HAWK ROOSTING (Woven words)

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ted Hughes, by name of Edward J. Hughes, (born 1930—died 1998, London), English poet whose most characteristic verse is without sentimentality, emphasizing the cunning and savagery of animal life in harsh, sometimes disjunctive lines. At Pembroke College, Cambridge, he found folklore and anthropology of particular interest, a concern that was reflected in a number of his poems.

1. I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed.
Inaction, no falsifying dream
Between my hooked head and hooked feet:
Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.

2. The convenience of the high trees!
The air's buoyancy and the sun's ray
Are of advantage to me;
And the earth's face upward for my inspection.

3. My feet are locked upon the rough bark.
It took the whole of Creation
To produce my foot, my each feather:
Now I hold Creation in my foot

4. Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly -
I kill where I please because it is all mine.
There is no sophistry in my body:
My manners are tearing off heads -

5. The allotment of death.
For the one path of my flight is direct
Through the bones of the living.
No arguments assert my right:

6. The sun is behind me.
Nothing has changed since I began.
My eye has permitted no change.
I am going to keep things like this.

A roost- is a place where birds or bats can sleep or rest safely. You can use roost to mean the perch that birds stand on while resting, the structure that contains the perch, or even a random tree branch, in the case of a wild bird.

Sophistry - subtly deceptive reasoning
Tearing off heads – it is meant to kill
Buoyancy - enthusiasm

1.     Why is the poem entitled ‘Hawk Roosting’?

The poem is about the speaker, the Hawk, who is looking down from where it is roosting, the highest point in the woods. It is a dramatic monologue in a non-human voice. The Hawk boasts of its superiority and is self-assertive. It is symbolic of we humans who tend do not think beyond what has been defined to us by the society our beyond our perspective. Our ignorance is our bliss as in the case of the Hawk. The Hawk, who narrates its story of how it perceives the world, is personified incarnating it as the most superior of all the beings. The Hawk believes itself to be the centre of the cosmos. The whole poem is from the perspective of the Hawk, the bird of prey.” In this poem Hawk serves as a metaphor. Ted Hughes takes the help of the Hawk to describe his perspective of life. Ted is known for evoking violent imagery and his description of the ultimate battle of survival. In Hawk Roosting, the Hawk goes on blathering about its inherited supremacy and its ignorance is its bliss, which it celebrates.

2.     Comment on the physical features of the hawk highlighted in the poem and their significance.

3.     What are the symbols used in the poem Hawk Roosting?
There is a clear projection of human attributes to the bird, and it can be said that the poem is an implicit satire on a tyrant that the bird represents, and that the hawk is a symbol of in humanity. The hawk appears to be assertive and possessive like a true conqueror.
4. What does the hawk symbolise in this poem?
The Hawk symbolises the use of force and violence to achieve something, rather than using more peaceful or diplomatic methods.

5.     How is the hawk depicted in the poem?

This poem depicts the perfect dominance that a hawk has over creatures. Nature has equipped it with such invincible physical features such as sharp claws and watchful eyes that can look for miles. With these features, the hawk is like a mighty king with unshakable powers. So, it holds the world in its feet.

POEM SUMMARY

In the first stanza of the poem, the Hawk claims to limit the whole of the world between his “hooked head” and “hooked feet”. The Hawk indicates himself to embody the whole of creation and even while he is asleep he “rehearses perfect kills and eats” in his dream.

 In the second stanza the hawk proudly talks about the advantages and the convenient position enjoyed by the hawk bestowed upon him by nature.

In the third stanza, we see the Hawk challenging the God. He flatters himself that “it took the whole of Creation” to design him, his foot, his each and every feather. God has spent all the energy in creating all creature on earth but the hawk feels that they are under his foot. This reveals the arrogant nature of the hawk. Now the roles are reversed and he possesses and exercises his power over the whole world.

In stanza 4 the hawk revolves around the tree slowly and the savage preys on whatever he want to, he kills wherever he wants to because it all belongs to him. He claims that he is not deceptive in nature.

In stanza 5 the hawk says “No arguments assert my right”. Here he presents his supreme power over other animals, as he says that no arguments will be able to diminish his superior rights. The author uses personification to humanize the hawk.

The hawk deals out appropriate deaths, that is the purpose of the unwavering path when it is about to strike 'through the bones', a rather terrifying yet effective phrase. There are no doubts or questions or debate or opinion one way or the other. Fact is fact; it's the whole thing. Nothing can get in the way of the hawk's instinctive actions. It kills without malice; the bird world's permissions are non-existent; environmental guidelines do not apply.

This last stanza sums up the hawk's attitude to life and death. In one sense it is a pure ego that is speaking - undiluted, pure, true to itself. All a hawk needs is the sun. Right now the sun is setting. In the mind of the hawk nothing has changed, nothing ever will change. As long as the hawk has an eye, the all-seeing eye, its will to remain the same shall persist.

 Click here to view the video narration of the poem.