Joy Harjo's "Eagle Poem" invites readers to take an open, humble, caring attitude toward the world around them. Published in her 1990 collection In Mad Love and War, it centers on the speaker's memory of a beautiful eagle flying above the Salt River in Arizona. The eagle's circling flight reminds the speaker of human beings' connection to all living things, and of our responsibility to care for the world during the brief "circle" of our own lives.

• Read the full text of “Eagle Poem”

• “Eagle Poem” Summary

• “Eagle Poem” Themes

  • 

    The Preciousness of and Connection Between All Living Things

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-26

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Eagle Poem”

  • Lines 1-3

    To pray you ...
    ... that is you.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-9

    And know there ...
    ... Circles of motion.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-13

    Like eagle that ...
    ... With sacred wings.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 14-16

    We see you, ...
    ... in all things.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-21

    Breathe in, knowing ...
    ... circle of motion,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 22-26

    Like eagle rounding ...
    ... In beauty.

    

    

    

    

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• “Eagle Poem” Symbols

  • 

    The Eagle

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 10-13: “Like eagle that Sunday morning / Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky / In wind, swept our hearts clean / With sacred wings.”
    • Lines 22-23: “Like eagle rounding out the morning / Inside us.”
  • 

    Circles

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon”
    • Line 9: “Circles of motion”
    • Line 11: “Circled”
    • Lines 21-23: “True circle of motion, / Like eagle rounding out the morning / Inside us.”

• “Eagle Poem” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “To”
    • Lines 2-3: “To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon / To one whole voice that is you.”
    • Line 4: “know”
    • Lines 5-6: “can't see, can't hear, / Can't know”
    • Line 9: “Circles of motion”
    • Line 10: “Like eagle,” “morning”
    • Line 14: “know”
    • Line 17: “Breathe,” “knowing”
    • Line 18: “breathe,” “knowing”
    • Line 21: “circle of motion”
    • Line 22: “Like eagle,” “morning”
    • Lines 25-26: “In beauty. / In beauty.”

  • Apostrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where apostrophe appears in the poem:

    • Lines 14-16: “We see you, see ourselves and know / That we must take the utmost care / And kindness in all things.”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “self”
    • Line 2: “sky,” “sun”
    • Line 8: “sound”
    • Line 9: “Circles”
    • Line 10: “Sunday”
    • Line 11: “Salt,” “Circled,” “sky”
    • Line 12: “wind,” “swept”
    • Line 13: “With,” “sacred,” “wings”
    • Line 14: “We,” “see,” “see,” “ourselves”
    • Line 15: “we,” “care”
    • Line 16: “kindness”
    • Line 17: “Breathe”
    • Line 18: “breathe”
    • Line 19: “blessed,” “because”
    • Line 20: “born”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “open,” “whole”
    • Line 3: “whole”
    • Line 4: “know”
    • Line 6: “know,” “moments”
    • Line 7: “growing”
    • Line 9: “motion”
    • Line 11: “in”
    • Line 12: “In,” “wind”
    • Line 13: “With,” “wings”
    • Line 22: “rounding,” “out”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “To one whole voice that is you”
    • Lines 12-13: “swept our hearts clean / With sacred wings”
    • Line 21: “True circle of motion”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 20-23: “Were born, and die soon within a / True circle of motion, / Like eagle rounding out the morning / Inside us.”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon / To one whole voice that is you.”
    • Lines 5-6: “can't see, can't hear, / Can't know”
    • Lines 11-13: “Circled in blue sky / In wind, swept our hearts clean / With sacred wings.”

• “Eagle Poem” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Circles of motion
  • Utmost
  • (Location in poem: Line 9: “Circles of motion”; Line 21: “circle of motion”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Eagle Poem”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Eagle Poem” Speaker

• “Eagle Poem” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Eagle Poem”

• More “Eagle Poem” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Laureate's Signature Project — Explore “Living Nations, Living Words," a collection of work by Native Nations poets and Harjo's signature project as U.S. Poet Laureate.

    • Joy Harjo, Poet Laureate — Read about Harjo's work as U.S. Poet Laureate.

    • Harjo at the Academy of American Poets — Watch more readings by, and an interview with, Joy Harjo at Poets.org.

    • The Poet's Biography — Read the Poetry Foundation's summary of Joy Harjo's life and work.

    • The Poet's Website — Explore Joy Harjo's books, music, and media appearances at her author website.

    • A Reading of the Poem — Watch Harjo read "Eagle Poem" (and play flute before and after).

    • An Interview with the Laureate — Read an interview with U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo at the Library of Congress.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Joy Harjo

    • Once the World Was Perfect

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