Hawk roosting

• Context for Hawk Roosting:

  • Ted Hughes former poet laureate
  • Grew up surrounded by nature - fascinated by animals - enjoyed hunting and fishing - country pursuits
  • In the poem wants to show nature thinking
  • The poem is written as a dramatic monologue from the point of view of the hawk
• Structure for Hawk Roosting:

  • Free verse could mirror the freedom of the hawk - due to its power/ flying freely
  • Each stanza is a quatrain symbolising the controlling power
• 1st quote: "I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed"

  • Begins with hawk perched on top of tree
  • Bird = apex predator and is personified / given a voice to emphasise its power + entitlement
  • The phrase "in the top" emphasises its superiority (top of food chain) and how it closes its eyes demonstrates its utter confidence
  • Its not threatened by any other animal; its resting and waiting for its next victim
• 2nd quote: "Between my hooked head and hooked feet"

  • The repetition of the adjective "hooked" presents the hawks body as a perfectly designed weapon of attack
  • Birds entire existence is about killing. It is sharp, dangerous and ruthless
• 3rd quote: "It took the whole of creation to produce my foot"

  • The narcissistic tone continues as the hawk boasts how hard God had to work to produce the bird. It is perfection
  • Its ego is emphasised when it claims it now holds creation in its foot. God has submitted to its power and is beneath him. The bird is omnipotent
• 4th quote: "My manner are tearing off heads"

  • The idea of "manners" is juxtaposed with the image of violence in the verb "tearing" This is the code it lives by and it is emotionless when describing it
• Last quote: "My eye has permitted no change"

  • The hawk's sense of delusion is again seen when it claims it can control everything. Nothing will change due to the hawk's power and status as a superior bird of prey