The eagle

The poem „the eagle‟ is written by English poet Alfred Tennyson, one of the great representative figures of the Victorian Age. It is a lyric poetry in memory of Arthur H.Hallam who was not only the best friend of Tennyson but also an excellent appreciative reader of his poetry.

Though it is short and simple, it is meaningful. The eagle in the poem is favorably presented as being strong and tough, proud and majestic, sharp-eyed, alert and quick in movement. Iambic meter is structured in the units of two syllables where the first syllable is unstressed and the second is stressed.

The words “clasps”, “crag” and “crooked” have a harsh/k/sound, which implies adverse circumstances such as the harsh climate and the mighty image of the eagle.The alliteration of the phrase 'lonely lands' in the second line emphasizes the bird's solitude. Tennyson uses a simile to create an image of the bird's swift and powerful descent on his prey: 'And like a thunderbolt he falls.'

The mountain represents the universe, mysterious and vast. The man is lonely in that he must enter and leave the world alone. Just as the eagle is a part of fragment of the mountain, the man is a part of the universe. The man stands in the mountain with loneliness. Facing

the azure world, he feels proud and falls from the mountain top, as the poet did.

From the poem, I can read out that our human beings are small against nature, but we should not feel depressed. Instead, what we should do is to try our best to do what we want to do and lead a happy life.