Hawk Roosting (Ted Hughes)

 

About the Author:

Ted Hughes is consistently described as one of the twentieth century’s greatest English poets. Born August 17th, 1930 in Yorkshire, his family moved to Mexborough when he was seven to run a newspaper and tobacco shop. He attended Mexborough grammar school, and wrote his first poems from the age of fifteen, some of which made their way into the school magazine. Before beginning English studies at Cambridge University (having won a scholarship in 1948), he spent much of his National service time reading and rereading all of Shakespeare. At Cambridge, he 'spent most time reading folklore and Yeat's poems,' and switched from English to Archaeology and Anthropology in his third year.

Introduction:

The poem, “Hawk Roosting” is in the form of a monologue. Through the rapacious hawk, the poet talks about the megalomaniac leaders and power-mongers of our time who ruthlessly destroy fellow human beings in order to maintain their superiority.

The hawk’s closed eyes:

The poem opens and closes with the personal pronoun “I” which is an unmistakable sign of the speaker’s lust for power and self-projection. The hawk is perching on the topmost branch of the tallest tree in the forest. Its eyes are closed, which is probably an indication of the bird’s self-conceit and self-importance. The hawk deliberately refuses to recognize others. The bird’s inaction does not mean that it loves idleness. It reality, the bird, with its eyes closed, is rehearsing and planning how to kill and eat without any trouble.

Nature nurtures the hawk:

It appears that nature collaborates with the hawk. The existence of tall tree on which to perch, the lightness of air, which enables the hawk to fly without much effort, the sun’s rays which falls on the bird and also on the earth – all these natural phenomena are advantageous to the hawk. In addition to all these things, the open surface of the earth provides the hawk a full view of its prey.

The bird’s body:

The bird proudly states that its body is designed in such a way as to enable to pursue its predatory course easily. It is not likely to fall, for its feet are hooked in order to catch the top branches of the tree firmly.  The hawk says that based on the evolutionary theory, it is the highest order in bird’s family. It also says that it may not allow other birds to evolve than it. This is the tall claim that a dictator makes, as he carefully destroys potential rivals not to aspire to his position.

Hawk- a killer bird:

The bird says that it flies up or revolves according to its own whim and fancy. It states proudly that all belongs to it and so it can choose its own time and manner of killing. It does not resort to any sophisticated arguments to justify its destructive acts. Again like a dictator, it says that its business is to “tear off heads” and “the bones of the living”. This in its innate character and it cannot be changed by any force. It thinks that being conditioned by nature it has the ‘right’ to kill and that it need not put forward any arguments in self-defence. It is doing what it is made by nature to do.

The hawk and the dictator:

The hawk says that the sun is behind it. This means literally that the sun is setting. But his could also mean that the hawk rules over natural phenomena  such as such. It also says that the sun may be erratic but is never changes its destructive character of killing prey. Being a killer its eyes are always alert and its action is also swift but careful. This exactly reflects the attitudes of a dictator. To maintain the status, like a hawk, the dictator kills others without nay mercy thinking that nature has provided him with such power. The hawk does not indulge in self-explanation of its killing nature. Like this the dictator also does not feel sorry about any ill-deed that he does to others. The only thing that the hawk and the dictator want is to retain their power in-tact.

Conclusion:

The poet by comparing hawk and dictator, has brought out the philosophy of modern life. The hawk is a natural phenomenon. But a man turned into a dictator when his greediness reaches to pinnacle. He loses his human nature and turns into cruel bird like the hawk which basic duty is killing and eating. The poem states that there will be always ‘a killer and the killed’. Things like this will exist for ever.