Hawk Roosting

I sit at 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 bouyancy 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 th eone 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.

1. Find three observations the hawk makes about its world that a human would probably not make. What do these remarks tell us about the bird’s character?

The air’s buoyancy and the sun’s rays are advantage to the hawk, my manners are tearing off heads, the allotment of death and the one path of the hawk’s flight is direct. These remarks tell us that the bird is a mighty hunter and nothing is going to get in his way of attacking and killing his prey.

2. In what ways does Ted Hughes create an unrealistic portrayal of the hawk’s true mental powers? What statements in the poem would an actual hawk be unlikely to make? Do these passages add anything to the poem’s impact? What would be lost if they were omitted


Hughes creates an unrealistic portrayal of the hawk’s true mental powers because he makes the hawk sound as if he is above God, the Creator and that no matter what he is going to get his feast. I believe the hawk wouldn’t recognize where he came from so the statement, “It took the whole of Creation to produce my foot, my each feather; Now I hold Creation in my foot” (Kennedy 654) seems to be unrealistic. This statement has a big impact on the poem because it makes me as the reader think that the hawk thinks he is the supreme being. However, if these statements didn’t exist, then the interpretation of the hawk as a “God” like being would be omitted and the character would lose his portrayal of being strong.

The Hawk Roosting is a poem that portrays a hawk with arrogance and power. The hawk is a vicious predator and he seeks his pray. He believes is the highest point of Creation and those below him on earth are his for the taking. The hawk thinks he is even above the sun when he says, “No arguments assert my right: The sun is behind me. Nothing has changed since I began.” The sun is below him and can’t compare to him. In the end he said that he wanted to keep things like this, who wouldn't want to keep things like what the hawk was saying, with the power in your hands but that is an illusion, like many leaders today they do not have the power to do anything without the approval of those lower than them and in the hawk's case somebody else will replace him and those weaker than him (like the public) may just start defying him.