Hawk Roosting Flashcards
Who wrote Hawk Roosting?
Ted Hughes
When was Hawk Roosting written?
1960
What are some context points about Ted Hughes?
- Celebrated English poet
- Spent most of his life in rural areas, enjoyed hunting, fishing and swimming
- Fascinated by animals as a child
- Father was a WW1 veteran, influencing his poetry
- Bird on top of a tree was a Nazi symbol
- Worked at a zoo
What is significant about the title of Hawk Roosting?
Hawk can rest without fear, feels in control
“I sit…
…in the top of the wood, my eyes closed”
“no falsifying…
…dream”
“my hooked…
…head and hooked feet”
“sleep rehearse…
…perfect kills and eat”
“convenience…
…of the high trees!”
“air’s buoyancy…
…and the sun’s ray are of advantage to me”
“earth’s face…
upward for my inspection”
“feet are…
…locked upon the rough bark”
“whole of…
Creation”
“I hold…
…Creation in my foot”
“I kill…
…where I please it is all mine.”
“My manners…
…are tearing off heads-“
“The allotment…
…of death”
“my flight…
…is direct Through”
“No arguments…
…assert my right”
“The sun is…
…behind me.”
“My eye has…
…permitted no change.”
“I am going to…
…keep things like this.”
What is significant about the form of Hawk Roosting?
Dramatic monologue places audience in a powerless position.
What is significant about the structure of Hawk Roosting?
Regular stanzas show how the hawk’s power can even control the poem’s shape. Enjambment and caesura also show the hawk cannot be caged by lines, it stops where and when it wants
What is Hawk Roosting about?
Hughes uses a tyrannical hawk to represent dictatorship within WW2. The bird on top of the tree mirrors the Nazi symbol
