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| Sunday, 18 September 2005 |
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A/L English Literature Made Easy - Poetry
Hawk Roosting - Ted Hughes Hughes was fascinated by writing 'animal poems'. He published a number of such poems. "harsh and vigorous a picture of nature red in tooth and claw violent, grim and unsentimental but at the same time remorselessly true to itself".
No arguments assert my right I kill where please because it is all mine violent and chillingly insightful. The mighty "egoism" alive in the poem, announcing to the world in an implicating manner. The hawk's soliloqely carries a hidden truth that the hawk is "a product of Nature", everything in the hawk's 'personality' is drafted by nature and is accustomed to itself. Maybe, Hughes is highlighting the fact that human beings possessing extreme power leads to tyranny and "oppression." When the hawk says: No sophistry in my body No arguments assert my right I kill where I please because it is mine creates the image of a tyrant possessing extreme power. The hawk's attitude to himself is clearly portrayed in "It took the whole of creation To produce my foot, my each feather Now I hold creation in my foot." The hawk, may not realise the reason for such power being conveyed. It could be an illusion. The poet's reference to the "falsifying dream" could be applied to human beings who passess 'falsifying dreams' for hawks or any other beast do not have dreams or 'imaginative insight'. Hughes seems to criticise the people who have the hawk's nature - "falsifying dreams". The hawk's qualities as a predator, compared with the evil attitudes of human beings possessed with extreme power. The hawk may represent or epitomize "Power and Force" in an ironic manner. Hughes seems to be "glorifying fascism". Some critics read the poem as a metaphor for a disease of some sort. May be a deadly disease like cancer "The cancer cell is quietly sleeping but can if it wishes take control and kill. It is all powerful." The tyrannical quality inherent in the hawk seems to remain unmoved, unchanged and uncontrolled. "I am going to keep things like this." The poet seems to highlight the theme of the poem, violence being enhanced and epitomized by the character of the hawk and the poem is in the style and characteristics of a monologue, effectively produced. The characterisation and the development of the ideas being remarkable maintaining the simplicity, sternness, and delicateness. The hawk's attitude to himself, portraying his own characteristics, is clearly emphasised by the poet. "It took the whole of creation To produce my foot, my each feather Now I hold creation in my foot There is no sophistry in my body My manners are tearing off heads" bring to limelight the ferocious actions and modes of this luge bird, as a predator and the "ways of mankind", blown up with unlimited power. The last stanza symbolizes the intentions of the hawk, to keep up to the intense power vested on him. 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. The hawk may not have a conscience; hence getting succumbed to temptations, but in human beings conscience could stop a man from gaining personal gains by means of corrupt or inhuman procedure. "mindless violence, brute force and big-chested brutality" are being looked down upon and criticised by the poet in an effective manner. The allotment of death For the one path of my flight is direct Through the bones of the living No arguments assert my right This stanza five is a symbol of excessive power, mysterious nature and the domineering qualities bestowed upon this giant of a bird - the hawk. There's a contrast between the "majestic appearance" of Tennyson's 'EAGLE' and the "vicious tyranny of Hughes 'HAWK' though both these birds possess the "same basic image". The two poets build up the images of the EAGLE and the HAWK in the form of a verse with elegant wording,picturesque impressive and penetrating. Hughe's HAWK symbolizing the inhuman qualities possessed by a dictator with unlimited power. The whole poem consists of six stanzas. The poet has used simple diction, the words elaborating the ideas expressed to build up the terrific visual image of the HAWK. Mrs. C. Ekanayake, Retd. Specialist Teacher Eng.Lit., St. Anne's College, Kurunegala. |
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In this poem "Hawk Roosting", he has used the "thought process" of the
hawk and it stands as a metaphor for the mind of "every megalomaniac who
ever lived". This poem is full of dictatorial phrases highlighting the
fact that a hawk lives according to his own rules, in the model of a
dictator. 
