In the first line, the speaker describes the eagle standing on a rock. The rock is a crag which is an uneven rock. His "hands" are crooked. The repetition of the "c" sound signifies the tough life the eagle has had. The notion of "crooked hands" (claws) suggests that the eagle is old. The speaker uses "hands" to suggest that this description and the themes that arise could also be applied to a human being.
Being close to the sun implies the eagle is majestic. But, the eagle is standing on a crooked rock. Eventually, the eagle must return to the earth. Tennyson might be making an allusion to the myth of Icarus, a boy who flew too close to the sun and fell into the sea when his wax wings melted. The lesson from the myth is that one should not be too ambitious or too selfish. The other message is that even those that can soar will inevitably come back to the ground.
"Wrinkled" and "claws" reiterate the eagle's old age. Recall the allusion to Icarus and the implication that the eagle is limited to the world. He must not fly too close to the sun. In the second stanza, the speaker remarks about the walls. This also suggests the eagle's limitations. The eagle's "fall" in the end could be a description of the eagle diving for a fish or some prey. But given the theme of limitations and old age, this is part of the theme that no matter how high one might soar, everyone is limited by his/her own mortality. Thus, the poem is an allegory about human life as well as the eagle's. Also understood allegorically, the eagle has the freedom in life to soar but in the end, he is limited by time and mortality.
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