rocks and cliffs. A crag is not just a cliff, but it's the part of a cliff that juts out from the main body of rock.  Crags can be massive, almost the size of mountains themselves but they always jut out from some larger rock. They are exposed and hard or dangerous for humans to access. 

Close to the sun in lonely lands;

The eagle is really high up there, and all by himself. So far up that it appears to be near the same height as the sun. "close" is a relative term. If the earth and the sun are the two opposite poles of distance, then the eagle seems closer to the sun than to earth. The eagle's world is described in reference to our own earthly world.

 Ring'd with the azure world, he stands 

The eagle is surrounded by blue skies. The blue sky forms a "ring" or circle around the eagle. “Azure" is a kind of deep, bright, beautiful blue color often associated with clean ocean water. When the sun is shining, the sea appears azure, and so does the sky. The sky also appears more blue, or azure, the further away from the horizon that you look. Basically, the eagle is at the very center of the bluest, most central part of the sky. It's in the center of the center. "stand" sounds like another projection of human qualities on to the bird. Not that birds don't stand, but it is usually said birds perch.

 The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

The sea looks "wrinkled”. The wrinkles on the sea are waves seen from a very great distance. The waves are so small compared to the huge body of water that they "crawl" slowly toward shore. The eagle looks down on the world from a privileged position. He doesn't see the tumult and chaos of crashing waves; he sees only small lines on the water. The words "wrinkled" and "crawls" also usually relate to people.

He watches from his mountain walls,

The eagle performs the passive action of watching along with all his standing and grasping. We know that eagles have fantastic vision, much better than human beings and that they like to perch in high places so they can survey a large area for animals to prey on. The eagle must be surveying his surrounding especially the sea beneath him for its prey. The mountain walls are described as "his”, as if he owns them. Not that anyone else could even reach the walls to claim them. The walls are the eagle's turf.

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Finally, in a magnificent show of grace and speed, he dives off the cliff and shoots downward in a straight line. Interestingly, the verb used to describe the eagle's flight is also passive: "he falls." That's a lot different than "dives," "swoops," "soars," or any number of more active verbs used to describe flight. The eagle lets gravity do all the work. A thunderbolt is a good simile to describe how the speaker views the eagle. The speaker only catches the eagle zooming down towards the sea, and not the moment he leaps off the cliff. 

 Now we need to find the techniques used by the poet to bring out his message.

Alliteration

clasps, crag, crooked.

lonely land

This technique is used to emphasize the appearance and position of the eagle. Similarly, it also suggests the power of the eagle by bringing out the firm grasp onto the mountain cliff. Further, the alliteration creates a specific melody.

Hyperbole

“close to the sun”

This device emphasizes the eagle’s power and potency. The poet highlights his majestic, royal nature by bringing out the fact that it can reach the places where other creatures are unable to approach.

 Personification

He clasps the crag with crooked hands

…….. he stands

The poet personifies the bird in order to give the idea that the eagle seems much more important than just an ordinary, simple bird.it also makes the reader to create a parallel with people with such qualities.

Rhyming words

1^st stanza - “hands, lands, stands”

2^nd stanza - “Crawls, walls, falls”

 The Rhyming words create a specific melody. 

  Imagery

Visual images

“Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.”

 The word azure literally means bright blue. The poet creates visual image of this eagle, sitting on a top of a mountain, high above all and the bright blue sky is around him and the sun is blazing. Tennyson is able to create a very impressive, colorful visual image in the readers’ mind.

Metaphor

“The Wrinkled sea”

This metaphor wrinkled sea suggests the waves in the ocean.

Simile

“like a thunderbolt he falls”

This simile suggests the sudden, quick action or the agility of the eagle and also the way he dives probably on a prey.

 Reading the poem for developing a critical outlook

The poet uses symbolism, imagery and metaphorical language.

•  What do we learn about the freedom of this bird?

• What qualities of authoritative men which are parallel to the bird are brought out?

• Do you think the simile “like a thunderbolt he falls” resembles the swiftness of a warrior? If so how?

•  Would you agree that this poem is not a mere description of an eagle?

•  “Crooked hands” is an image representing the potential danger. Elaborate on this.

•  How does the poet reveal the destructive nature of the eagle?

Let's analyse the poem

First Stanza

      The poem begins with an image of a bird perched high up on a rock and is described with human traits. Here the poet creates a vivid picture of the eagles position.

       Tennyson  begins the first stanza giving human character to the bird. The comparison of the eagle's talons to hands means that the poet is trying to describe nature with reference to humans. Usually the pronoun 'it' is used to refer to a bird  and the 'talons' are used to refer to the claws of an eagle. Instead the poet personifies the bird using the words 'he' and 'hands' The words like 'he' and 'hands' builds up a connection with humans. Even the word 'clasp'  means  grasping tightly with one's hand, which we do when we shake hands with others. However, here it refers to the tight grip of the bird in his effort to balance itself on the rock. 

