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Eagle Plain poem paper
Eagle Plain
The poem Eagle Plain is a very interesting poem. Even just reading the title of this poem starts to get your brain moving. This poem talks about the eagle being strictly American. The speaker tells of how the eagle does not know that it is the American eagle. When I read this poem, it caused me to think of all the things that people honored, and how all of those things don’t even realize that they are honored. This entire poem was about the symbol of America. With the poet using symbolism, you were able to understand what the poet was talking about. This entire poem was about how we honor random things, and those things never know it. To me this poem is told by the perspective of an American. The poem explains to the reader how the American eagle pays no attention to America, and the people honoring it. The poet explains in this poem how the eagle, “is never tempted to look modest,” and when orators speak about the American eagle’s virtues, “the eagle is not listening. This is his virtue.” One important line that stood out to me in this poem was, “The American eagle never says he will serve if drafted. He is not at our service.” This part in the poem tells us that even if we honor something, it does not have to obey our wishes. In response to all of these descriptions, I realized that honored things do not see themselves as special or changed. I felt that the title of this poem Eagle Plain, was trying to tell the reader that the eagle is not an American eagle. The eagle is just an eagle; it is not some wonderfully special animal. The eagle is just an eagle, plain and simple. This poem caused me to think of all of the other honored items in the world and how they aren’t special. Those items could be sentimental, but in reality, they are all just plain items. The line, “If we have honored him we have honored one who unequivocally honors himself by overlooking us,” explains to the reader that if we honor the eagle, that he is honoring himself by

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