Preview

The Eagle

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
615 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Eagle
My poem was The Eagle by E.E. Cummings. This poem describes someone looking up to the sky and seeing a eagle majesticly flying in the sky. Cummings used repatition and end rhymes to make the poem more pleasing to read and hear. He also uses many, many elements of imagrey. He uses things such as "The suns warm rays" in line 8 to give an inital feeling of peace with the sun as a warm, comforting source. He uses repatiton on lines 13 and 14. "nearer and nearer he steadily sailed, nearer and nearer he slid through space." This begins to describe the eagle as a majestic creature that "slid through space." Cummings described him as a "sailor who hailed from the clime of the clouds." He uses the comparison in this context to describe how a sailor expertly navigates the ocean as an eagle navigates the sky. He then adds to the calm happy tone with lines 19 and 20. He describes the sky as "never so fair" and, with the previous readings of the beauty the man sees, says "the rest of the world kept pace. What he might mean is that the world is keeping pace with the majestic eagle and with the "sky's beautiful sheen" as seen on line 10. Cummings may mean how the man felt and how he felt at the time.
The next two stanzas describe the eagle itself and it's beauty. He uses bright phrases to add on to the eagles beauty. Line 21 first describes the eagles head, with "on the white of his head the sun flashed bright." The imagrey that accompanies the words gives a brighter view on the eagle and its beauty. However, the last 5 lines of the third stanza describe a cloud, personified as a dragon, that engulfs the eagle. The personified dragon, going along with the theme of life and happiness may represent the depressing side of life. The dragon engulfing the majestic eagle could represent how existance gets hard and may be dark, foreboding and confusing. The fourth stanza opens with the man waiting for the eagle to reemerge. He uses an intresting wording in line 31 leading to line 32

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The reader can infer that sounds in the poem are coming from line 1, 4, and 6. In line one the writers says the eagle clasps the crag with crooked hands, I can hear the eagles sharp talons scratching against the rocks. In line four the writer says the wrinkled sea beneath him crawls in that line I can hear the gentle waves splashing against big rocks. In line six the author says and like a thunderbolt he falls in this line I hear a eagle swooping down to the ground with wind whistling through his wings. This show that the author uses good words in describing the actions of the eagle.…

    • 112 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holmes and Longfellow

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the first stanza, he speaks of a meteor of the ocean air, which I assume compares the boat to a great and speedy force. In the second stanza, he says that the ship is the “eagle of the sea”, which compares it to the national bird and shows it’s strength and dignity.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eagle Figurative Language

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Eagle a classic work of literature with a simplistic tone and theme being the analysis of an eagle prowling and taking flight. Figurative language such as "with crooked hands," "close to the sun," "the wrinkled sea beneath him crawls. " "He clasps the crag with crooked hands." Poems are riddled with figurative language, and The Eagle is no exception, personified objects and animals are the easiest way to relate to anybody. As if an eagle could have hands rather than the talons that birds are a custom to having. "…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Figurative language and sensory imagery is used in the first stanza to create a tone of grieving, loss and nostalgia, through imagery of a dull ‘cold dusk’ and ‘frail, melancholy flowers among ashes’. The simile ‘the melting west is striped like ice-cream’ creates a sense of transition, reflecting the beginning of the persona’s introspective retreat into her thoughts. The use of an anaphora, which is the repetition of a word at the beginning of lines or sentences, in the line ‘Ambiguous light. Ambiguous sky’ also displays this transience. The symbol of ice-cream also represents childhood and a feeling of nostalgia for that time in the persona’s life. Her attempt at ‘whistling a trill’ may be an attempt to imitate her father’s whistling which is mentioned during the reflection of her memory, suggesting that she is trying to recreate her past experience but can’t properly do so. The persona’s direct speech in the line “Where’s morning gone?” is a rhetorical question that is questioning the…

    • 1701 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem then in line seventeen starts to talk about the end of the day. The darkness is coming upon it, and it is headed into the singing place. The poem also mentions wearing cactus flowers, which represents the strength again of the magical being having been chased and then running into the safe haven that is the swamp. Then the animal becomes a magical being again and starts the chant with the eagle feather. The magical being is then going back up to heaven. It is rejoiced, and starts to sing, and it's heart even begins to glow with happiness. He is one again with the heavens. The sky shows its happiness by giving off a rainbow the rest of the people can see from earth. It returns to its burrow, watches the flowers bloom, and looks at all the beauty created. The magical being has four eagle feathers, and when he turns with them his…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author uses imagery to illustrate and give the reader a clear understanding of his thoughts about injustice. Dunbar uses imagery by stating, “ Till it’s blood is red on the cruel bars” (line 9). This shows the bird’s relentless efforts to escape. The author includes this to relate the bird’s struggles and hardships to his own dealing with injustice. Another way Dunbar uses imagery to relate to injustice is by stating, “ When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer he sends from his heart’s deep core”( lines 16-19). Here the author uses imagery to show the reader that even when the bird is in pain he still fights for freedom and justice. The author uses this piece of imagery to relate himself to the bird in the sense of that like the bird, the author fights for his freedom, but along the way is…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the first stanza of the poem, Warren uses vivid imagery to introduce the hawk into the landscape. The imagery of the hawk’s wings “dipping through the geometries and orchids that the sunset builds” signals that the day is coming to an end as the light turns to shadows. This darkness results from the hawk…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Follow the Eagle

