Alfred Lord Tennyson

The Eagle

The Eagle - meaning Summary

Solitary Power and Motion

Tennyson’s short poem captures a single vivid moment of an eagle high on a cliff. The bird appears solitary and majestic, fixed above the sea and sky, surveying its domain with patient intensity. The poem contrasts immobility and imminent action: the eagle’s poised watchfulness resolves suddenly into decisive movement. It evokes themes of power, isolation, and swift, elemental motion in a compact, dramatic image.

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He clasps the crag with hooked 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.

First published in 1851. It has not been altered.
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