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Ha k roosting

Hawk roosting

This is a dramatic monologue in the character of a hawk. Hughes dramatizes the hawk’s
thoughts and attitudes to the majesty of creation, creating a character of self-focussed, god-
like arrogance, of brutality and beauty. STRUCTURE The structure of the poem is regular,
with verses of four lines each and similar length lines, which create a feeling of tight control,
that adds to the theme of power and perfect balance in the hawk. The punctuation is
equally tight, with many sentences contained within the line, which gives an abrupt, sharp,
controlled feel.

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However, there is some enjambment, which breaks free of the stanza to run across the line
break, as if the hawk can disregard the rules, creating a flowing effect as he lists his powers.
“I sit on the top of the wood, my eyes closed. ” – this is the first line of the poem. The first
word in the poem is a sign that Hughes is writing in first person, this is called a dramatic
monologue. Next, we see the phrase “on top of the wood”. This means literally that the
hawk is sat at the top of the tree. However, it also symbolizes that the hawk is at the top of
the food chain and that it is in control.

Also on the first line, we see the phrase “my eyes closed”. This also literally means that his
eyes are closed, but it also means that he has self-confidence that no one will attack him
and that he is secure. The second line of the first stanza says “inaction, no falsifying dream”.
The phrase “no falsifying dream” means that the hawk doesn’t have any dreams or
ambitions, it just wants to kill. This is not surprising because Hughes often wrote poems
about animals and he was fascinated about animal instinct and this is a good example of
animal instinct.

“Between my hooked head and my hooked feet”. In this line we see Hughes use a well-
known technique known as repetition on the word “hooked”. This is used in this example to
show that it is a violent creature and that it is evolved to kill and to follow its animal instinct.
The final line in the first stanza reads “or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat”. This line has
many meanings, one of which symbolizes again the natural animal instinct of the hawk
because it shows that even when the hawk appears to be resting it is concentrating on its
future kills and its technique.

Also, at the very end of this stanza, we see the phrase “ and eat. ” The full stop at the end of
this phrase is called a caesura. A caesura is a way of making the reader sense of a finished
action, and in this example, is used to show that the eating of the animal is the end of what
the hawk has to do. It can also be interpreted as that the hawk eats its prey quickly without
it knowing anything about it. As we move on to the second stanza, we read “the convenience
of high trees”. This can be read literally as the trees help him hunt because he can see his
prey easier with its amazing eyesight.

However, it could also be read as that he is happy to be at the top of the food chain. The
second line in this stanza mentions the suns buoyancy and the suns rays. This is show that
the hawk believes that everything in nature is there to support it and that it believes it is at
the Centre of the universe. “And the earth’s face upward for my inspection. ” This line shows
that the hawk believes that the earth is looking up at the hawk; showing that the hawk is
most superior in comparison to everything else; even the earth itself.

Also on the final line of this stanza, we see the phrase “earth’s face”. This is an example of
personification because the earth doesn’t actually have a face but Hughes describes the
earth as having a face because it shows that it is looking up at the hawk. The first line in the
third stanza reads, “My feet are locked upon the rough bark”. This means that he is stuck in
the wood up in the tree. However, it can also mean that it is locked inside of his animal
instinct and cannot escape his ambition to kill and eat. “ it took the whole of creation”.

This can be interpreted to represent that god created the hawk and that it took all of god’s
power to create such a perfect and evolved creature. The following line reads “to produce
my foot; my each feather”. This could mean that it took god time and delicacy to create such
a precise animal. Finally, the stanza concludes with the line “now I hold creation in my foot”.
This could have several intended meanings, one of which is that the hawk is now in control
of everything in the world. Another interpretation is that Hughes mentions the word foot.

The foot is the very bottom of the hawk and this could mean that all other creations are at
the bottom and the hawk is at the top of the world. Stanza 4 begins with ‘or fly up and
revolve it slowly”’ This is an example of enjambment. Enjambment is where a sentence in
one stanza carries on into the next stanza. Hughes uses this as a way of showing that the
hawk could do whatever he wanted by offering an alternate solution holding creation in his
foot. Hughes then carries on to say, “I kill where I please because it’s all mine”. This line
shows how the hawk feels in power and again like it is the Centre of the universe.

The first two lines of this stanza are of contrast to the last two of the previous stanza
because the tempo of the previous stanza was building up tension, whereas in stanza 4, we
see Hughes unravel the words in a smooth way by selecting words that ‘roll off of the
tongue ‘. The third and fourth line of this stanza says, “there is no sophistry in my body, my
 manners are tearing off heads”. These two lines are another example of the hawk’s animal
instinct. This is because it means that there is nothing clever or sly about the hawk itself, it
just follows its natural instinct to just be direct, violent and brutal.

In the penultimate stanza, we see Hughes explain to us about “the allotment of death”. The
word allotment basically means giving out; therefore Hughes is trying to say that the hawk is
giving out death to its prey; like it means nothing to the hawk because he is so powerful and
kills on a daily basis. The second line in this stanza links back to the point about the hawk
being under a spell of instinct with the words “direct” and “path”. However, it also has a
deeper meaning. The phrase “my path is direct” could also mean that the aim of his life is to
get to this final place and that place is evolution.

The final line in this stanza is “No arguments asset my right” this could mean that the hawk
doesn’t have to battle or argue with anyone to be at the top and a leader because he is the
most powerful. In the final stanza we see the tempo of the poem slow down to a calm
tempo and the first line starts with “the sun is behind me”. This is a simple sentence that has
two interpretations. One of which is the denotation of that the sun is behind the hawk,
creating a visual aid to the hawk.

Another interpretation is that the hawk believes that the sun is helping the hawk and only
the hawk and it is acting as the hawk’s army. The second line says, “ Nothing has changed
since I began”. Hughes meant this to be as if the hawk is the pinnacle of evolution and that it
cannot become any better than it already is. Finally, the last two lines of the stanza say, “my
eye has permitted no change, I am going to keep it this way. ” This could be interpreted as
meaning that he hasn’t allowed anything to change or anything else to take control of his
kingdom. The phrase “I am going to keep things like this” means that he likes the way that
things are and he is going to keep them.

The use of dramatic monologue is key in this sentence because it shows that it is his
kingdom and is a final example of how the hawk is portrayed to believe that this is his world,
his kingdom and that he is the Centre of the universe. BACKGROUND In the past, Ted
Hughes wrote a lot of poems about animals because they follow their natural instinct unlike
humans, who follow the media and what they have been taught to believe is right and
wrong and that is why his poems has such a strong affect on an influenced audience.
Hughes also admitted although he admired animal instinct, he was also scared by it.

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