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages

    After reading the story, “Follow the Eagle,” I am left with astonishment at the understatement in the writing and the deep significance in the context. I believe that this story is not only about Eagle’s journey over the cliff, but the journey is an allegory to Native Americans and other minority groups trying to achieve higher status in the white hierarchy of the West. First Domingo is riding on a “Japanese cycle stolen from a Colorado U law student.” The story informs the reader that Domingo is Mexican right before telling us that he is riding on a stolen bike; possibly in a way to stereotype the Mexican as a thief. Then there is a party for Eagle for his journey out of the Reservation. Here we meet Red Wing who pleads, “Don’t go tomorrow,” to Johnny. There is also a reference to Little Richard’s song “Long Tall Sally” here: “Uncle John have everything he need.” Although Eagle might have everything he needs in the reservation, he still feels the longing to leave and take that leap over the canyon. This could signify his need to become more in the white world. He doesn’t want to be confined to a reservation any longer. Although Eagle doesn’t have a lot of dialogue, the things he does say, he says with excitement. For example, when Domingo asks when he is leaving, Eagle replies, “Tomorrow!” Then, we have Eagle shouting, “So long, man!” as he is falling to his demise. I cannot come up with a time that I would be happy and willing to say good bye to someone as I am failing at something. I would feel ashamed and would not speak to someone looking at me “falling.” Eagle on the other hand, still has the courage to say good bye to his friend. He wanted to try to make it, and although he didn’t, maybe the important thing is that he tried to pursue a dream. Next, we have a quote, “Yes I took you Johnny Eagle.” This quote suggests that although Native Americans or other minorities would like to become bigger in this Westernized country, the land has already become the white…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    4 O'Clock Birds Singing

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the poem, the author describes the scene of birds singing early in the morning and how quickly the sereneness ends. The author uses diction and metaphors to describe the birds’ song.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Theodore Roethke

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the first stanza, the poet has glimpses of his personality, but he finds only fragments and pieces, meeting not himself but his shadow, hearing not his voice but his echo. He also finds that he is not sure of his place in the larger scheme of life because he "live[s] between the heron" (a stately, beautiful creature) "and the wren" (an ordinary bird), between "beasts of the hill" (highly placed, but brutal animals) "and serpents of the den" (associated with evil and danger, but also with knowledge).…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem was filled with references to a journey even from the first few lines. There were many words that immediately made me think about a voyage one may take. For example, “pathway of the sun” (line 1) and “footsteps of the breeze” (line 2) made me think…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eagle Faced Man

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages

    H.G. Wells no doubt shook the world in its time with War of the Worlds and still continues to today. A person reading for luxury may read and interpret eagle faced man’s actions as that of a greedy individual who values money over his life, even in a time of great despair and mass hysteria. While it could be read that way, my own view is that Wells packages the paragraph about eagle faced man’s actions immensely with a deeper meaning of society in this particular moment of time.…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I feel this poem has impressionistic, decorative, and picturesque imagery. To allow you to visualize what’s going on and experience the emotions being expressed. Symbols were used to help add to the picture. One would be the bird that has a broken wing and moving in circles showed that everyone is capable of getting hurt. Another symbol is the goat’s bones, symbolizing that danger is always present in our lives. Birney used alliteration to flow from one word to another. An example of this would be “seracs that shore”. Similies were used to create an intense picture.”An overhang crooked like a talon” reveal’s the power and threat a mountain gives off. The metaphorical image: “... mountain... were made to see over, / Stairs to the valleys and steps to the sun’s retreats” relates to life. Mountains are the barriers to life in which you must overcome. The stairs resemble the chance to overcome the barrier. The sun setting shows missed opportunity.…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem tells of a narrator who is reading an old book in his parlor when he is interrupted by a knock at the door. The protagonist is in a period of grieving over the loss of his love, Lenore. At first, he wonders who the visitor might be and resolves to inform him or her that he is indisposed at the moment. The narrator finally opens the door only to find no one there. He returns to the chair (which Lenore will no longer occupy), only to hear the rapping again. He decides that the sound may be coming from the window, so he opens it. A raven enters through the window and lights upon a bust of a mythological figure that the narrator has in his room. The narrator questions the raven concerning its name, the bird answers “nevermore”. This startles the speaker, and he wonders aloud if the bird will leave him just as all of his friends seem to do. Again, he is answered by the raven “nevermore”. As the protagonist progressively becomes more and more upset with the situation, he decides that the raven must go. He even demands that the raven leave. The response “nevermore” is once again given by the bird, which refuses to go. The narrator finally concludes that his soul is inextricably tied to this foul beast and he is to be forever tormented by it.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Eagle/Winter

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The expressions are peculiarly effective to help give off the tone, image, and feeling of the poem. From the expressions like “crooked hands”, “close to the sun”, and “ringed with the azure world”, it shows the meaning of the poem with lots of imagery. It helps to reader to imagine and fully understand the poem. Like azure means blue so “ringed with the azure world” would mean the eagle flying across the clear blue sky. An expression like “like a thunderbolt” helps show the deepness and intensity of the poem.…

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics