Marvells Gardens A Reading of The Mower Against Gardens and The Garden - Literature Essay Samples

For both The Mower Against Gardens and The Garden, the primary terms in opposition are the same: the world of nature, the world of men. The former is a realm of leisure, the latter of ceaseless, pointless toil. And yet the status granted to the garden in one poem is directly contrary to that granted in the other: for The Mower Against Gardens, the garden is the locus of human labor (and perversion), it is at the heart of the world of men. The scene of The Garden, by contrast, is one of leisure, solitude, and natures fecundity. The relationship between the two poems is more complicated than the mere opposition suggested by their titles: while the terms of the argument are constant between them, the value granted them shifts; the status of labor, leisure, and nature is different in each. Also different, I will argue, is the tone of the poems: one seems earnest in its argument, while the other is self-mocking.The argument of The Mower Against Gardens falls into three parts. The fi rst (ll. 1-22) is by far the longest, and presents in its first sentence the opposed terms of its argument. In the very first word, we find the poems moral verdict:Luxurious man, to bring his vice in use,Did after him the world seduce,And from the fields the flowers and plants allure,Where nature was most plain and pure.On one hand is Luxurious man; on the other, world, Fieldsflowers and plants, and nature. The terms of condemnation are bald (Luxurious, vice), but the statement of the offense is more subtle: it is not the practice of mans vice that corrupts the world, but rather his determination to seduce the world to follow his vice, his need to make nature into a mirror for himself. This is a familiar moralizing argument: the real danger of vice is not individual practice, but rather the transmission of that practice to others. In this passage, such transmission occurs through careful perversion of the environment (And a more luscious earth for them did knead, / Which stupefi ed them), and its effects are precisely as desired: The pink grew then as double as his mind the tainted man can see his image in the world he has made around him. Double is a curious adjective, implying self-division, inner conflict, a straining against nature: aspects of mans state after the Fall (the earliest Christian word for the post-lapsarian state makes clear this aspect: dipsychia, double-souledness).The examples of perversion presented in lines 9-18 concern accidental rather than essential properties: scent, color, and value in terms of both money and labor. The examples found in lines 11-14 aim their condemnation at specifically female (and perhaps largely courtly) acts of self-adornment: perfume, paint, interline its cheek. (I take the last in the sense of the OEDs fifth definition, To mark with lines, esp. of various colours; the texts cited are comfortably 17th-century.) This is the first instance of an argumentative thread common to both poems, and which is espe cially strong in The Garden: a reviling of sexual pursuit and the (non-auto) erotic life. Lines 15-19 turn from personal vanity to economic waste: a meadow sold for a tulip, the toil and risk of exploration for the Marvel of Peru (the discovery of another world is merely a happy coincidence).A shift occurs in line 19 (And yet), beginning the second section of the poem (to line 31). Lines 19-22 make a conciliatory gesture, and then dramatically intensify the poems condemnation:And yet these rarities might be allowedTo man, that sovereign thing and proud,Had he not dealt between the bark and tree,Forbidden mixtures there to see.If in the first movement of the poem there is a sense of perversion, a willful straying from nature, with line 22 a new sense of transgression is introduced. Forbidden implies not only moral laxity or lapse; it implies law, a concrete statute, the breaking of which invokes punishment from an authority higher than man, however sovereign. Unlike the adornment s of lines 9-18, which concern only the addition or alteration of accidental properties, in lines 21-30 it is the essence of things that is altered, with ensuing chaos: No plant now knew the stock from which it came; / He