This question is based on Literary Principles
'If an eagle be imprisoned On the back of a coin And the coin is tossed into the sky
That coin will flutter But the eagle will never fly.'
Henry Dumas: America
The poem above achieves its literary effect through the use of
In these lines, Henry Dumas uses parallelism to create a structured comparison between the "coin" and the "eagle." Parallelism is the repetition of similar grammatical structures to emphasise a relationship between two ideas—in this case, the inanimate object (the coin) versus the living creature (the eagle).
The literary effect is built on the symmetrical way the actions of the coin and the eagle are described:
Structure 1: "That coin will flutter" (Noun + Verb)
Structure 2: "But the eagle will never fly" (Noun + Verb)
By placing these two lines in parallel, Dumas highlights the irony and the tragedy of the situation. The coin (representing the state/America) can be tossed and move through the air, but the eagle (representing the spirit, freedom, or the individual) is trapped by that very structure and can never truly soar.
Contributions ({{ comment_count }})
Please wait...
Modal title
Report
Block User
{{ feedback_modal_data.title }}