Hawk roosting Flashcards
Summary
The poem is a dramatic monologue from the perspective of hawk, describing his positioning in the natural world. The hawk can be viewed as a symbol for powerful powerful dictators.
Context
- Ted Hughes lived through dictators such as Hitler and Mussolini, could have influenced poem.
- He grew up in the countryside - surrounded by nature.
- Many people think the hawk is an allegory for human nature and powerful dictators, but Hughes denied it.
Structure/form
-The poem is written in six stanzas of fourth lines each. The strong regular form of the poem contains the irregular and competing elements of rhythm and line length, similar to the way in which the hawk has perfect controls over its violent instincts. Therefore, the form of the poem reflects the hawk’s nature and mirrors his utter control and power.
Themes
- Power
- Nature
- Violence
‘I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed’
- The poem is a dramatic monologue, this first person narrative shows the Hawk is in control.
- The personal pronoun ‘I’ , the possessive determiner ‘my’ and the possessive pronoun ‘mine’ are written twenty one times. The repetition of these words is used to reinforce the self-absorbed and conceited nature of the Hawk.
- The preposition ‘top’ conveys physical height, but also symbolises the powerful position of the hawk and the authority it has.
- The phrase ‘eyes closed’ indicates that the hawk is related and confident in the power it has achieved. Since the hawk is a possible symbol for the powerful figures of authority and dictators, this could be alluding the way in which those in power voluntarily blind themselves to things such as the suffering of others
‘the earth’s face upward for my inspection’
- The hawk’s position of looking down on the earth, hints at a sense of superiority and distance that the hawk’s power creates. The hawk is literally and figuratively looking down on everything, quite haughty.
- The phrase ‘for my inspection’ shows the self-centredness and arrogance of the hawk, it believes the earth has responded to its will so that it can be ‘inspection’.
- The noun ‘inspection’ connotes scrutiny and judgement, suggesting the hawk is looking for faults and issues, an abuse of power. It creates quite a sinister and threatening atmosphere.
‘feet are locked upon the rough bark’
- The harsh consonance sound in ‘locked’ and ‘bark’ emphasis the hawk’s strong grip, and the adjective ‘locked’ highlights the utter control and hold the hawks has over its power.
- The use of the description of ‘feet’ instead of talons or claws shows the hawk’s similarity to humans and further supports the idea that the hawk symbolises dictatorship and human power, or abuse of power.
‘It took the whole of Creation’/’I hold Creation in my foot’
- The capitalisation of the word ‘Creation’ implies that the Hawk is referring to God.
- The ‘whole of creation’ shows the hubris of the hawk and conveys a sense of pride, it took God’s entire effort to make him, that is how special and great he is.
- The hawks holds ‘creation’ in his ‘foot’ which suggests that Hawk thinks he is superior to everything, including God. Could be indicating how people in power see themselves as God-like and are extremely arrogant.
‘I kill where I please because it is all mine.’/’No arguments assert my right’
- The mostly mono-syllabic language creates a sense of control and simplicity, the hawk feels no need to embellish or elaborate on the statement, it is a simple fact in his mind.
- The word ‘because’ shows that the hawk believes his actions are justified - its violent cruel nature is seen as reasonable to the hawk, whereas to the reader it’s quite shocking and unsettling. This shows how the hawk is physically (by being up high) and mentally distanced from his actions and their consequences, there is a disregard for the lives of his prey and a disconnect from what is typically deemed as bad or good. Shows a sense of of delusion and entitlement.
- The phrase ‘my right’ further adds to the sense of entitlement the hawk has.
‘My eye has permitted no change.’
-The phrase shows that change can’t occur unless it is ‘permitted’ by the hawk, showing the hawk’s oppressive nature and in extension, the oppressive nature of power.
‘I am going to keep things like this.’
- The poem ends with a declarative sentence.The declarative sentence is short and direct expressing the hawk’s certainty and confidence in his power, the hawk will allow no change. In terms of higher authority figures, this could be a pessimistic statement, showing that there will be escaping powerful dictators and the way in which they make the world and express their control and power.
- The first sentence of the poem, begins with ‘I’ as does the last sentence of the poem, emphasising the hawk’s arrogance and self-importance, but also mirroring the hawk’s resolution to permit no change, further highlights the hawk’s complete control..
Comparison
-Ozymandias
