Regardless of cultural multiplicity and diversity in literary traditions; writers all over the world are usually involved in a give and take -relationship; they either draw on each others or get impacted by writers who do not necessarily share the same culture but rather the same experience. Working on this assumption, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a comparative analysis of the central symbol in two poems having almost the same title: The first one is the Eagle which was written by the Victorian poet Alfred Tennyson (1885) and the second, Al Okab Al Harem, the Old Eagle written by Abass Mahmoud Al Aqad. The study will investigate the semiotics of the symbols in the two poems, thus coming up with analytical reading strategies which
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Indeed the title is a real point of entry to interpreting and understanding a given text. According to (Shakroos 2002)the title is a meeting point where the text the author and the reader are involved in a constructive relationship which will eventually determine the meaning of a given text. In this context, (Abed Al qader 2003 p.24) lists three important relationships: the semiotic, the structural, and the reflexive. In El Aqad’s poem, Al Oqab Al Harem, The old Eagle, the title is chiefly made of the noun and the attributive adjective. In Arabic such use of structure creates a permanent affinity between the epithet and the noun described. ( Al Razzi,1981 p.2012/14). Al Okab, the eagle, is word which connotes several meanings. It indicates freedom, power, dignity, wildness, and high soaring. The Arabs used to dub eagles as the master of the birds, a master which is distinguished for its generosity and supremacy. It is also distinguished for its piercing looks and unique courage. Such cultural perception of the eagle has led to the emergence of frequently used expression in which the eagle is a framework of reference to any concept. An example of the expression is that an X has as piercing eye as that of the eagle. However, the use of the adjective “old” before the eagle has created a kind displacement to the different connotations which has been just mentioned. Now this eagle is old, vulnerable, invalid, is likely to perish at any moment. In Tennyson’s the eagle, the title represents monumental creature that forever stands for dignity, power, and unique potentials of soaring high in the sky. It should be noticed that such meanings are not displaced but rather affirmed when we are led to think of the trapped persona. In such a comparison man, it is the poet rather than the eagle which is stripped out of all what the eagle stands for.In western culture eagle is often associated
Indeed the title is a real point of entry to interpreting and understanding a given text. According to (Shakroos 2002)the title is a meeting point where the text the author and the reader are involved in a constructive relationship which will eventually determine the meaning of a given text. In this context, (Abed Al qader 2003 p.24) lists three important relationships: the semiotic, the structural, and the reflexive. In El Aqad’s poem, Al Oqab Al Harem, The old Eagle, the title is chiefly made of the noun and the attributive adjective. In Arabic such use of structure creates a permanent affinity between the epithet and the noun described. ( Al Razzi,1981 p.2012/14). Al Okab, the eagle, is word which connotes several meanings. It indicates freedom, power, dignity, wildness, and high soaring. The Arabs used to dub eagles as the master of the birds, a master which is distinguished for its generosity and supremacy. It is also distinguished for its piercing looks and unique courage. Such cultural perception of the eagle has led to the emergence of frequently used expression in which the eagle is a framework of reference to any concept. An example of the expression is that an X has as piercing eye as that of the eagle. However, the use of the adjective “old” before the eagle has created a kind displacement to the different connotations which has been just mentioned. Now this eagle is old, vulnerable, invalid, is likely to perish at any moment. In Tennyson’s the eagle, the title represents monumental creature that forever stands for dignity, power, and unique potentials of soaring high in the sky. It should be noticed that such meanings are not displaced but rather affirmed when we are led to think of the trapped persona. In such a comparison man, it is the poet rather than the eagle which is stripped out of all what the eagle stands for.In western culture eagle is often associated