grafts upon the wild the tame. This transgression, the result of which is a loss of origins, is made more grievous because it is frivolous, intended not even to delight the palate, but merely to put [it] in dispute. Not even pleasure governs mans appetite; novelty is all. With the entrance of his green seraglio there is a suggestion not only of the exotic but of the heathen; mans perversion has become a religious transgression.With the new terms of the argument, however, the poem has backed itself into a corner. With the transgression of law must come punishment, and none seems forthcoming. Indeed, man seems able to fulfill his wishes (however empty) in their entirety: hes perfectly capable of vexing nature (l.29), and the word forbidden, so effective at heigh tening the force of the poems invective, begins to ring hollow. The poem responds to this dilemma by shifting its strategy entirely; in its third and final section, from line 31, the poem turns from damning the world of men to praising the world of nature, and the implied terms of disparagement switch from condemnation to pity. Man neednt work so hard for satisfaction; in the sweet fields, willing Nature does to all dispense / A wild and fragrant innocence. If he gave over his perverse love of the exotic, man would find his needs met almost entirely without toil: And fauns and fairies do the meadows till / More by their presence than their skill. Finally, mans punishment is one of self-imposed deprivation; however beautiful his creations, they lack real substance: howsoeer the figures do excel, / The Gods themselves with us do dwell.The beginning of The Garden seems to take up this argument seamlessly: How vainly men themselves amaze / To win the palm, the oak, or bays. Again, t he inutility of labor is denigrated in favor of the leisured enjoyment of nature: the little crowns won by mans great effort cant even provide adequate shade, while all flowers and all trees do close / To weave the garlands of repose. Like the mower poem, The Garden follows a three-part structure. In the first four stanzas, the virtues of the garden are proved through comparison with the trials (and supposed pleasures) of the world of men. As he compares the two worlds, the speaker seems to fully inhabit neither, and his praise of the garden is mitigated, in the second stanza, by doubt: Fair Quiet, have I found thee here, / And Innocence, thy sister dear? In the very stanza that should establish the gardens virtues, the speaker cant even be certain that those virtues exist: Your sacred plants, if here below, / Only among the plants will grow.As in The Mower Against Gardens, the polemic has a sexual edge; in the third and fourth stanzas the pleasures of (human) erotic pursuit are found decidedly wanting when compared to the pleasures of the garden. Importantly, though, the pleasures compared are of a kind: No white nor red was ever seen / So amorous as this lovely green. The erotic is not rejected in The Garden, but merely takes a different (and decidedly odd) object: Fair trees, wheresoeer your barks I wound, / No name shall but your own be found. This conceit provides the poem with its finest display of wit: far from foiled by the metamorphoses of their quarry, Apollo and Pan were after the plants all along. It also, however, leads the poem into the second section (the three stanzas from l. 33), which disrupts the speakers former credibility by introducing elements that make The Garden a poem impossible to read straight.The three stanzas of the second section address the pleasures of the body, the mind, and the soul as they are gratified in the garden. What wondrous life is this I lead! the speaker exults: theres no longer any trace of the uncertaint y found in the poems second stanza, nor is there any presence even rhetorically of the world outside the garden. As with the sweet fields of the earlier poem, gratification requires little or no action on the part of the speaker:Ripe apples drop about my head;The luscious clusters of the vineUpon my mouth do crush their wine;The nectarine and curious peachInto my hands themselves do reachAlready this seems suspect: luscious was a word of denigration in the mower poem, and whats described here isnt easeful subsistence, but rather gluttony. The