The bird gliding through the sky has long symbolized liberation from gravity's pull, which binds plants, people, and most creatures to the ground. In this poem, the eagle is portrayed as being "close to the sun," symbolizing an unrestrained freedom that surpasses the boundaries of Earth's atmosphere. This area of the sky, just within and barely held by the "azure world" of space, is characterized as "lonely lands." The concept of loneliness implies detachment or a lack of obligation to anything else. Describing the eagle's perch as a separate land emphasizes its freedom from the rules and limits that govern the Earth.

Yet, the eagle isn't completely detached: as the poem's opening lines reveal, the eagle "clasps" the side of a mountain. This verb conveys a sense of urgency. In such a concise poem, every word is selected for its extensive meaning. Tennyson's choice of the word "wall" not only describes the mountain's side but also serves as a reminder of the restrictions a wall typically represents. Although the eagle is free to navigate the skies, it remains tethered to a stone wall. Instead of soaring freely, it clings tightly to the wall, and when it lets go, it doesn't glide freely but plummets to the ground like a stone. Even if the final action is the eagle diving toward prey it has spotted, the thunderbolt-like swiftness of its descent implies a force beyond its control.

The poem doesn't explicitly mention the eagle's spirit. It is narrated from the viewpoint of someone on the ground, observing the bird soaring high in the sky. The eagle's spirit is subtly conveyed through Tennyson's choice of words. The strength is hinted at by the harsh 'k' sounds in words like “clasps,” “crag,” and “crooked.” Other terms evoke feelings of power in the reader because they are often associated with strength. These words are chosen for their connotative power and include “clasps,” “sun,” “ringed,” “stands,” “mountain,” and especially “thunderbolt.” All these strong images are connected to the eagle, suggesting it possesses a powerful spirit. Readers perceive this as a majestic creature ruling over the world below.

On the other hand, there is considerable evidence that this eagle is old and physically weak. In the first line, its claws are described as “crooked hands,” an image that not only reflects the appearance of a bird's talons but also conjures the image of an elderly, arthritic person. Although “wrinkled” refers to the sea's rippling waves rather than the bird itself, the mention of age in such a concise poem inevitably reflects on the eagle. The sea is an essential part of the eagle's environment. It is depicted as wrinkled and crawling, adding a sense of fragility to the poem.

The eagle’s physical frailty is most vividly portrayed in the poem’s final word. If Tennyson wished to depict the eagle as physically strong, he could have selected a more vigorous word. The use of “falls” suggests the bird has lost its grip or ability to fly. The strong spirit implied by other powerful words in the poem contrasts with this suggestion that the eagle is a weak, aging creature, no longer in command of its body or surroundings.

The imagery in "The Eagle" primarily highlights elements of a timeless, geological scale, seamlessly integrating the eagle into an enduring landscape of rock and sky. The crag mentioned in the first line and the mountain walls in the fifth line are everlasting features that have remained unchanged for centuries. The eagle's "crooked hand" fits into the crag both phonetically (as "clasp" and "crag" share similar sounds) and...