The speaker says that the eagle "clasps the crag with crooked hands" (line 1). The word clasps indicates how tightly the eagle clings to his leadership position; he seems tenacious, even dictatorial perhaps, as a result of this word choice. The word "stands" also seems to connote a certain strength on the eagle's part, that he is a leader because he possesses such strength (3). Further, to say that the "wrinkled sea beneath him...
The speaker says that the eagle "clasps the crag with crooked hands" (line 1). The word clasps indicates how tightly the eagle clings to his leadership position; he seems tenacious, even dictatorial perhaps, as a result of this word choice. The word "stands" also seems to connote a certain strength on the eagle's part, that he is a leader because he possesses such strength (3). Further, to say that the "wrinkled sea beneath him crawls" shows just how powerless everything else is in comparison to the eagle (4). Crawling is an action performed by something or someone who is subservient or weak; the eagle, then, is so powerful that everything beneath him seems powerless. It also makes the eagle sound merciless, perhaps even cruel, because he makes everything else crawl below him. Finally, the line, "He watches from his mountain walls," tells us about his stronghold, where his power is consolidated. Again, he is so much higher (literally and figuratively) than anyone else (5). And when he dives, he is "like a thunderbolt," a simile which absolutely emphasizes how destructive he can be as a leader (6).
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