Walt Whitman: The Dalliance of the Eagles

This poem has a much deeper meaning than just the words on the page. In the opening lines of the poem, he/she sees two eagles flying around in the air. He describes how they a mating in the air by saying "a swirling mass tight grappling" and "a living, fierce, gyrating wheel". Then the eagles suddenly fall downward and then the female rises again with the male following behind it. There is no rhythm in this poem nor is there rhyming. He uses imagery to describe the eagles as they fly around in the air and he uses the five senses to help as well. The meaning begins this poem is that it is a call for women to stand up for themselves and do what they know they can do. Also, in the middle of the poem, the eagles fly downward and this is a symbol of how things in life can drag people down and they have to get back up again and keep moving on in life. The mood of this poem is assertive and demanding because as a women, I feel that I am given hope and freedom especially with the bald eagle. The tone is hard to tell from the text written because it shows determination and yet a bit of defeat especially for him being a male.