Though Tennyson never specifically describes the eagle in his poem as proud, one can find aspects of his verse that support this interpretation. When reading the poem, one must remember that Tennyson is part of the Romantic period, and the Romantics glorified nature. The eagle is, of course, one of the more majestic creatures in nature.
Not only are eagles typically considered magnificent birds, but the one in Tennyson's poem is soaring "close to the sun". The sun is, of course, an extremely important part of nature. It is also perched high above us all, almost like a king in the sky. The eagle's closeness to the sun puts him above all else figuratively and literally. Also the phrase "in lonely lands," further helps to elevate the eagle. Not only is he close to the sun, but the land below him is personified as lonely, which one could interrupt as weak compared to the eagle.
When one finally arrives at the line, "The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls," one knows that the eagle is above all else in every sense. The word "crawls" is a word one would ascribe to something weaker. Babies crawl. Those who can't walk crawl. The fact that Tennyson's uses the word "crawls" to describe the powerful sea, further highlights the eagle's strength and superiority. It is from this superiority that one could argue that the eagle is proud. Although Tennyson doesn't outright say the eagle is proud, his writing could support that interpretation.
Finally, the poem's last line could be interrupted as a reinforcement of the eagle's pride. When Tennyson compares the eagle to a thunderbolt, one of the most powerful, and frightening aspects of nature, we see the eagle's power over all below. It is easy to see that something so powerful and majestic could be proud. The fact that, at the poem's beginning, Tennyson chose to humanize the eagle by describing his claws as hands, makes it even more believable that a bird of prey could feel pride, a very human emotion.
Individual readers are going to interpret this line differently. For me personally, no, I do not think "the wrinkled sea beneath him crawls" shows the eagle's pride.
On one hand, the line is very literal. The eagle is a soaring bird with great vision. It is capable of flying quite high with minimal effort. Its vision allows it to scan and spot targets from a great distance away. When you are far away from something, it appears to barely move. Think of a road trip. The trees along the roadside blur past your car, but the mountains in the distance barely appear to move at all. If you've ever had a window seat on an airplane, you've seen the same effect. The plane might be moving hundreds of miles per hour; however, the ground beneath you appears to slowly inch by. This is what the line in the poem is indicating. The eagle is very high up, and the ocean appears to crawl by. Additionally, we know the eagle is high up because the great waves of the ocean appear to be merely wrinkles.
If I'm forced to find additional meaning from the line, I think it shows the eagle acting from a place of privilege. This doesn't automatically equate to pridefulness. Rulers and kings are usually seated at a place of elevation, or they have a castle on the hill. Being higher than someone else usually connotes power and privilege. The eagle is in a powerful and privileged position, which is why it is such an effective predator, but again, that doesn't necessarily mean prideful.
The eagle in Alfred Lord Tennyson's "The Eagle" is undoubtedly a noble figure, and "The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls" can easily be interpreted as a sign of the eagle's pride. The line contributes to an overall image of superior integrity, as the vast and powerful ocean is literally "beneath" the eagle, and it is "wrinkled" and "crawls" more like a small mammal than an immense force of nature. It suggests that the power and dignity (perhaps termed "pride") of the eagle eclipses everything else in the scene.
The other lines in this brief poem contribute to the mood and tone created by the line "The wrinkled sea." The eagle is such a singular being; rather than being a dot in the sky, the sky revolves around him: "Ring'd with the azure world, he stands." Even when the eagle makes his descent, he is not stooping to a lower level, but falling "like a thunderbolt," which is to say, with great natural power. The eagle's sense of presence and command of his surroundings surpasses the enormity of both the ocean and the sky.
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