final lines of the stanza clarify the detrimental effects: Stumbling on melons, as I pass, / Insnared with flowers, I fall on grass. The negative cast of the following stanzas becomes even starker: in stanza six, the mind Withdraws into its happiness, rejecting the possibility of interaction with the real world (The mind, that ocean where each kind / Does straight its own resemblance find) for an entirely imagined creation. Lest we think this a salutary use of the imagination, the poem underscores it as destructive: Annihilating all thats made / To a green thought in a green shade. Even as the soul is transformed into a singing bird in stanza seven, the pointlessness of the speakers leisure is as pronounced as the inutility of labor in the mower poem: And, till prepared for longer flight, / Waves in its plumes the various light. One is correct, I think, in doubting the advent of this longer flight; the movement from body to soul has been less an ascension than a stupor.Having arrived at the soul, the only intensification possible in the poems third section (from stanza 9) is a gesture to Paradise. The retreat to the garden is a rejection of the entire world and society, and what is presented as a validating gesture defeats itself the state of satisfaction (or stupor) of the speaker is doomed to be short-lived, as it presumes a greater privilege than is granted to a mortals share. (By so entirely rejecting socie ty, this stanza extends the poems striking anti-erotic posture: were man truly perfect, even in a prelapsarian state, he would be allowed full autonomy, free from the cloying necessities of sex and procreation; nor would he desire any Miltonic apt and cheerful conversation.) The poems closing stanza, with its image of the flower dial, underscores this fleetingness: How could such sweet and wholesome hours / Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers? Herbs and flowers are transient, quickly wilting things, unsustainable through seasons; the sojourn in the garden must be similarly transient.It is tempting to see these two poems as an easy pair, with The Garden merely embodying those vices railed against by the mower. However, the relationship is not quite so neat. The poems speakers are not clear opposites: both feel an antipathy for the world of men, both denigrate a seemingly vain labor, and both praise the natural world (though it is important that the word nature does not appear in The Garden, while in the mower poem it is a capitalized entity). The gardens described in the poems (though both, as noted above, are luscious) are not precisely the same, and theres no suggestion of innovation or labor in the fruits of The Garden: none is the product of grafting, none is imported from another world. Most importantly, The Mower Against Gardens seems to me a fundamentally earnest poem, lamenting a tendency to be dissatisfied with the common and known, and to prefer a profligate search for novelty. In its depiction of drunken stupor, and its acknowledgment of the unsustainability of its vision, on the other hand, The Garden takes on a tone of self-mockery.The source of these differences may lie in the poems diverging conceptions of labor and leisure. The mower disparages needless scientific innovation, a vexing of nature with no real end; the speaker of The Garden dismisses poetry, sport, and civic duty (at least two of which we know to have been among Marvells endeavors). The leisure of the mower is not sloth: his very title indicates labor, and the ease granted by willing nature is not gluttony but an effort harmonious with nature, toward necessary ends. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the pitch of the poems rejection of the world of men is decidedly different. The mower rejects the social world not in the abstract, but in its particular incarnation; theres nothing in a wild and fragrant innocence that requires solitude, and the mower seems to long for the repopulation of the sweet fields [that] lie forgot. The speaker in The Garden, by contrast, desires an utter break with society, a rejection of all labor and all duty. The tone of the poem and the ridiculousness of its drunkenly stumbling speaker, I think, deflate the desirability of so perfect a severance from the human world.

