Hawks
'Hawk
Roosting' is a poem written by Ted Hughes was published in 1960. The poem is written
from the perspective of Hawk, who reflect on its power and superiority over the
other creatures in the natural world.
As the main character of the poem, the
hawk is proud of its supremacy over all God's creatures. The hawk is sitting in
a tree, thinking about his prey. His eyes are closed. He is sitting idle,
but he claims that he knows his actions well. His hooked head and the hooked
feat never forget to prey on their victim, even when they are inactive. They can
hunt, kill, and eat in sleep as well.
The hawk claims that his power never
ended. He stands on a higher tree than the other birds. Unlike God's other creations, he receives the sun's rays and enjoys the pleasant impact of the air. The earth also helps him find his prey. He claims that he is at the peak of all creation. His every foot and each feather are fashioned by God with
extreme care and beauty.
He has the ability and authority to assassinate anything, anywhere. It is his habit to tear off the heads of his victims.
He is merciless and inhuman. His way is full of bones and dead bodies. The hawk goes on to declare that nothing will change. He has been going on
with his destructive activities for centuries. His eye has permitted no change.
He further says that his flight is
incomplete if he does not kill others. Nobody is there to deprive him of his
right. Apparently, his powerful eyes have changed things to his disadvantages,
and he will face difficulties as a result.
It is written as a dramatic monologue, narrated from the perspective of a hawk. Hughes' poem has no established rhyme structure and is written in free verse. Tone of the poem is confident and arrogant. This poem take place in a forest, where the hawk lives.
The literary devices in the poem are:
First line serves as a metaphor to
demonstrate that the Hawk occupies the highest place in the “wood”, similar to
a king within his palace.
Hughes uses a metaphor to
describe how the hawk feels about his surroundings: "And the earth's face
upward for my inspection."
Personification: The hawk personifies humans and superiority by saying
"hooked" and "feet."
Metonymy:
Here, "hooked head" and
"hooked feet" are metonymic expressions. The term "hooked"
metonymically represents the sharp and curved features of the hawk's beak and
talons. Between my hooked head and hooked feet"
Allusion: Hughes uses "Creation" to describe God.
Imagery: The hawk's kill is known by "the allotment of death."
The hawk incorporates hyperbole to show its status at the top of the hierarchy. For example, the hawk says:
"It took the whole of Creation
To produce my foot, each feather.
HYPERBOLE: Hawk reveal himself as something more than human: godlike, with
the sun behind him and his halo.
Symbolism: The hawk can be seen as a symbol
of nature's brutality.
The hawk's "manners"
represent its cruel and cold nature.
The fact that the hawk sits "in
the top of the wood," represents hawk's superiority over all other creatures.
Allegory: The symbol of the Hawk in the poem represents birds of prey and, allegorically, political rulers throughout history. Who has the
authority to kill anything, anywhere.
In conclusion, The major
theme of the poem is Nature and Violence, how the hawk is a part of nature but
his mind is filled with violence as he wants to harm the other creatures of
nature. It also explores both sides of nature and how the natural world can be both beautiful and destructive.
