The Eagle and Other Poems

THE EAGLE & OTHER POEMS

MY HEART LEAPS UPWILLIAM WORDSWORTH

William Wordsworth(1770-1850)

MY HEART LEAPS UPMY heart leaps up when I behold      A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began,      So is it now I am a man, So be it when I shall grow old                   Or let me die! The child is father of the man: And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.

ParaphraseMy heart jumps with joy at the sight of the

beautiful rainbow in the sky. In my childhood, I used to feel the same way, and as an adult, I'm still a lover nature, who can still be moved by the same sight. I hope that I will continue to feel the same way towards nature. Since the grown-up is the outcome of his upbringing as a child and of his experiences as a young person, I'm sure that my love of nature as a child will make me a perpetual lover of nature. I hope all my days will be connected by the same string: love of nature.

Theme

Love of nature

THE EAGLEWILLIAM WORDSWORTH

THE EAGLEALFRED TENNYSON

Alfred Tennyson(1809-1892)

THE EAGLEHe clasps the crag with crooked hands;Close to the sun in lonely lands,Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;He watches from his mountain walls,And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Paraphrase The eagle is sitting on top of the mountain rocks,

holding the rocks with his talons that look like crooked hands. He is so high in the sky that he seems close to the sun, circled with the blue sky all around him.

From far above, the eagle sees the sea crawling slowly. In contrast to the slow movement of the sea, the eagle falls to the ground very swiftly and powerfully like a thunderbolt.

Theme The poem is about power and freedom. The

eagle is an example of the two qualities.

THE EXAMPLEWILLIAM H. DAVIES

William H. Davies(1870-1940)

THE EXAMPLEHERE'S an example from  

A Butterfly; That on a rough, hard rock   Happy can lie; Friendless and all alone        On this unsweetened stone.   

Now let my bed be hard,   No care take I; I'll make my joy like this   Small Butterfly;  Whose happy heart has power To make a stone a flower. 

Paraphrase This is a great lesson that a small butterfly has taught me.

That small insect can be happy although she lies on a rough rock all alone and without any friends. She is happy in spite of the harsh surroundings and the difficult circumstances she finds herself in.

Like her, man too can be happy, regardless of the tough external conditions of his life. Happiness springs from the heart; it is not the result of outward circumstances. Like the butterfly that can turn the unfavourable conditions of her life to her advantage, I too will be able to enjoy my life against all odds.

Theme Happiness is the theme of this poem. According to the

poem, man makes his own happiness, which springs from his heart, not from the circumstances of his life.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Martin Luther king, 1963

DREAMSLANGSTON HUGHES

Langston Hughes(1902-1967)

DREAMSHold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreamsFor when dreams goLife is a barren fieldFrozen with snow. 

ParaphraseStick to your dreams because if you lose them,

life will be like a broken-winged bird that is unable to fly. If you let go of your goals and don't work hard to achieve them, your life will not be complete.

Stick to your dreams because if you lose them, life will be like a dead land where nothing grows. Life without dreams is a wasted life, equivalent to death.

ThemeThe importance of setting goals and working

hard to realize them.