The Variety of Ways in Which Chaucer Treats the Subject of...

Write an essay on the variety of ways in which Chaucer treats the subject of love. Within ten stories in the Canterbury Tales, men and women on the way to, or in marriage provide the ostensible subject, with six tales expounding largely on love and its counterpart in marriage. In comic tales, sexual activity is constantly relished, especially in the Miller’s Tale and the Reeve’s Tale, where love is defined and motivated by animalistic physical desire and relationships clouded with lies and deceit. In contrast, romances like the Knight’s Tale and the Franklin’s Tale have a high ideal of relaxed and trusting harmony, â€Å"Thus been they bothe in quiete and rest†, relying also on the poetics of courtly love. Then we have the blend of†¦show more content†¦This of course scandalized the Clerk- he was unworldly and an ascetic, he â€Å"looked holwe and therto sobrely†, and thus he becomes the mantle of a corrector of false views about love and matrimony after the Friar and Summoner and gives a view of love as pure and sacrificial, with Griselda as the epitome of patience and ungrudging obedience. By use of the same term, ‘Boweth your nekke under that blisful yok of soveraynetee’, clearly the Clerk, through his tale, is answering the Wife of Bath, through a character who was the exact antithesis of hers. The Merchant, coming after the Clerk, upsets the balance again, painting a cynical view of love in contrast, and once again continues the love debate in his own fashion and pattern (â€Å"And let him care and wepe and wringe and waile†- â€Å"Weping and way ling, care and other sorwe†). The Host then once again comes interrupts, and requests to turn the debate away from marriage to love â€Å"Squier, set somewhat of love†, where pure romance, in the medieval sense is now introduced, reminding us of the beginning of the Knight’s tale, and illustrating the charm of a variety of tales depicting the various illustrations of love. However, Chaucer’s plan in this Act is not yet finished- there is still the gap of the relations between husband and wife, a certain superficiality of love not yet mentioned, the love whichShow MoreRelated The Bourgeois Social Class in Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay5130 Words   |  21 PagesIt is clear that Geoffrey Chaucer was acutely aware of the strict classist system in which he lived; indeed the very subject matter of his Canterbury Tales (CT) is a commentary on this system: its shortcomings and its benefits regarding English society. In fact, Chaucer is particularly adept at portraying each of his pilgrims as an example of various strata within 14th century English society. And upon first reading the CT, one might mistake Chaucers acute social awareness and insightful characterizationsRead More The Rich Diversity of Meanings of the Pardoners Tale Essay5609 Words   |  23 Pagesact of holy reverence, but the Tales take a darker turn when the Pardoner is brought to the foreground. The whole Canterbury Tales is a collected set of performances, stories told about telling stories. As Joseph Ganim has written, theatricality, by which he means a governing se nse of performance, an interplay among the author’s voice, his fictional characters, and his immediate audience, is a paradigm for the Chaucerian poetic (5). This paper shall endeavor to show that the major effect of theRead MoreEnlightment of Education in Pygmalion and Educating Rita9449 Words   |  38 Pageslearning of one demands the learning of the other one. | | |English literature has passed great and complicated way of development. It gave to the | | |treasure of world literature such great names as Shakespeare, Chaucer, Byron, Shaw, | | |Hemingway, Twain and so many others. | | Read MoreWilliam Shakespeare and Macbeth8813 Words   |  36 Pagesall the correct virtues for a king. Macbeth  exhibits elements that reflect the greatest Christian tragedy of all: the Fall of Man. In the Genesis story, it is the weakness of Adam, persuaded by his wife (who has in turn been seduced by the devil) which leads him to the proud assumption that he can play God. But both stories offer room for hope: Christ will come to save mankind precisely because mankind has made the wrong choice through his own free will. In Christian terms, although  Macbeth  hasRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pagesoften disorderly book. A glance at the table of contents is enough to show that the sequence of chapters is erratic and closer inspection reveals that the scope of individual chapters is far wider than appears at first sight. Philosophic doctrines (which, according to the author, are the basis of the talismanic art), theory of magic, astronomical, astrological and physical lore, extensive directions for the practice of the art, and accounts of the peoples by who m it is employed are jumbled together

Graduation Speech Millennials And College Debt

Delaney Johnson Ms. Mathis, 11 English III B May 28, 2016 Millennials and College Debt Everyone has a dream, and in America, when someone reaches the financial and ethical position they desire to achieve, it is referred to as reaching one’s American dream. For numerous amounts of people, the American dream involves life events such as finding a stable career or job, buying a house, getting married, having children, and nurturing a future generation. While an individual’s dream may differ from another’s, most people do not want to worry if they can afford the lifestyle they want to live. Unfortunately, a millennial’s American dream is especially hard to achieve in this day of age, due to the ravenous debt that lingers after they graduate from college. College debt, lack of jobs, and minimal buying power are all factors that contribute to the endeavor of a millennial’s delay in beginning an efficient form of independence. The amount of debt that American students are carrying after college graduation is incr easing at a rapid rate. A study conducted by The Institute for College Access Success resulted in the revelation that 70% of students graduate with a total amount of $28,950 in college debt, which is an increase by 2% since 2013. Shockingly, student college debt had reached 1 trillion by 2012, as well as surpassing credit card and auto loan debt. Why exactly is debt going up as time continues? Well, college tuition is slowly but surelyShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesNarcissist? 132 Myth or Science? Personality Predicts the Performance of Entrepreneurs 142 glOBalization! The Right Personality for a Global Workplace 143 An Ethical Choice Should You Try to Change Someone’s Personality? 147 Point/Counterpoint Millennials Are More Narcissistic 155 Questions for Review 156 Experiential Exercise What Organizational Culture Do You Prefer? 156 Ethical Dilemma Freedom or Lack of Commitment? 156 Case Incident 1 Is There a Price for Being Too Nice? 157 Case Incident 2

