The Full Text of “Eagle Poem”
The Full Text of “Eagle Poem”
-
“Eagle Poem” Introduction
-
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.
-
-
“Eagle Poem” Summary
-
The speaker states that prayer means opening your awareness to the entire world around you—everything from the earth to the moon—and recognizing this as a unified voice, or presence, that you're part of. The speaker adds that the world contains knowledge that human beings can't access through seeing or hearing: a knowledge that arrives in certain moments as a growing understanding, conveyed through movement and other means beyond traditional language. As an example, the speaker recalls seeing an eagle on a Sunday morning above the Salt River in Arizona. As the eagle circled around in the windy blue sky, it gave the people watching it a sense of being purified by something holy. Addressing the eagle, the speaker says that human beings see themselves in the bird, and thus understand the need to be as caring and kind as possible toward the world around them. The speaker invites readers to take a breath, knowing that they're deeply interconnected with the world they're breathing in. The speaker adds that "we" (the speaker and readers alike) are blessed to be part of the circle of life, in which our brief journey resembles the eagle's circular flight. The speaker prays that this journey will contain beauty.
-
-
“Eagle Poem” Themes
-
The Preciousness of and Connection Between All Living Things
A lyric of prayer and praise, “Eagle Poem” encourages deep spiritual respect for the world outside oneself. The speaker portrays human beings as only one small part of a huge, beautiful, interconnected universe. “To pray,” in the speaker’s mind, means to acknowledge that connection: to humbly open oneself to the beauty and mystery of that universe, and to show care and kindness toward one’s fellow living things, aware that we’re all temporary inhabitants of the same lovely world.
The speaker establishes that people are intimately linked to their surroundings and encourages an “open,” welcoming attitude toward the world that exists outside the self (“to sky, to earth, to sun, to moon”). The speaker’s instruction to “Breathe in, knowing we are made of all this” invites readers to feel, contemplate, and appreciate their connection with the world.
At the same time, the speaker describes that world as part of the self: as “one whole voice that is you.” In other words, the poem celebrates human beings as part of the universe and the universe as part of human beings. Recognizing the interconnectedness of all things thus means feeling at one with the world and understanding that “[t]here is more” to the world than people—that is, that people are part of something greater than themselves.
Opening oneself to that sense of connection also means feeling a deep and sacred responsibility to everything else—essentially, remembering that we're all in this together. As such, when the speaker encounters a soaring eagle and reflects that when “We see you” (the eagle), “[we] see ourselves,” the speaker is also inspired to say that “we must take the utmost care / and kindness in all things.” Because we are connected to other living things, caring for the world beyond us is not only as important as caring for ourselves: it’s the same thing.
Taking care of other lives is even more important, the poem suggests, because life is brief and fragile. The speaker compares the “circle” of life, which “soon” ends, to the eagle’s flight, stating that “we” (humans) are “blessed” to experience this brief journey. Kindness is an imperative both because all life is connected and because life is short—and thus all the more precious.
Though it’s a prayer poem, “Eagle Poem” doesn’t refer to a specific deity or faith: its language is universal, in keeping with its message that we’re all part of the same universe. With calm authority, it urges respect for the life and environments surrounding us, centered in an appreciation of our own fragile existence and our connection to everything that lives.
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.The poem begins on a note of gentle instruction as the speaker addresses a general "you" in a tone of familiarity, like that of a mentor encouraging a student. Without mentioning a specific god or faith, the speaker explains how to pray. Prayer, here, is not a request for forgiveness or favors but a meditative practice in which "you open your whole self" to the universe.
In paying close attention to that universe, the speaker suggests, you will hear "one whole voice that is you." In other words, by extending your focus beyond the narrow boundaries of your self, you'll discover that your self is deeply connected with everything that surrounds it: with the "sky," "earth," "sun," "moon," and so on. The repetition of "whole" (lines 1 and 3) emphasizes that people's inner and outer worlds—self and universe—are part of the same, inseparable entity:
To pray you open your whole self
[...]
To one whole voice that is you.The poem is written in free verse, but line 2 ("To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon") features a steady iambic rhythm. Iambic meter is sometimes compared to the ba-bum of a heartbeat. Here, it might evoke the heartbeat of some who's praying, meditatively listening to the rhythms of their body and the surrounding world.
Also notice that the list in lines 2-3 omits a connecting "and," in a device known as asyndeton. Even the comma after "moon" is missing:
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To [...]These omissions make the items in the list seem all the more closely joined together, reinforcing the speaker's point that everything in the universe is connected.
