The Eagle Summary
“The Eagle” is a short poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
- The eagle is a powerful bird of prey that is known for its majestic flight and hunting prowess. However, in this poem, the eagle is shown to be vulnerable and subject to the same frailties as other creatures of the earth.
- This poem uses the eagle as a symbol for human beings to explore the idea that even though we may have the power to soar to great heights, we are still bound by our physical limitations.
Summary
Line 1:
The terms “clasps,” “crag,” and “crooked” link the eagle with old age. For example, "craggy" is still used to describe a weathered, aged face. The hard “c” sound at the start of each word also conveys a harsh, sharp tone that aligns with the eagle’s similarly rugged life. This repetition of initial sounds is known as alliteration, and Tennyson employs it in this brief “fragment” to illustrate the eagle’s circumstances.
If readers wonder why they should be interested in the eagle’s behavior in the wild, Tennyson addresses this at the end of the line by using personification to describe the eagle’s “hands.” By comparing the eagle’s claws to human hands, Tennyson suggests that the eagle’s story is not merely an observation of a creature in its habitat but symbolically reflects human experiences. Given the previously mentioned descriptions, it can be inferred that the eagle symbolizes an elderly person.
Line 2:
The phrase “close to the sun” could be stated more plainly, but Tennyson achieves two purposes with these words. Firstly, by mentioning the sun to illustrate the eagle’s height, he uses hyperbole, or exaggeration, to give the eagle an aura of grand majesty. Living during the Enlightenment, a period that valued scientific inquiry and education, Tennyson would have known that an eagle cannot fly near the sun. However, this hyperbole makes the eagle appear as powerful as the sun itself. Additionally, placing the eagle near the sun alludes to the myth of Icarus. An allusion is a reference to another work of literature that helps readers deepen their understanding. In Greek mythology, Icarus and his father Daedalus escaped from Crete using wings made of wax and feathers, but Icarus flew too close to the sun, causing the wax to melt, and he fell into the sea and drowned. By positioning the eagle near the sun, Tennyson hints that it might be overestimating its abilities, much like Icarus did. This connection is cemented in the poem’s final line when the eagle falls.
Line 3:
The image in this line harkens back to the ancient belief that the sky was composed of a series of spheres encircling the earth, while also looking ahead to modern scientific views of the earth’s atmosphere. The term “azure sphere” evokes not just a blue sky stretching from horizon to horizon, but also a sense of restriction. Being “ringed” traps the eagle, keeping him confined, so that despite what line 2 suggests about the eagle being near the sun, he remains bound to the earth. Considering that the poem uses language typically reserved for humans to describe the eagle, it draws a parallel between the lives of eagles and humans. We can infer that Tennyson is commenting on the human condition, where the eagle’s ability to approach the sun symbolizes the majesty of the intellect or spirit, yet it is still tethered to the earth, representing the body’s limitations. This theme of the intellect or spirit being burdened by the body’s frailty is prevalent in Tennyson’s works.
Line 3 offers insight into the poem’s perspective. If the eagle were seen from above, the background “ringing” him would be the ground, not the blue sky. Although little is revealed about the poem’s speaker, this detail indicates that the speaker, and consequently the reader, “looks up” to the eagle.
Line 4:
The words used to describe the sea, “wrinkled” and “crawls,” evoke images of old age similar to those associated with the eagle in line 1. However, unlike the proud and strong eagle, the sea is portrayed as decrepit, crawling like a drunkard....
(This entire section contains 1063 words.)
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Tennyson may be suggesting that earthly things are more vulnerable and prone to decay than celestial beings like the eagle. Since the perspective in this line is clearly the eagle’s (the sea would only appear “wrinkled” from a great height), the poem implies that it is the eagle, rather than the speaker, who perceives the sea as weak. This aligns with the myth of Icarus, whose hubris led him further and further from the earth.
Line 5:
The primary image in this line is that of a stone barrier: “mountain walls.” While describing eagles nesting and perching on mountain sides might seem like a straightforward depiction of their behavior, one must question why Tennyson chose to highlight this in such a brief poem, especially when many other eagle behaviors are omitted. The most obvious reason appears to be that the poet aims not only to provide factual information about eagle lifestyles but also to invoke the symbolic meaning of “walls.” It suggests that something is confining the eagle, limiting its capabilities, much like a stone wall would. Earlier lines contrast the majesty of flight, height, and the sun with the frailty of the earth, the sea, and the eagle’s own body: if there is a constraint, it is that despite its ability to fly, the eagle remains an earthly creature.
Line 5 employs a notably passive verb to describe the eagle’s action: “He watches.” Naturally, the reader wonders what the eagle is watching, as watching implies a specific focus. What do eagles watch? This verb supports the interpretation of the “fall” in the last line as a dive into the sea to snatch a fish, since eagles and animals generally watch primarily for food. Under this interpretation, the eagle remains powerful and sovereign until the end, so integrated into the natural world that attacking its prey is depicted as an act of gravity.
Line 6:
Although line 5 raises questions about what the eagle was thinking or watching just before it fell, the most common interpretation of line 6 is that the eagle fell unintentionally, succumbing to illness or decay. This provides a sudden, shocking end for the strong and proud creature depicted in the first five lines, yet it is not entirely unexpected within the poem. Line 2, for example, refers to the myth of Icarus, who fell into the sea and drowned. Line 5’s mention of “walls” further highlights the limitations of this powerful creature. If Tennyson structured the poem to subvert the reader’s expectations, it’s clear why he left it “a fragment” rather than expanding it: the balance between the first five lines and the sixth needed to be precise. Tennyson seems to caution that, like the proud eagle, humans, regardless of their achievements, can ultimately fall.