Gardenland free essay sample

Gardenland In his essay entitled â€Å"Gardenland, Sacramento, California,† Michael Nava recounts his experience of growing up in a remote, mid-twentieth century neighborhood of Sacramento. Nava gradually shifts his focus toward more uniquely personal themes and demonstrates how the place where he grew up influenced the person he has become. In this way, the form of the essay outlines its focus as Nava follows an obvious and steady progression toward the presentation of his microcosmic experience of Gardenland. While he begins with a rather dull and impersonal description of the physical surroundings, Nava presents imagery that later serves to deepen the reader’s emotional involvement in the story. There are many instances throughout the essay where Nava uses the place as a metaphorical representation of his own personality. His presentation of Gardenland demonstrates the effect that his social and physical environment had on his growth as an individual. In spite of its brevity, this essay follows a clear form as the focus progresses from more impersonal, physical description to introspective confession. Nava begins with a depiction of Sacramento before it had become one of California’s major urban cities. In this largely objective introduction, he interjects some emotion: he mentions the â€Å"shadowy small-town melancholy† of the â€Å"run-down Victorian mansions† (647). His discussion then moves toward his own neighborhood within the city called Gardenland, and the rhetoric becomes more detailed as he lists individual streets and specific buildings (e. g. his cousin Josephine’s house which doubled as a beauty shop). This specificity grows as he discusses his street, his family situation, individual houses, and finally his own conflicted relationship with the place where he grew up. One might compare this progressive focus to satellite imaging that needs to zoom in on its intended target in stages. In this case, the intended target or final image is Nava himself and how the macrocosmic descriptions of the beginning affected him. By dealing with complex emotions, this final image transcends the physical and becomes more meaningful to Nava’s individual experience. The title itself points to this narrowing focus in the reverse order as it moves from state to city to neighborhood. This also supports a parallel between Gardenland and Nava himself that I will explore later. Because the essay focuses so heavily on the environment, Nava includes copious imagery to establish a framework for development. The nature of the imagery changes with the focus of the story; the more general focus in the beginning includes descriptions of objects that one might encounter on a walk through the neighborhood while the more personal focus of the latter portion deals with individual people and rooms. Accounts of the city’s skyline and the borders of the Gardenland neighborhood give way to more specific images of his block and his grandparents’ living room. Because the length of the essay does not allow for much storytelling, Nava often uses imagery not just to describe objects but also to convey situations of his memory. For instance, the image of Nava and his grandparents silently passing time in the living room, each with his or her preferred method of escape, serves as a snapshot in a photo album of childhood memories. The images not only allow the reader to more fully experience the environment, but they also suggest emotional states. For example, the tiny bedrooms convey a cold and uncomfortable utilitarianism indicate of his family’s financial and emotional poverty. Nava makes a direct comparison between his physical description and himself saying, â€Å"†¦the stillness of the grass and the slap of the slough’s brown water against the shore. There I discovered my own capacity for stillness† (652). This focuses the image of the still shoreline toward a comparison with Nava’s personality. Nava’s physical descriptions express more than objective information, as the reader gains a more detailed perception of his environment. Nava not only demonstrates how the environment of Gardenland affected him, but he also draws parallels between himself and his hometown using metaphors. He emphasizes the borders and isolation of Gardenland that mirror the emotional isolation he experienced living with his family. By clearly defining the borders of Gardenland, Nava establishes a sense of remoteness that later relates to his own loneliness. He becomes more explicit about this separation by saying â€Å"Although not literally cut off from the outside world, Gardenland was little touched by it† (651). Isolation from and ignorance of other people, cultures, and ideas typically leads to a monotonous lifestyle that inhibits personal growth. Nava emphasizes his similar isolation: â€Å"My habits of secrecy and loneliness were too deeply ingrained. I had become like my grandfather†¦the most unsociable of an unsociable tribe† (652). He felt like an outcast in a community of outcasts, so he escaped into literature and fantasy. His fascination with books probably stemmed from a natural curiosity and a desire to experience the perspectives of different people. Because his literary awareness conflicted with the priorities of the community, this interest also served to magnify this social seclusion. He parallels his devotion to books with his homosexuality, as both were alien and unappreciated in his community. This moment of sexual identity is where his isolation exceeds comparison with Gardenland and become a more extraordinary example of alienation; however, Nava chooses to conclude the essay by offering one last similarity between Gardenland and himself that arose out of his extreme isolation: â€Å"Paradoxically, by doing this, I learned the peasant virtues of my hometown, endurance and survival. As a member of yet another embattled community, those virtues I absorbed as a child continue to serve me† (653). Herein lies the deep-seated conflict in his relationship with Gardenland; his damaging memories of isolation, emotional unavailability, and domestic abuse exist along with a sense of appreciation for freedom and the instillation of the aforementioned virtues. By portraying the physical and emotional circumstances of his childhood, Nava creates a comparison between himself and his hometown. His shifting focus and imagery both lead to a more complete view of the environment and, therefore, a more effective basis for this comparison. He illustrates how his environment and his own personality affected, both positively and negatively, his personal development.

