AStylisticAnalysisofTheEagle

張楠

【Abstract】This paper aims to make a general analysis of the famous poem The Eagle from stylistic perspective.By analyzing its phonological，lexical and grammatical feature，the poets intention and emotional effect can be thoroughly understood.

【Key Word】stylistic； lexical； phonological； grammatical

The eagle is a short poem to praise a brave and proud eagle，and to memorize his friend，who possessed the same qualities.This is a profound theme the poet intends to express，and in the short poem，all the technique and aesthetic effect contribute to the understanding of the poets affection.

He clasps the crag with crooked hands，

Close to the sun in lonely lands，

Ringed with the azure world，he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls；

He watches from his mountain walls，

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

The poem boasts of a typical iambic foot，that is，a stressed sound appears after each weak sound.Alliteration lies in“clasps”，“crag”and“crooked”，and the powerful plosive /k/ shows the vitality and masculinity of the eagle，as well as the tough environment the eagle lives in.All these three words include the short but loud vowel /?/，making the poem full of musical effect by way of assonance.The poem is beautified by alliteration，assonance，consonance，greatly strengthening the melody.The word “thunderbolt” is phonetically deviated because it is the only three syllable word in the poem.And when reading the poem，the word is outstanding to break the static scene，making the most shocking sound when the eagle leaves.Besides，onomatopoeia is widely used，for the plosive sound make the tough impression of the eagle more vivid，contrasting with the description of the waves of ocean to imply that the sea is not as tempestuous and lively as the eagle.

The words are carefully chosen，especially those describing the eagle and his environment.For example，“clasp” and “thunderbolt” are employed to strengthen the brave and strong image of the eagle.And “lonely”，“wrinkled” and “crawl” are used to describe the environment.In this way，the vast sky and boundless ocean make a contrast comparison with the eagle as his life is far richer and broad.So it serves as a foil to the powerful and mysterious eagle.To use the pronoun “he”instead of“it”to describe the eagle is evidently lexically deviated，and its repetition in personification inevitably highlight the masculinity and other spirit associated with man.The word“lonely”is used to imply the solitude the eagle suffers from though he is so close to the sun.And“world” makes the loneliness stronger.The“wrinkled sea”becomes not so grand in the eyes of the eagle to indicate that the brave eagle has experienced many difficulties with a broad and proud mind.The last word“fall”instead of“fly”shows an abnormal action leading to a variety of imaginary.Maybe he is getting down rapidly hunting animals as agile as“thunderbolt”，maybe he is so lonely that he chooses to die by falling down，maybe he is too old to fly，or it hints to his dead friend who could never come back to life again.Different thinking can cause different understanding to the poem，which leave readers more space to digest.The word“falls”not only contributes to esthetic effect，but also severs as the distillation of the content.

As for sentence pattern，the second sentence of the first stanza is not a complete sentence as others in order to get the coherence in the whole poem，because the poet eclipses the subject“he”and the predictive link verb“is”to imply the loneliness of the eagle in a static way by grammatically deviation.Besides，syntactical repetition is used by“He stands”and“he falls”at the end of each stanza，which give more emphasis the hero“he”，producing a great momentum with its emotional appeals to the full.

After the whole analysis of the poem in stylistic way，we may find there are so many perfect points in this little poem.The poet has praised the eagle`s characters，such as aggressiveness，powerfulness and unyieldingness，by way of vivid personification for“he”and its surroundings.To analysis this poem deeper，we also could find the deep sorrow in Tennyson`s heart for his lost friend and his vivid expression of his own spirit of braveness，aggressiveness and violence.

References：

[1]趙玥萍.彭小強.英文詩The Eagle的功能語言學分析[J].南昌：南昌航空大學學報.2010.

[2]SHORT，Mick.Exploring the Language of Poems，Plays and Prose，（Longman）[M].1996.

[3]LEECH，G.N.& SHORT，M.H.Style in Fiction，（Longman）[M].1981.