Poetry - Hawk Roosting

Question 1

Who wrote Hawk Roosting

Answer 1

Ted Hughes

Question 2

Hawk Roosting context

Answer 2

Ted Hughes (1930-1998) was born in Yorkshire, in the North of England, and grew up in the countryside.
Served in the RAF for two years.
Themes of countryside, human history and mythology therefore already deeply influenced his imagination by the time he started writing poetry as a student.

Question 3

Hawk Roosting structure

Answer 3

Poem has a strong, regular form.
Written in six stanzas of four lines each.
Length of the lines vary, but even the shorter lines still express strong, controlled ideas (e.g. line 21). So the overall effect of the form is to express strength and control.
First two stanzas are about his physical superiority - both in what his body is like and where he can sit.
Stanzas three and four reveal his power of nature, and how he holds everything, including life and death, in his claws.
Final two stanzas form a kind of justification for his actions. He explains why he is not just right because of physical superiority but also the way he acts without deception (and he has the support of the sun to prove it!).

Question 4

Hawk roosting thesis statement

Answer 4

“Hawk Roosting” is an enthropomorphic poem highlighting the superiority of the hawk within the animal kingdom. The key theme of nature and its heirarchy/power is emphasised through figurative language and other poetic techniques which demonstrate the inflated ego and arrogance of the honk itself.

Question 5

‘I sit in the top of the wood’

Answer 5

Extended metaphor - metaphor of authority/power is created and referred to throughout the poem.

Question 6

‘I’
‘my’

Answer 6

Repetition of first person pronouns.
Foregrounds the speaker of the poem being extremely important and self-obsessed.

Question 7

‘hooked head and hooked feet’

Answer 7

Syntactic parallelism:

Sounds intimidating with ‘hooked’ linking to no escape.
The speaker is secure and is fully in place on his pedestal.

Question 8

‘sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat’

Answer 8

Lack of punctuation: creates an uneasy feel to the poem and contrasts against the poem’s overall strict structure.
It highlights that high authority figures do not have to abide by rules or structure; they are above it.

Question 9

‘air’
‘trees’
‘wood’
‘allotment’

Answer 9

Semantic field of nature: evident throughout the poem to show the more natural parts of the world that re at risk of such high power.

Question 10

‘rough’
‘tearing’
‘death’
‘bones’

Answer 10

Semantic field of death/violence: this semantic field contrasts with the semantic field of nature, highlighting the dangers of such high powers.

Question 11

‘earth’s face upward’

Answer 11

Personification - creates the image of people/population being below the authoritative figure, looking up and admiring him.

Question 12

‘Creation’

Answer 12

Capitalisation - Linking to religion and God’s Creation, the speaker seems to put himself above creation and above God.

Question 13

‘the allotment of death’

Answer 13

Metaphor - juxtaposes life (allotment; growth) and death here, highlighting the dangers of such powerful figures and poor decisions they may make.

Question 14

‘I am going to keep things like this’

Answer 14

Declarative sentences - hawk is assertive and confident and will not be challenged.

Question 15

Enjambment throughout the poem

Answer 15

Highlights the continuation of power and questions whether equality will exist.

Question 16

‘Hawk Roosting’

Answer 16

The noun ‘Hawk’ has connotations of being a predator, a killer, and also as having good eye sight.
The term is unnerving as you do not know what the bird will do at any moment, or what it is witnessing and seeing through the powerful vision.
The verb ‘Roosting’ contrasts with this powerful bird, as it connotes rest and comfort.
Sets a nervous tone to the poem and creates an uneasy feel to the natural world.

Question 17

‘fly up, and revolve it all slowly’

Answer 17

Enjambment links the previous line to this one, mirroring the powerful flying ability of the bird.
The verb ‘revolve’ means to circle or orbit, which is discomforting, as it creates an image of entrapment.
The bird has all the power in nature.
Adverb ‘slowly’ sounds sinister and makes the hawk even more intimidating.

Question 18

‘I kill where I please because it is all mine’

Answer 18

Repetition of first person pronoun ‘I’ foregrounds the bird’s power in nature.
Phrase ‘where I please’ suggests that the hawk does exactly what it wants there is no other bird as powerful.
Verb ‘kill’ is direct and heartless; the hawk has no sensitive side - it is a predator and that alone.

Question 19

‘I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed’

Answer 19

The preposition ‘top’ creates the image of authority and powerful figures.
Noun ‘wood’ is an extended metaphor for the world - power is always in place.
Verb phrase ‘eyes closed’ is unnerving and suggests that the governments are pretending to not be watching, but they are in fact watching our every move.

Question 20

‘Now I hold Creation in my foot’

Answer 20

‘Now’ indicates a change of time, an awareness of how power has changed.
The capitalisation of ‘Creation’ is religious and highlights the importance of people and nature.
This is juxtaposed by the personification of the figure holding Creation ‘in my foot’. Despite creation being important, the governments/powerful figures are in charge of it. The noun ‘foot’ is also disturbing - it is hard to secure anything with your foot, so it shows they are well practiced and extremely powerful.

Question 21

‘Face upward for my inspection’

Answer 21

Proposition ‘upward’ creates the image of the population looking upwards at the powerful figure; they are positioned below him.
The first person possessive ‘my’ highlights his authority as he is in control.
The noun ‘inspection’ suggests the figures are looking for faults, thus abusing their power.

Question 22

‘I am going to keep things like this’

Answer 22

The declarative shows the speaker’s certainty in their actions and highlights that governments have their own final say. The sentence is direct and to the point; there is no challenging it whatsoever.

Question 23

‘sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat’

Answer 23

Lack of punctuation here suggests that the destruction is unpredictable and cannot be controlled.
Verbs ‘sleep’, ‘rehearse’, ‘kills’ and ‘eat’ refer to the regular routine of the powerful figure (bird/government); the juxtaposition of ‘kills’ with the more regular everyday verbs such as ‘eat’ and ‘sleep’ shows how natural death/killing is to the figure.
Destruction is shown to be natural.

Question 24

‘I kill where I please because it is all mine’

Answer 24

The quotation suggests that the powerful figure does exactly what they want, when they want.
Verb ‘kill’ is repeated throughout the poem which gives a semantic field of death and creates a disturbing atmosphere, as death is ongoing in the power of this figure.
‘Where I please’ is selfish and shows no emotion at all.