THE EAGLE
-Alfred
Tennyson
This
imagery poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson originates from his experiences while
traveling as a young man in the Pyrenees. The poem was written before
Tennyson was respected as one of the great poets of his time. The poet uses
alliteration, personification, and a simile to enhance the reader’s experience
of watching the bird. A very short poem but a great example of literary
devices---this is Tennyson’s “The Eagle.”
The
poem begins by using alliteration to emphasize the stark and oddly shaped
talons of the eagle: clasps, crap, crooked, and close. The bird holds on to a
rock with his oddly shaped claws. This would indicate that the eagle is high on
a rocky mountain ledge.
The mountainous rock appears high up seeming to touch the
sun. The place where the observer finds himself is far away from civilization:
the lonely lands. The loneliness may also be a commentary on the life of the
eagle as a solitary bird that lives and travels alone. The eagle magnificently
stands surrounded by the bluest sky.
The observer must also be high enough to look down where he
sees the water is moving and appears almost like it has wrinkles [both
personification and a metaphor]. The water does not rush but rather
crawls. The eagle also looks down from his lofty mountain rock and
watches the water. He may be searching for a fish that is too close to
the surface. Suddenly, just like a thunderbolt of lightning from the sky, he
falls or soars into the sky [The perfect simile for the king of the skies].
The
author encapsulates this tiny segment of nature: a majestic eagle diving from
his lofty throne. Tennyson’s youthful image is forever memorialized with
complete exactness.
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