Scribd
Upload
94 views

The Note (Highlighted)

The poem describes an eagle perched on high ground, watching the sea below for prey. It uses personification to depict the eagle with attributes like "crooked hands" that grasp the crag. From its lofty vantage, the sea appears to "crawl" in submission. When prey is spotted, the eagle swoops down with lightning speed "like a thunderbolt" to attack. The poem conveys the eagle's power and the destructive yet majestic force of nature through the metaphor of this formidable bird of prey.

Uploaded by

Rameshkumar Nivarshana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
94 views

The Note (Highlighted)

The poem describes an eagle perched on high ground, watching the sea below for prey. It uses personification to depict the eagle with attributes like "crooked hands" that grasp the crag. From its lofty vantage, the sea appears to "crawl" in submission. When prey is spotted, the eagle swoops down with lightning speed "like a thunderbolt" to attack. The poem conveys the eagle's power and the destructive yet majestic force of nature through the metaphor of this formidable bird of prey.

Uploaded by

Rameshkumar Nivarshana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

The Eagle

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 – 1892)

He was a Victorian poet born in 1809 in Somersby, Lincolnshire. He received his education at
Trinity College, Cambridge. He was honoured with the title Poet Laureate of Britain in 1836. Only a few poets
like Tennyson were able to achieve mastery in different poetic genres such as elegies, ballads, idyllic poetry, lyrics
and historical poems. His insightful poems were universally acclaimed for their originality.

The Eagle is one of the finest poems composed by Alfred Lord Tennyson. It is a romantic poem (nature poem)
which discusses about the natural element, the eagle, which is a rare kind of bird of prey. The eagle’s power,
strength, nimbleness and sharp eye sight etc. enable him to be an extremely powerful predatory and carnivorous
bird which is symbolic of the destructive aspect of nature as well as the majesty and power of nature. The poem
creates a vivid picture of the eagle’s inaccessible position in his natural habitat in ‘lonely lands’. According to the
poem, the eagle is perched high surrounded by ‘the azure world’ (the sky) watching the sea in order to attack his
prey.

This short poem is a master piece of Tennyson composed with highly metaphorical language. The eagle’s
ferocious nature is emphasized with ‘crooked hands’ that imply the potential danger caused by it. Since it inhabits
in lonely lands it enjoys full authority and freedom in the area as there is no other creature to challenge its
position. At a deeper level Tennyson may attempt to convey the ultimate power of the eagle which can be
compared with the power of a tyrannical dictator who may rule his kingdom with oppression and injustice. The
eagle’s posture while holding on to a craggy rock majestically reminds us of a highly authoritative dictator sitting
on a throne with excessive power.
satisfy

Beneath the eagle lies the vast expanse of the sea filled with thousands of living creatures. From the high position
where it is perched, the eagle watches the sea to attack its prey so the sea seems to be crawling beneath as if in fear
and submission to the eagle. The eagle’s natural habitat is located in the mountainous areas. He is watching
eagerly from these mountain walls to spot a creature to appease its hunger. These mountain walls may
symbolically suggest the stone walls of a castle or palace where a king or monarch resides. All of a sudden, after
spotting a creature in the sea, the eagle makes a swooping movement and descends just like a thunderbolt to attack
its prey. The simile ‘like a thunderbolt’ implies the agility and nimbleness with which the eagle swoops down
reminding us of the swiftness of a warrior. When Tennyson says ‘he falls’ it connotatively denotes the ultimate
power of a natural disaster. very high speed idiomatically shows unlimited

quickness suggests

The themes of the poem

Coming under the main theme ‘nature’ the poem seems to convey several specific themes as well.

 The destructive aspect of nature


The potential of the eagle to bring about destruction to its prey clearly denotes the destructive aspect of
nature. Being a natural element, the eagle destroys its prey which is another element of nature. This
happens according to the law of nature that is unquestionable. The strong physical features of the eagle
such as its crooked hands (talons), keen eye sight, strong legs, sharp beak and its hunting skills like agility,
vigilance and unusual height all contribute to make it one of the most ultimate predators with destructive
power.

 The majesty and grandeur of nature


The eagle’s inaccessible height, unparalleled speed, god-like figure with all the other exceptional features
make it stand out amongst other birds and creatures denoting the grandeur and majesty of nature. Tennyson
has attempted to glorify the eagle as a majestic creature existing in nature inspiring admiration and awe in
the reader’s mind.

 The theme of freedom


Freedom is a natural privilege enjoyed by the eagle provided by its natural habitat – the mountain walls in
lonely lands where no other creatures can have access to. It can fly and soar high into the sky so close to
the sun according to Tennyson. (The poet is excessively exaggerating this.) With such extensive mobility
and no restriction whatsoever it enjoys a sort of supreme freedom.

 Masculinity
The eagle is presented as a male using the pronoun ‘he’. Tennyson might have conceived it comparing it to
the king of the Gods, God Zeus, in Greek Mythology. The following similarities suggest the comparison.

The abode of God Zeus - Mount Olympus = The natural habitat of the eagle - mountain walls
The weapon of God Zeus – the thunderbolt = The eagle swoops down like a thunderbolt
The symbolic bird of God Zeus is the eagle.

The techniques and literary terms available in the poem

 Personification/ humanization/ anthropomorphism eg:- He clasps the crag with crooked hands
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls
 Alliteration eg:- He clasps the crag with crooked hands
 Consonance eg:- Close to the sun in lonely lands
Like a thunderbolt he falls
 Assonance eg:- The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls
 Hyperbole eg:- Close to the sun in lonely lands
 Simile eg:- And like a thunderbolt he falls
 End rhyme eg:- hands crawls
lands walls
stands falls

 Visual imagery eg:- Ringed with the azure world he stands

 Snap shot effect eg:- The first stanza is like a snap shot of the eagle
taken from the ground level.
The second stanza is like a snap shot of the
sea taken from the mountain top.

 Symbols eg:- thunderbolt symbolizing power and speed


crooked hands symbolizing cruelty
 Metaphors eg:- mountain walls, azure world

 Rhyme scheme – aaa bbb


 Meter – iambic tetrameter eg:- He clasps the crag with crook ed hands
 tercet (a three-lined stanza with a particular rhyme scheme and a regular meter)
Prepared by Prasad Rathnasekara
[BA (Eng), MA (Linguistics), Music Visharad (Vocal) Contact on 071 8617810

You might also like