The Civilised Truth About Junk Food Essay Example For Students

The Civilised Truth About Junk Food Essay The civilised truth about junk foodWhen I think about it no one talks an awful lot about the dangers of junk food consumption and just how dangerous it is for us. I think it’s time to take stand loud and clear. And really get to grips with what we are trying to achieve with these quick energy releasing meals that are thought to be 100 percent natural looking have we ever thought about a burger or do we just look at the soft golden brioche roll and the tender chicken inside carefully placed in the bottom section. On top goes a crisp piece of green lettuce topped with a creamy riche sauce. Have we ever thought about looking at whether the chicken is being processed in the same way as the burger is brought to us or is the chicken genetically modified? Have we wondered how the lettuce gains such a glossy green finish is it natural or has it been sprayed with gazillion amounts of chemicals to gain that true green colour. We will write a custom essay on The Civilised Truth About Junk Food specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Lastly have we ever thought of the after effect of eating these types of foods.do they even contain and ounce of nutrition for us are these treats really going to help us in the long run or are these just temporary?Have we every looked at the reality of junk food what lies behind the stringy cheese pizza. Or do we just we just exist for the taste we need to really actually think of our health we have a value to as human being we have a purpose to achieve and to meet our goals by consuming junk food and constantly relying on fast food to fulfil our needs we are not doing each other a favour we are constantly depriving ourselves from nutritious food that actually has a value and when we consume it helps our body to function better it helps us to keep fit and in shape do we not all want that.Surely each of us . .inish it through our diets so we can have a clean diet full of nutrients and vitamins that will help us grow helps our skins and keep us happy we need to consider makin g a change in our life’s a big change. While there are valid reason why people eat junk food just thinking of it numbs my mind because of how grand junk food taste. I know each of us has a soft tooth and struggles to not have a slice of cake or nib at a biscuit. We need to win the fight with junk food and not let it take over us as individual we need to keep our wellbeing under consideration and scrap junk food turn away from it am inviting the nation to take a step back with me today right now at this very moment and consider the options we have to change our future our life’s and our loved ones life. Not today no in a years’ time but today with me we need to combat junk food forever once and for all.