-
Lines 4-9
And know there ...
... Circles of motion. -
Lines 10-13
Like eagle that ...
... With sacred wings. -
Lines 14-16
We see you, ...
... in all things. -
Lines 17-21
Breathe in, knowing ...
... circle of motion, -
Lines 22-26
Like eagle rounding ...
... In beauty.
-
-
“Eagle Poem” Symbols
-
The Eagle
The eagle is the central image of "Eagle Poem," and it carries many symbolic connotations. On a basic level, the eagle seems to stand in for "other life" in general: for the natural world to which humans remain connected and to which we owe "care / And kindness." The eagle's circling flight also comes to represent the life cycle that binds all creatures, human beings included.
The way the speaker refers to the bird as simply "eagle" (lines 10 and 22), rather than "the eagle" or "an eagle," may also hint that this bird is a broad stand-in for all eagles—and for all that human beings associate with eagles. Eagles—majestic birds that tend to hunt alone—can represent strength, majesty, courage, and freedom, and the bird evokes all of those connotations in the poem. In some Indigenous cultures, the eagle is also viewed as a sacred protector spirit. In general, many Indigenous cultures treat wild creatures with reverence. Harjo nods to these traditions, including those of her own Muscogee (Creek) Nation, by calling the bird "sacred" and linking it with human beings' duty to honor and protect other life.
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
Circles play an important symbolic role in the poem, representing the connection between all things as well as the cycle of life.
In general, circles are linked with recurrence and completion, particularly the completion of life (which goes "full circle" from nonexistence before birth to nonexistence after death). The poem draws on this idea when it mentions the eagle's circular flight path. The speaker compares this path to the life cycle, or journey from birth to death ("We / Were born, and die soon within a / True circle of motion"). The eagle "rounding out the morning" suggests the end of this cycle—the completion of this loop.
Notice that the "sky," "earth," "sun," and "moon" mentioned in line 2 are also circular, and also revolve in circles (think of the day-night cycle, weather cycles, and orbits in outer space). Their presence in the poem subtly reinforces the poem's point that everything is connected: birds, lives, weather, planets, moons, and stars all move cyclically as part of the same universe. Overall, then, the poem associates circles with natural cycles of change.
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
This is a very repetitive poem, which is part of what makes it feel so meditative—that is, like a prayer. And one of the most obvious kinds of repetition here is parallelism (and more specifically anaphora). Broadly speaking, this parallelism gives certain lines a steady rhythm suggestive of chanting and meditation. As an example, takes lines 2 and 3, where the word "to" repeats at the start of five consecutive clauses:
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.Repetition works like this throughout the poem to create a calm, chant-like rhythm, reminiscent of the body's own natural rhythms (the heartbeat, breath, etc.). Similar examples of parallelism include "can't see, can't hear, / Can't know"; "see you, see ourselves"; and "Breathe in, knowing [...] breathe, knowing."
The poem also contains a number of identical or nearly identical words/phrases that repeat throughout. For example, there's "Circles of motion" in line 9 and "circle of motion" in line 21; "Like eagle [...] morning" in lines 10 and 22; "know" and "knowing" in lines 14 and 18 (which is specifically something called polyptoton); and "In beauty" in the final two lines.
Whether they're set far apart or close together, all these repetitions lend the poem a loosely cyclical structure in which key phrases "come back around." (However, they don't reappear in any predictable pattern, like a refrain would.) This effect lends a touch of structure to an otherwise freewheeling free verse poem. It also seems appropriate to a poem full of circles and cycles: the orbiting bodies mentioned in line 2, the eagle's circling flight, and the circle of life. The epizeuxis at the end of the poem, meanwhile (that quick repetition of "In beauty") is like a chant closing out the prayer.
The most frequently repeated word in the poem is "know"/"knowing," which occurs five times (lines 4, 6, 14, 17, and 18). This frequency underscores the poem's emphasis on knowledge, particularly the wisdom that the eagle teaches the speaker and that the speaker hopes to share with the reader.
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
-
Alliteration
-
Assonance
-
Metaphor
-
Simile
-
Asyndeton
-
-
"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”)
When this phrase first appears, it's in relation to language. The speaker says that some languages "aren't always sound but other / Circles of motion." This evokes the image of sound waves or sonic echoes moving through the air, and also the eagle's flight as it moves around in the sky (such "motion" is a kind of "language" in the sense that it imparts its own form of knowledge—the knowledge that people are connected to all living things). Later, the phrase "True circle of motion" in line 21 seems to refer both to the circle of life and, again, the eagle's flight path in the sky.
