ANALYSIS

Lines 5-8

In the poem’s opening lines, the speaker laments the fragility of his spirit in the face of impending death. He feels like he is about to fall asleep unintentionally because he is contemplating death. He struggles to maintain open eyelids. He imagines the world of the gods playing out in the statues in front of him, and their hardship speaks to his inevitable death.

The speaker uses a simile to compare himself to a “sick eagle” who, unable to fly, gazes longingly at the sky. The speaker notes that, unlike the eagle, at least he can be comforted as he can weep over his inability fly and see “the opening of the morning eye” or the sunrise