Aloft he floats, with arching wings out spread, Serene, yet watchful, in the summer sky, Acme of power controlled, Sea-creatures dread Encounter with his distance-piercing eye. Now, with fast-beating wings, he checks his way Gathering himself to make the fatal swoop, To drop upon his unsuspecting prey -- A falling plummet in a finny troop. Figure of cruel grace, rapacious, sure, Sky denizen of powerful wing and eye -- Who shall forbid his struggle to endure? His right to hunt for food, who shall deny? So he sails calmly on into the blue With admiration as his rightful due. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FRANCE: AN ODE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE TRAGEDY OF VALENTINIAN: THE POWER OF LOVE by JOHN FLETCHER JEWISH HYMN IN BABYLON by HENRY HART MILMAN THE INCHCAPE ROCK by ROBERT SOUTHEY ON THE DISCOVERIES OF CAPTAIN LEWIS [JANUARY 14, 1807] by JOEL BARLOW |