Beth Nguyen 1A
TPCASTT
“The Eagle (A Fragment” - Lord Alfred Tennyson
T
The title, “The Eagle (A Fragment)” makes the
reader assume that the poem will be about an
eagle, yet fairly short due to the word
‘fragment.’
P
The eagle is sitting on a rock that is very high up
in the air. He is watching over the oceans, when
he flies down from the top of the mountain into
the ocean.
C
A
S
T
T
In the first line, there is use of alliteration with
the hard ‘c’ sounds. The speaker also describes
the eagle using his hands, though generally it
would be seen as his feet. An eagle uses his feet
like a human uses their hands. Ringed with the
azure world means he is located in the middle of
an ocean or surrounded by water. Every word in
the poem has no more than two syllables except
for the world thunderbolt, which is mean to
grasp attention like the sound of a thunderbolt
would.
The speaker speaks about the eagle with
eloquence and respect. Eagles are considered as
noble creatures and throughout the poem, the
eagle is in its natural habitat.
In the first three lines, the eagle is depicted as
being calm, resting on the crags high in the sky.
In the last three lines is where the reader can see
the eagle flying down to hunt for food and to
snatch his prey in the water. The last three lines
is where the reader can observe what the eagle
does and what his role in nature is.
People rarely ever get glimpses of eagles during
their lifetime, and if they do they are relatively
short. Therefore, it is fitting for the title to be
called “The Eagle (A Fragment)” because the
poem is short just like the amount of time we see
an eagle.
The poem is about an eagle that is watching over
its prey high above the sky before making his
move and swooping down into the ocean to grab
it. The author’s purpose to write a poem about
an eagle is to show the noble and eloquent
animal in its natural setting.
Beth Nguyen 1A