The Eagle by Alfred Lord Tennyson

1. The Eagleby Alfred Lord Tennyson He clasps the crag with hooked 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.

2. ‘He clasps the crag with hooked hands;’

3. ‘Close to the sun in lonely lands,’

4. ‘Ringed with the azure world, he stands.’

5. ‘The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;’

6. ‘He watches from his mountain walls,’

7. ‘And like a thunderbolt he falls.’

8. The Eagle By Alfred Lord Tennyson • He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring'd with the azure world, he stands. The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls

9. Alfred Lord Tennyson • Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892), English poet often regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry. Tennyson succeeded Wordsworth as Poet Laureate in 1850.Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born on August 5, 1809 in Somersby, Lincolnshire. His father, George Clayton Tennyson, a clergyman and rector, suffered from depression and was notoriously absentminded. Alfred began to write poetry at an early age in the style of Lord Byron. After spending four unhappy years in school he was tutored at home. Tennyson then studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he joined the literary club 'The Apostles' and met Arthur Hallam, who became his closest friend. Tennyson published Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, in 1830, which included the popular "Mariana".

10. The Eagle • First publication date: 1851 RPO poem editor: H. M. McLuhanRP edition: 3RP 3.55.Recent editing: 2:2002/1/10 • “The Eagle” was first published in 1851. This short poem displays a strong musical sense, words such as “Crag”, “Azure” and “Thunderbolt” not only fit the meaning of the poem but also fit the slow musical sensibility which gives the poem it’s thoughtful, almost worshipful tone. At the end of the poem it is unclear as to what the fait of the eagle is. It leaves the ending to your imagination, does the eagle become ill? Does he lose his ability to fly, that would be what the poem suggests as on the last line it ends the poem with the words “he falls”. Or it could be that it is using this phrase to describe the eagle swooping for its prey. The poem is so short that it offers little background as to what really does happen at the end of the poem.