-
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Eagle Poem”
-
Form
"Eagle Poem" is a 26-line, free verse poem that does not follow a traditional form. However, it contains some noteworthy formal features.
It's a stichic poem, meaning that it consists of a single stanza. (Traditionally, the word "stichic" also implies the use of meter or regular line length. But in contemporary poetry, it's often used to describe single-stanza poems of any kind.) The lack of stanza breaks allows the poem to flow smoothly, without jarring transitions, from one thought to the next. This fluidity and unity is appropriate for a calming meditation on the unity of "all things." So is the use of free verse, which makes the poem feel relaxed and unconstrained.
The poem's many repetitions are also characteristic of meditation. The repetition of key phrases, such as "circle[s] of motion," at spaced-out intervals suggests that the poem itself is circling back to important images and ideas.
In other words, the verse is free but with elements of rhythm, and the poem's structure is loose but with elements of pattern and order. These formal qualities make "Eagle Poem" somewhat like improvisational music—and, in fact, when performing it for audiences, Joy Harjo has sometimes played flute music before and after!
-
Meter
As a free verse poem, "Eagle Poem" doesn't use a consistent meter. However, its verse does have elements of regularity. The line lengths vary, but no line is shorter than three syllables or longer than ten, and most fall in the middle of that range. Moreover, the poem sometimes falls into a noticeably iambic (or unstressed-stressed) rhythm. Take line 2:
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
Other brief moments of iambic meter appear throughout the poem, though never in a steady pattern. In this way, the poem essentially splits the difference between free verse and meter. The verse is generally relaxed and loose, but keeps a steady beat at times and never becomes jarringly irregular. This effect is well suited to a poem of prayer and meditation: it evokes both the free flow of thought and the calm rhythms of a resting body.
-
Rhyme Scheme
"Eagle Poem" is written in free verse and does not contain a rhyme scheme. It does contain one end rhyme, between "wings" (line 13) and "things" (line 16). This rhyme lands very subtly and may be incidental (i.e., the poet may not intend the reader to notice it), since it doesn't occur as part of a regular pattern or rhythm.
The poem also repeats certain words at the ends of lines. Notice how "Circles of motion" in line 9 returns as the nearly identical "circle of motion" in line 21. Both line 10 and line 22 end with "morning," and lines 25 and 26 are identical ("In beauty"). Lines 14 and 18 also end similarly ("know" and "knowing"). While not as organized or noticeable as a rhyme scheme, these repetitions create the sense that the poem is circling back to important words and images, much as the eagle circles in the air (or human lives "circle" through time).
-
-
“Eagle Poem” Speaker
-
The speaker of "Eagle Poem" takes on the role of teacher or spiritual guide. The poem is an example of didactic literature (literature that provides instruction, especially moral instructions), but unlike many didactic speakers, this one isn't stern, aloof, or attached to a particular dogma. This speaker values "care," "kindness," and universal connection, and demonstrates these values by addressing readers in gentle tones.
The speaker claims some degree of special "know[ledge]" (referenced in lines 4-9: "And know there is [...] Circles of motion"), but communicates this knowledge in a mellow, non-judgmental way. In offering a lesson on prayer, the speaker doesn't tell readers they must pray, or follow the rules of a particular faith. The instructions are more like suggestions. The closest the speaker comes to an imperative is: "we must take the utmost care / And kindness in all things." But this is an earnest appeal rather than a harsh command, and the message is universal. The speaker's breathing instructions and repetitions evoke the practice of meditation.
There is no evidence in the poem of a gap between poet and speaker. Joy Harjo's style as a poet ranges widely, but "Eagle Poem" accurately represents the attitudes and beliefs she has generally embraced in her writing and public life. These include her cultural/spiritual heritage and political concerns as an Indigenous poet, one who has spoken publicly on a range of environmental and human rights issues. The poem also speaks with a teacherly authority that draws on Harjo's long career as a professor, lecturer, and public poet.
-
-
“Eagle Poem” Setting
-
The poem is addressed to the general reader and concerns the reader's connection with the universe. In that sense, its setting is anywhere and everywhere!
