Alfred Tennyson
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.
(1851)
Eagle
Zhang Chiheng
He grasped Yan Rock with his hooked iron claws,
He was near the sun in a lonely place,
In the blue world.
The crumpled sea wriggled under him,
He watched the rock wall of his mountain, and
It fell like a clear sky.
Zhang Chiheng, poet, literary translator and member of Shanghai Translators Association. Translations include poems, essays, novels and fairy tales.
Appreciation 1:
Analysis and explanation of the theme of The Eagle:
This poem is concise and smooth, and in a few words, it outlines the majestic posture of an eagle standing on a cliff and then pouncing on the sea. The first section describes the sky above the eagle's head, with its back against the blue sky, standing proudly, which is static; In the second quarter, the goshawk pounced on the sea like thunder, and it was dynamic. The combination of dynamic and static makes the majesty and fierceness of the goshawk leap from the paper. The rhythm of the poem is mainly iambic tetrameter, with short lines, clean reading and penetrating the charm of the eagle. In the first section, the poet uses /k/ to rhyme, which can remind people of the strong temperament of an eagle.
Appreciation II:
This poem * * * has two sections and six lines. The first section has a rhyme of aaa；; Rhythm: bbb. This short six-line poem vividly depicts the characteristics of the eagle as a king.
The first three lines describe the quiet, aloof and dignified manner of the eagle. The author uses he, hands and stands to replace it, claws and perches respectively, which makes readers feel that the eagle is unusual. What's more, it lives in lonely lands like a king, surrounded by the azure world and Close to the sun. The double tones of /k/ and /kr/ in the first line strongly imply the strength of the eagle.
The last three lines describe the dynamic expression of the eagle. The author still sets off the prestige of the eagle with the surrounding environment. From the eagle's eye high above the gables, the surging waves are just wrinkles, crawling under its feet. Lightning dive is not only realistic, but also shows the great power of the eagle, because ancient gods often used lightning as a punishment tool to punish evil.
The third and sixth lines of this short poem end in periodic sentence. It gives people a strong and down-to-earth feeling, vividly portraying the eagle's kingly demeanor described in the poem.