a parody of Tennyson’s “The Eagle”
Upon the bronze haired statue head
Enringed in evening’s smoggy spread
She beak-pecks on a littered bread.
There, on the gritty concrete lies
A pop of corn she greedy spies
And down she like a pigeon flies.
Michael Curtis is an architect, sculptor, painter, historian, and poet, has for more than 40 years contributed to the revival of the classical arts. He has taught and lectured at universities, colleges, and museums, including The Institute of Classical Architecture, The National Gallery of Art, et cetera; his pictures and statues are housed in over four hundred private and public collections, including The Library of Congress, The Supreme Court, et alibi; his verse has been published in over twenty journals; his work in the visual arts can be found at TheClassicalArtist.com, and his literary work can be found at TheStudioBooks.com.
I remember Tennyson’s “The Eagle” as the first poem given in the Intro to Poetry text by Laurence Perrine that we used in high school. It’s a great little poem, and this parody is clever.
“The Eagle” was the first poem my son (age 5) memorized and dramatized, jumping off a box at the end. This parody is even funnier and more appropriate!
Although T. S. Eliot criticized Tennyson’s “In Memoriam” for various qualities, he wrote of Tennyson that his poetry had three noteworthy qualities: “abundance, variety, and complete competence.”.
To see how Mr. Curtis has responded to Tennyson’s poem, I have included it here:
“The Eagle”
He 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.
Mr. Curtis’ imaginative response suggested a poem to me, as well; and I thank him for that.
For notice, thank you to each.