Hawk Roosting by Ted Hughes
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.
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.
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
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 -
The allotment of death.
For the one path of my flight is direct
Through the bones of the living.
No arguments assert my right:
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.
INTRODUCTION -
"Hawk Roosting" is a famous poem written by English poet, Ted Hughes. It was published in 1960 in his second poetry collection, Lupercal. The poem consists of 24 lines which are divided into six quatrains. The poem is written in free verse and does not have a fixed rhyme scheme. "Hawk Roosting" is one of those poems which explore the animal world. The speaker of the poem is the bird, the hawk itself. The hawk is given the power of speech and thought. Hence, it describes its emotions of power, authority, and violence. The hawk views itself as supreme and considers everything else beneath it. However, it doesn't consider it wrong morally as this is a part of its nature.
POET -
Ted Hughes (17 August 1930 - 28 October 1998) was considered as one of the prominent English poets of the twentieth century. He was not only a famous poet but also a translator and a children's story writer. He married the famous American poet, Sylvia Plath. He was appointed the Poet Laureate in 1984. His work usually carries animal imageries showing animals with human feelings and emotions. His most popular works include Lupercal, Cave Birds, Flowers, and Insects, etc.
SUMMARY -
The poem starts with the hawk's speech. He uses the word, 'I' to define his importance. The hawk sits on the top of a tree and shuts his eyes. He is not doing anything - he is not holding any dreams in between his curved beak and his curved talons on his claws. He further says that even in his sleep, he dreams about killing his prey perfectly and then eating them.
The trees are tall and high according to his suitability as he needs a high throne. Even the buoyancy of air helps him in floating through the sky and the sun's rays help him catch his prey better. They are all suited to match his way of life helping him furthermore. In his vanity, he further states that the earth is faced upwards so that he can inspect it according to his needs and find his prey easily. We can simply say that the hawk is too full of himself.
His feet are tightly clawed in the tree's rough bark which shows its hold on its position in the tall trees. The hawk considers himself unique. He says that it took a million years or maybe all eternity, to create his body - his feet, his feathers, etc. The whole creation has worked hard to create the masterpiece that is him. But now everything is different because he has become all-powerful and is himself holding all this creation in his feet. He rules over them all.
Sometimes, he flies high in the sky and revolves around the earth in slow circles taking a clear view f everything. He kills when he finds a prey and has no remorse for it as the prey was his to kill. The whole world belongs to him. He doesn't use any sweet talks or false logic to prove his deeds worth. Because, according to him, politeness is ripping off the heads of its prey. No one can question his deeds.
He is the devil himself who allots death. The path of his flight is direct and in a straight line but whatever living being dares to cross its path is met with its death. He has the power to take away lives without a second thought. This is his right and no logical explanations can prove or are needed to condemn his actions.
The hawk flies between the sun and the earth, acting as a barrier. The power of the hawk is not limited to just the earthly beings but it even has some control over the sun. It has always been this way. He has not allowed anything to change. Since he is the most powerful, all things need his permission to change. But he has decided not to let things change. Everything will remain as it is just like his supremacy.
THEME -
- Nature and Violence - The hawk is a symbol of both nature and violence. Being one of the greatest birds of prey, it lacks human qualities like mercy and remorse but portrays other qualities of bloodlust and control. The emotions of the hawk are a deeper meditation about nature, which the poem presents as both majestic and fearsome. The hawk is a killer and the poet has done full justice in showing it. The thinking of killing and violence is an integral part of nature that describes the hawks’ attitude and personality.
END -
We can say the hawk is a symbol of pride, arrogance, and cruelty - all the qualities of a dictator. It reminds us of dictators like Hitler and Mussolini who too considered themselves supreme and wanted to single-handedly rule over others. The hawk has an air of authority, looking down on the world from its high resting point in the trees and feeling like everything belongs to it. The poem brings out the instincts, attitudes, and behaviors of such a gruesome creature.
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