The eagle represents the British empire because, like the eagle, England symbolizes power and predation. During Tennyson’s lifetime, England had no rival. It was “in lonely lands” (Line 1) as the world’s largest superpower. As with the eagle, England could seemingly strike at will. It ruled India and Jamaica, and it had colonies in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Africa. From 1839-42, it flooded the Chinese economy with opium when China took a stand against purchasing England products. The conflict became known as the Opium War. Protected by the English Channel, England “watches from his mountain walls” (Line 5) or contemplates the world from its confined kingdom. England doesn’t possess a literal “thunderbolt” (Line 6), but it has the resources to seize nations and peoples.

While Tennyson demonstrates his patriotism and support for England’s empire in poems like “Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington" (1852), he critiques colonialism and domination in poems like “The Lotos-eaters” (1832). Thus, the eagle can also represent the flaws of England’s prowess. There is something “crooked” (Line 1) about England and its imperialism. It's in “lonely lands” (Line 1) because it lacks allies. The nations it dominates are the “wrinkled sea” (Line 4), and, eventually, the sea or something else will cut down England and its unsustainable dominions.