    The eagle's claws are compared to "crooked hands." What kind of person would have crooked hands? It sounds like an older person whose body shows the signs of advanced age. ‘Crooked’ means ugly and deformed and it creates an unpleasant picture in our minds. The harsh alliteration of ‘k’ sound heightens that effect. The repetition of the hard 'k' sound in 'clasp', crag',' crooked' and 'close' give a sense of power and might.

  The bird is close to the sun and perched in the lonely lands. The second line associates the bird with the realm of the sky. The bird is against the sky, at a superior height. The phrase ‘lonely lands’ seems to suggest the eagle’s isolation. It distances itself from the other creatures. The prominent assonance of the ‘o’ sound further highlights the sense of loneliness and distance. The alliteration of ‘l’ sounds contributes to the musical quality of the line.

    The third line "Ring’d with the azure world, he stands" further describes the sky. The words ‘azure world’ refers to the sky of the colour of ocean blue. The bird is circled or ‘ring’d’ by the blue sky. it also suggests  its domination of the sky. The word ‘stands’ which rhymes with ‘hands’ and ‘lands’ creates an effect of stillness or inactivity. Hence Tennyson creates a divine figure at the top of the world. 

   Thus the first stanza of the poem conveys the strength and the power of the bird it is a magnificent bird with  majesty and grandeur. It is surrounded by the vast assure world which essentially contributes to portray the divine character of the bird and its position. The eagle is out of  human reach. The first stanza  effectively conveys and emphasizes the eagle's inaccessibility.

Second  Stanza

   The second stanza begins with a bird’s eye-view of the sea which appears to be crawling beneath the towering cliff. The rolling of the waves is diminished to ‘crawling’. From his high vantage point, even the vast sea beneath him seems to be small and insignificant.

  The next line illustrates the  eagle who appears to be prepared for action. He watches from his mountain walls, It is not clear what he ‘watches’ from that great height. The eagle is a bird with a sharp vision and he may be watching some prey far below. The word also builds up some tension as it prepares him for action. The phrase ‘mountain walls’ suggest the sharp incline of the rock and its inaccessibility. The bird is protected by the mountain walls. The last line brings the poem to a superb climax "And like a thunderbolt he falls".

  Finally, the eagle dives off the cliff and swoops downward in a straight line in a graceful movement. It is an effortless action. The word ‘thunderbolt’ suggests the speed with which a thunderbolt strikes and thus the swiftness of the eagle. The bird may be diving at its prey which has very little chance of escape given the lightening speed at which it descends on him. The last two words of the poem echo the last two words of the first stanza. 

    At first, the eagle was in a state of stillness and immobility, above all over creatures; a posture of might and power. At the end, he shows the eagle in motion, flying down from his perch, attacking.

 Thus this poem can be treated as a descriptive poem or as a symbolic poem. If we treat it as a descriptive poem, it will describe the power, courage, and strength of the eagle. On this level, the poet give us a very beautiful picture of this frightening bird. On the other hand, the poet seems to use the eagle as a symbol of a powerful, strong and courageous person, and the sea can be a symbol of the people who fear his might.

   The main word choice that clarifies that Tennyson is symbolizing humanity is the use of "hands" instead of "claws." Tennyson also writes that the eagle "stands" instead of "perches," which is another indication of a human condition. 

    Thus the poet creates an image of a powerful and mighty man. The eagle's lifestyle suggests that of a king  or an autocrat who has become isolated and lonely as a result of his majesty. This has made him an inaccessible or unreachable person which leads him to become isolated from others

  

What do you think the theme of the poem. What is the idea  Lord Tennyson wanted to convey through this short poem .When considering the themes we find that the poem itself lends to multifarious  meaning.

The power of nature 

 The power of nature is brought out very effectively by taking the most powerful predatory bird as the subject of the poem. Thus power is a theme included in the poem. The power of eagle is glorified simultaneously bringing out the power and majesty of nature and its phenomenon. 

Freedom

      It also contributes to the theme of freedom. The eagle owns  freedom he is not challenged by any body secured by the mountain walls.

Superiority  of animals

          It can also be seen that the superiority  of animals over man who prides himself as the most intelligent being on earth as one of the themes  in the poem.

   

Appreciating and enjoying the poem

• Which poetic device is used to express the inaccessibility of the   eagle?

• What can be said about the language used?

• The eagle is portrayed as a symbol of power. How does the poet do this?

 • The poet uses diction such as lonely lands, azure world, and 

wrinkled sea and mountain walls to compare certain aspects of 

nature to the qualities of the eagle. Do you think the poet is 

successful in his effort? 

Reference:
G.C.O/L Literature Teacher Instructional Manual 
Internet