The
Eagle
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
interpreted by Julia DiVito
He
clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close
to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed
with the azure world, he stands.
The
wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He
watches from his mountain walls,
And
like a thunderbolt he falls.
Poet: Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born on August
6th, 1809, in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. His father taught him until
he was 18 years old, and then he attended Cambridge University for four
years. He became a popular poet after publishing poems like "Timbuctoo"
and a book called "Poems." In 1850, he became poet laureate
under the rule of Queen Victoria. He died in 1892 at the age of 83. Some
of his major works include "In Memoriam," "Poems by Two
Brothers," and "Ulysses."
Vocabulary: Crag - a steep rugged rock or
cliff
Azure
- of a deep somewhat purplish blue color
Type of poem: Narrative, because it is telling the story of
the eagle
Speaker: Someone observing an eagle
Audience: Someone listening to the description of the eagle;
bird watchers
Tone: Admiration and amazement of the eagle's
actions and superiority
Meaning: An eagle is sitting on a cliff, above the rest of
the world, and is superior to everything below him
Structure of poem: Traditional verse
-
Stanza length (tercet)
-
End rhyme pattern (AAA BBB)
-
Meter (Tetrameter)
Examples of poetic techniques used in the poem:
"He
clasps the crag with crooked hands;" |
Alliteration |
"The
wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;"
|
Personification |
"And
like a thunderbolt he falls."
|
Simile |
Connection between the poem and the poet's life and/or
times: Tennyson had just recently been appointed poet laureate
of England when he wrote this poem, in 1851, and could have been feeling
superior to his fellow poets. He was a very popular poet, and his fame
could have made him feel like the eagle on the top of the cliff, just
watching everyone else below him.
Most memorable quote from the poem: "And like a thunderbolt
he falls."
© Smelli Notes 2001
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