Hawk Roosting Flashcards
(13 cards)
Context
Written by Ted Hughes
Published in 1960
Written as dramatic monologue from viewpoint of hawk
He was part of The Movement in British poetry, a literary group from the 1950s-60s, which rejected the ornate language celebrated by Romantic poets in favour of more direct language:
Poems for comparison
Ozymandias
Death of a Naturalist
Themes
Nature
Power and arrogance
Death
O.i.s.r.p.k.a.e
Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.
- Strong instincts + need for power - even in sleep
- Rehearsed strength
- Constant pursuit of killing
- Uninterrupted dominance
- Triplet structure - unpreventable advancement
- Natural cycle of killing
A.t.e.f.u.f.m.i
And the earth’s face upward for my inspection.
- Not violent quote - quiet control and dominance via observation / his power is known
- Personification of earth - earth is commanded by hawk
- Hawk is above earth - physically + symbolically - hawk flies above + dominance ( hierarchy )
- Judgement + control - has right to examine world
- Tyrannical mindset
- Cold tone - not about fairness, about authority
I.t.t.w.o.C./T.p.m.f,m.e.f
It took the whole of Creation
/ To produce my foot, my each feather:”
- Repetition of “my” - dominance + ownership
- All effort from world has been put into creation of hawk
- Hawk is peak creation of nature
- Godlike importance - Hawk
- Massive ego - universe serves hawk
- Enjambment - sense of long, unstoppable process / chain of evolution
- Holds life or death in his hands
I.k.w.i.p.b.i.i.a.m
I kill where I please because it is all mine.
- Hawk claims right to kill due to only authority - no moral reasoning
- Tyrannical mindset - can kill whatever as it is in his world - everything belongs to him
- doesn’t take accountability for actions
- doesn’t see wrong in his actions - short blunt sentence - unapologetic
- Poses he has natural right to kill - inherent
- Apex predator - right to kill
- Nature can also be hierarchal + merciless
- Caesura - pause after please - satisfaction
- Monosyllabic
T.i.n.s.i.m.b
There is no sophistry in my body
- Hawk isnt manipulative, authority is direct + apparent
- Powerful noun emphasizes arrogance
- Hawk abuses power to kill more
- Similar to hitler + other dictators - use power to get what they want, not whats in interest of the people and country - significant as hughes grew up in ww2
T.s.i.b.m
The sun is behind me.
- “Behind” - double meaning:
- Sun supports him - so powerful that even sun supports -
center of natural world
- Sun is less powerful, Hawk has more power - arrogance +
narcissism - divine monarch
I.a.g.t.k.t.l.t
I am going to keep things like this.
- King of animal kingdom
- Last line - gives hawk last word - reinforces power + no room for change - resistance to change
- Last line - highlights irriversible course of nature and hierarchal structure
- Closure without resolution - hughes disagreement with romanticised view of nature, this is harsh reality
Language
Personification - gives Hawk a voice
Repetition of “i” + “my” - emphasises hawk dominance
Blunt + monosyllbaic - brutal instincts + nature of hawk
Short sentences - hawks confidence
Structure
Enjambent + end-stopped lines - balance between streaming thoughts + bold statemnts - represents birds flight.
Form
Free verse - mirrors hawks autonomy + rawness of nature
first person dramatic monologue - inside hawks thoughts
