Thesis: In his poem "The Eagle", Alfred Lord Tennyson portrays the eagle as a creature of
superiority and power.
- Tennyson paints this picture by depicting the eagle's purposeful actions
o
The eagle “clasps” the perch on which
it sits (1). This word has a deliberate and
intense connotation.
o
Even when the eagle “falls,” it does
so “like a thunderbolt” (6). A
thunderbolt is unfathomably fast and has a highly concentrated and dangerous route
as it “falls” from the sky, just as an eagle is fast, focused, and deadly.
- He also enhances the eagle's position in relation to the world around it
o
“The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls”
(4). “Crawl” is a word with a submissive
connotation, and the word “wrinkle” is associated with disfigurement and
possibly even discomfort. These carefully
chosen words suggest that even an entity as mighty as the sea grovels before the
noble eagle.
o
The eagle perches “Close to the sun”
(2). Not only is the sun the source of
all life on Earth, but it is also the highest object in the daytime sky. Therefore, aside from the sun, Tennyson
places the eagle to be the highest thing in the sky, paralleling its power over
everything around it.
o
The eagle stands “Ringed with the
azure world” (3). Tennyson places the
eagle at the center of the world, further enhancing the image of the eagle’s
central power.
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