THE NECESSITY OF EUDAIMONIA essays

THE NECESSITY OF EUDAIMONIA essays Defining the Good Throughout history, many people have attempted to define what it is to be good. They have tried to explain what it is like to live a good life and what it means to be a good person. Many have tried to offer their own insights into what being good really is. Some philosophers have spent most of their lives pondering and arguing their idea of what being good really is. Some philosophers are thick headed about the subject and will refute anyone else's idea of what being good is. Other philosophers were more open minded about what being good is and would accept other's ideas and maybe even include other people's ideas in their own hypothesis. But, there really is no real answer to what being good is. The philosophers who listened to others and accepted other people's ideas might get a little closer to describing good, but even they could not fully define it. The word good is far too obscure to give one true definition to. Instead it will always live as a word with no true meaning. In order to find what the good and apply this, the primary concern of political theorists such as Aristotle whom will be the subject of this research, is to determine by what form of ordinance or law, would succeed the state. And he claims that unity of the Polis really leads to the Eudaimonia, which is the real happiness. Aristotle saw the pursuit of the good of the polis, the political community, as a branch of ethics, the pursuit of the human good as a whole. He called this ultimate goal for human beings eudaimonia, which is often translated as "the good life." He begins the Nicomachean Ethics with the claim that all human activities and pursuits aim at the good. He means for this to be understood as a claim about how human activities contribute to the human function. Ethics is therefore dependent upon theory of human nature, for to be a good person is to succeed in making actual in one's character the unique potential of being human. Fo...

Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles Essays - Eagles, Bald Eagle

Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles Eagle is the common name for a number of diurnal birds of prey, some of which are the largest members of their family which also includes kites, hawks, buzzards, and certain vultures. The name eagle is somewhat loosely applied, as several of the groups are not particularly closely related to one another, and some birds called hawks are larger than some called eagles. The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus) and the Golden Eagle (Aquila Chrysaetos) are two eagles that have several of the same characteristics and have several different ones as well. The Bald Eagle is the only eagle species living strictly in North America, and has a presence in every state in the US except Hawaii. Young (immature) Bald Eagles are light gray when hatched, and turn dark brown before leaving the nest at about 12 weeks of age. During their third and fourth years, Bald Eagles have a mottled brown and white color under their wings and on their head, tail and breast. The distinctive white head and tail feathers do not appear until they are 4 to 5 years old. Bald Eagles range from about 29-42 inches long, and can weigh between 7-16 pounds, and have a wingspan of 6 to 8 feet. This makes them one of the largest birds in North America. Bald Eagles residing in the northern US are larger than those that reside in the south. They have a life span of up to 30-40 years in the wild and longer in captivity. Bald Eagles are monogamous and remain faithful to their mate until death. Females lay one to three eggs annually, and the incubation period is approxim! ately 35 days. Only about 50% of Eagles hatched survive the first year. Strong endangered species and environmental protection laws, as well as active private, state and federal conservation efforts have brought back the USA's Bald Eagle population from the edge of extinction. There are now about 4500 nesting pairs and 20,000 total birds in the lower 48 states, and there are over 35,000 Bald Eagles in Alaska. America's Bald Eagles are back in strong numbers today, but they are still a "threatened" species in the lower 48 states. Breeding season last from November to April. Bald eagles mate for life and use the same nest each year. They build a huge nest (aerie) of sticks and twigs in a tree, or on rocky cliffs and average in size of 2 feet deep and 5 feet across. The nest takes weeks to construct and is increased yearly. Eventually some nests reach sizes of more than 10 feet wide and can weigh several tons. Bald Eagles feed primarily on fish, but also eat small animals (ducks,! coots, muskrats, turtles, rabbits, snakes, etc.) and occasional carrion (dead animals). Eagles swoop down to seize fish in their talons and carry it off, but can only lift about half of their weight. Bald Eagles can even swim to shore with a heavy fish using their strong wings as paddles. However, it is also possible that they can drown if the fish weighs too much. The Golden Eagle is a large brown and golden colored eagle that can be found in a variety of habitats in the western North America region including mountainous areas, canyons, shrub-land and grasslands. The Golden Eagle can also be found in Europe, Asia and northern Africa. The breeding range in North America includes north central Mexico, the western United States as far east as the Dakotas, Kansas and Texas, also Alaska, and across northern Canada. This bird of prey can weigh up to 15 pounds and can have a wingspan of 6 to 8 feet and a length of 30-40 inches. Females are often more noticeably larger than males as is true with most birds of prey. Young (immature) Eagles have a patch of white on the tail, and the adult tail is gray and brown. The Golden Eagle also builds large their nest out of sticks and twigs in a tree or on a cliff. The female lays 1-4 eggs (usually 2) and often does most of the incubation. The males provide most of the food while the females feed and tend! the