However, in the memory recounted midway through the poem, the setting gets more specific. The speaker saw an eagle on "Sunday morning," a day and time associated with worship and prayer in the Christian tradition. (Though the poem doesn't link its prayer with any particular faith, it seems to play deliberately on this association.) The eagle was flying above "Salt River," a roughly 200-mile-long river that flows through Arizona.
Joy Harjo studied and taught for many years in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, and her poetry often features locations in the Southwestern U.S. Her strong connection to this region, and to the American land in general (she's a member of the Muscogee Nation and a major figure in modern Indigenous/Native American literature), comes through in "Eagle Poem," which invites readers to contemplate their own connection to the natural world around them.
The image of water flowing through a desert landscape may also convey a sense of cooling or refreshment: an appropriate match for the purifying holiness of the eagle that "swept our hearts clean."
-
-
Literary and Historical Context of “Eagle Poem”
-
Literary Context
"Eagle Poem" appears in Joy Harjo's mid-career collection In Mad Love and War (1990). By the time of its publication, Harjo was an established poet, having published well-regarded books and taught creative writing in colleges and universities since the 1970s. This background may help explain the poem's calm, authoritative, teacher-like tone.
By 1990, Harjo was also a leading figure in a literary movement that some critics labeled the "Native American Renaissance." This label, which remains controversial and which some Indigenous writers have rejected, originated in response to a wave of acclaimed writing by Indigenous poets, playwrights, and novelists during the late 20th century. A key factor in this "Renaissance" was N. Scott Momaday's 1968 novel House Made of Dawn, which won the Pulitzer Prize and opened up new opportunities for Indigenous authors previously excluded by the American literary establishment.
Harjo began her poetry career in 1975, less than a decade after House Made of Dawn. She soon gained acclaim for lyric poems that explored American landscapes (particularly in the Southwest and Southeast), humanity's relationship with nature, contemporary social justice issues, and the complexities of Indigenous experience. Her political, cultural, and spiritual heritage as a member of the Muscogee (a.k.a. Mvskoke or Muscogee Creek) Nation forms a backdrop to much of her poetry. Her books often include elements of myth and folklore, drawn from a range of Indigenous cultures, along with personal and political material.
Though "Eagle Poem" doesn't allude to a specific myth, eagles played a variety of roles in the mythology and folklore of Muscogee Nation peoples. In some stories, the eagle was the king of birds, the chief of creatures present at the world's creation, or a being that dying souls must confront on the journey to the spirit world. Harjo's poem may be drawing on one or more of these stories, using the eagle as a stand-in for natural creatures in general and/or linking it with the completion of life's journey.
Chant and prayer are recurring elements of Harjo's poetry, including "Eagle Poem." A musician as well as a writer, she tends to employ free verse with strong rhythmic and lyrical qualities (also evidenced in "Eagle Poem"). She often incorporates both poetry and music into her public performances. As a three-term U.S. Poet Laureate, she is very much a public poet: a writer, teacher, and activist who strives to connect with a broad audience. This, too, is evident in "Eagle Poem," which establishes an immediate connection with the reader.
Historical Context
The "Native American Renaissance" with which some critics associate Harjo didn't happen in a cultural vacuum. The growing, hard-won success of Indigenous authors in the U.S. paralleled a late-20th-century movement aimed at securing the rights and dignity of Indigenous peoples.
This "Red Power" or Native American rights movement emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, alongside other civil rights and social justice struggles of the period. Among the political victories it achieved was the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, which overturned bans on sacred ceremonies and rituals practiced by Indigenous peoples. Beyond specific political goals, activists sought to combat general prejudice against Native/Indigenous peoples, including widespread caricature and vilification in the pop culture of previous decades.
Although these events don't appear in "Eagle Poem," they form a crucial historical backdrop to the poem and to Harjo's literary career. They commanded increased respect for Indigenous peoples' history, cultures, and spiritual practices, and for Indigenous people themselves. "Eagle Poem" may not announce itself as belonging to a particular heritage (as some other Harjo poems do), but to the extent that it draws on Indigenous myth and spiritual traditions, it would have had a far more difficult time reaching a general audience in the 1950s of Harjo's childhood.
The poem also contains faint echoes of the environmentalist movement that gained momentum in the 1970s and 1980s. While it doesn't specifically advocate for eagle conservation or any other environmental goal, its message aligns with the "green" movement's emphasis on the interdependence of living things, as well as its call to "care" for the world around us.
-
-
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
-
