A brief but powerful poem written by the great Victorian poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Eagle is an inspiring poetic piece. Tennyson, recognized as the greatest poet in Victorian England, was distinguished as poet laureate in1850. Readers from all over looked to his poems for advice on the major issues effecting their lives. Tennyson began writing poetry when he was ten and published his first book of poetry with the help of his brother, Poems by Two Brothers. In 1830 Tennyson published the first volume of verse to appear under his own name, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical. For twelve years after that Tennyson took a break from writing due to death of a close friend. He returned to poetry and in 1842 published Poems, a two-volume collection. Tennyson was so skillful in molding the English language in rhyme and rhythm that his poetry is as popular today as it was 150 years ago. This can be proven by one of Tennysons deepest and most symbolic poems, The Eagle. The poem's facade tells of a great American symbol, an eagle, watching over the sea as the leader of the land. Deeper down the poem tells of getting older and trying to hold to life enjoy the time you have. The Eagle, a short lyrical masterpiece, only having two short stanzas with three lines each and a somewhat elementary rhyme scheme, doesnt need length to get its point across. Tennyson does this by using many words that have more than one meeting, or connotations. Each line of this poem has a deeper or symbolic meaning to it. He clasps the crag with crooked hands. The he in this line is referring to an elderly person and he is holding a crag, life, with his old, weak, crooked hands. Close to the sun, heaven, in the lonely lands, by himself. Elderly people are always alone whether it be mentally or actually living by themselves in and old house or a nursing home. Becoming old is synonymous with being lonely. Ringed with the azure world he stands, is describing someone wh...
