Eagle, heavenly circuits and hidden reasons

Meaning

The eagle with a fixed eye figures the intellect’s confident contemplation of the heavens. Philon moves from the speed of thought to the observation of celestial circuits and the hidden reasons of seasonal change. The yellowing or golden sun, Soleil jaunissant, and pale moon, Lune blafarde, retain the poem’s visual contrasts rather than becoming interchangeable astronomical labels. Flight and vision are figures of inquiry; the poem does not assert a literal ascent of the observer to the stars. Its occult reasons are causes to be understood, not a licence to replace careful observation with arbitrary symbolism.