1. The Eagle by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Slide 3 contains link to audio recording of the poem

2. The Eagle by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Key terms:
Rhyming triplets
Personification
Alliteration
Assonance
Iambic/trochaic metre
Point of view
Themes:
Natural power
Natural/animal beauty
Unspoilt natural beauty
Frailty F

3. The Eagle: Content/meaning
What is this stanza saying? What is the eagle doing?
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.
What is the poem talking about?
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
What is this stanza saying? What is the eagle doing?
What does the eagle do in this line/what happens to it? F

4. The Eagle: Form and Strucutre
Which syllables are stressed (have a ‘heavy’ beat) in each line?
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.
Which point of view is each stanza told from. Imagine filming the scene described
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
What is the effect of the change of view point?
Rhyming triplets; showing the eagle and the natural world are in _________ F

5. The Eagle: Language He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Find the alliteration and assonance. What does it suggest about the eagle and its surroundings?
Crag means rock
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Holds on tight, suggesting ownership?
This is an example of __________. What does it suggest about the eagle? F

6. The Eagle: Language He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Near to heaven? Making the eagle a god-like figure?
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.
Heraldic term for blue -> Heraldry links to nobility; is the poet stressing the nobility of the eagle?
Still, comfortable and calm in his lonely world
What could this mean? F

7. The Eagle: Language The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
What does crawls suggest? Think about height and power.
Why would the sea look ‘wrinkled’? Think about point of view.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
Ownership implies power
Walls of the cliff, makes it sound like a building/home. The Eagle is a home in its surroundings F

8. The Eagle: Language And like a thunderbolt he falls.
What device is used here? like
What are the connotations of this word?
God-like power
Natural power (destructive and beautiful)
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
2 possible meanings
Swooping down to hunt. The predator. An example of nature’s power.
Falling down dead. An example of nature’s frailty and the circle of life F

9. Summary Tell your partner what the poem is about.
“The key message of this poem could be seen as…” F

10. Summary Go for language, structure or form points
Explain them to your partner
“An interesting feature in this poem is…this suggests…” F

11. Summary Key Themes Natural power Natural/animal beauty
Unspoilt natural beauty
Frailty
What could you add to this list?
What poems could you compare this with?
GC: Difficult Birth, Field mouse
SH: Perch, Death of a Naturalist, Storm on the Island
Pre1914: Inversnaid F