The Eagle
A Fragment
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Key to commentary: S for effects of sound; M for metaphor, including personification;
P for point of view; I for image. Highlighted words have notes.
He clasps the crag with crooked hands; M
S P I I
Close to the sun in lonely lands, S
I
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.M
S
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
M S I P
He watches from his mountain walls S
And, like a thunderbolt, he falls. M
S I
NOTES
1. Tennyson subtitles this poem a "fragment" because
we begin without any introduction. The eagle is a "he" (rather than
an "it" or a "she") to stress its power as well as its humanity.
2. "Lonely" and "Ringed with the azure world" indicate
that in this stanza the perspective is that of the viewer looking up at
the eagle. The lands would not seem lonely to the eagle, as "his"
indicates in the next stanza.
3. "Wrinkled" suggests shallow ridges and of course
is associated with old age. "crawls" suggests slowness, weakness,
and in the context of "wrinkled," perhaps second childhood--no respect
here for the old sea. It is clearly far below him, since waves are
reduced to mere wrinkles.
4. Thunderbolts are extraordinarily swift and powerful,
in marked contrast to the crawling sea. Thunderbolts were the traditional
weapons of powerful gods, such as Zeus and Thor.
5. "Falls" would ordinarily be a weak concept, inconsistent
with the rest of the eagle's portrayal. But to fall like a thunderbolt
is to strike strongly; the eagle is "falling" irresistibly on his prey.
I1. [Color picture of eagle, silhouetted against an
azure sky, on a mountain crag]
I2. [Two pictures juxtaposed: an eagle's talons,
and strong, crooked fingers]
I3. [picture of sea seen from far above, moving if
possible]
I4. [picture of Zeus hurling thunderbolt]
M1. The eagle is personified.
M2. The eagle is the center of the world, by which
he is "ringed."
M3. The sea is personified.
M4. The eagle's flight is compared to a thunderbolt.
S1. Clasps is linked with crag and hands through assonance
and therefore represents a very strong connection. Crag is also tied
by alliteration to crooked. Hands alliterates with He and rhymes
in lands and stands.
S2. Close is linked to clasps by alliteration and
consonance, to lonely by assonance, to sun by consonance. The effect of
"lonely" (perspective of the viewer) is therefore offset by the close ties
among the parts of the setting, including the sun, which is linked to lonely
and lands by consonance of n. Lonely lands alliterates.
S3. "Ringed with the azure world" forms a circle of
r and d sounds around the eagle. "He stands" alone, in contrast.
S4. The short i sound, not used elsewhere in the poem,
ties "wrinkled sea" together; r, l, and s sounds tie "wrinkled sea"
to "crawls," which is the rhyme word for the second stanza.
S5. Watches and walls are strongly emphasized by alliteration
and the absence of other sound effects in this line.
S6. The pause for "like a thunderbolt" creates suspense
for the final action.
P1. The point of view of the first stanza is that
of the observer, who has spotted the eagle at the top of the cliff.
The eagle is uninterested in the man.
P2. In the second stanza, the point of view shifts
to the eagle for the first two lines--the sea is small and powerless, he
is not just looking but watching, the walls are his. In the last line,
he moves and the man's perspective is resumed.
Summary
On a clear day, a man looks up at a mountain peak and sees a eagle.
The eagle looks down at the sea and then plunges down toward prey.
Theme
This glimpse of the natural world suggests the power and self-sufficiency
of the eagle, in contrast to the man's perception that such isolation is
"lonely." The observer clearly feels both admiration of the eagle
and alienation from him, though he might envy the eagle's unattainable
majesty and, with his persoification, indicates that such grandeur and
arrogance are not foreign to human beings.