Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, 1830 by Alfred Lord Tennyson

The Owl:
When cats run home and light is come,
And dew is cold upon the ground,
And the far-off stream is dumb,
And the whirring sail goes round,
And the whirring sail goes round:
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.
When merry milkmaids click the latch,
And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch
Twice or thrice his roundelay,
Twice or thrice his roundelay:
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.

Summary: In this poem, ‘The Owl,’ the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson describes
about the owl. The nocturnal owl has an omniscient force who watches and
knows everything in his surroundings. When cats run home, dew is cold upon
the ground, and the sound of windmills goes round, then the white owl sits on a
part of tower and watches everything by using his five senses or powers. When
merry milkmaids close gates and the cock sings a song twice or thrice under the
house roof, then the white owl sits on a part of tower and observes all the things
by using his five wits or senses.

Summary: The poem "The Owl" by Alfred Lord Tennyson is one that can be
interpreted in many different ways. It consists of two, seven lined stanzas. In
the first stanza, Tennyson describes how a cat is coming home. This cat most
likely personifies a person coming home after a long night out. Maybe a
prostitute who has been out working all night and comes home when "dew is
cold upon the ground." This most likely refers to the morning dew that is
evident in humid areas. The "whirring sails" are probably referring to the sound
of windmills, which were everywhere in Europe due to the industrial revolution
taking off at this time. And at the end of this stanza, the "white owl" is just
Tennyson observing everything. The second stanza is basically the same
concept, except it is about a milk maid working all day and at the end of the day
she is still just working and working while the owl, Tennyson, just sits and
observes.
Tennyson uses repetition throughout the poem. For example, "And the
whirring sail goes round" and "Twice or thrice his roundelay" are repeated to
show that the world just keeps moving on while he, the owl, is just an observer
to all the world. Another part of the poem that Tennyson uses is "Alone and
warming his five wits" which most likely refers to Tennyson being a solitary
person observing the world with his "five wits" or five senses.