Study guide
Hawk Roosting by Ted Hughes analysis (Grade 9)
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- WJEC EDUQAS
Indepth notes for the WJEC English Literature (9-1) specification.
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Hawk Roosting by Ted Hughes (P.15)Narrative The poem is written from the perspective of a hawk as he sits at the top of the wood, examining
creation, following his egotistical thought process.
Contexts Hawk Roosting was published in 1960 in a collection of poems about animals and nature called
Lupercal. He worked in the RAF for a while before studying Archaeology and Anthropology at
Cambridge, hence themes of the countryside, human history and mythology were already deeply
imbedded in his imagination. The poem was controversial upon its release as people compared it to a
Fascist dictator, e.g. the symbol of Nazism was an eagle standing on top of a wreath.
Themes Power – At the top of the Fascism – The poet is using Nature – The poem is a pastoral
forest, the bird feels the whole the hawk as a metaphor to poem, using nature to achieve
of the world to be in his power, show the extreme state of means, this being showing the
holding “creation in [his] mind of a human killer or a darker side to nature.
foot”. dictator.
Literary Assonance - The long ‘ee’ sound is found four Extended Metaphor – Through the image of a
Devices times throughout the first stanza (“feet” for hawk dominating the wood with its prowess,
example), which seems to mimic the cry of a Hughes thinly disguises implications of a fascist
hawk, showing the hawk’s self-importance. society ruled by a dictator with “creation in [his]
foot”.
While the death of lesser beings is referred to often across the poem, the writer creates a sense of
isolation in the lack of mention of any direct contact with another creature. This shows the hierarchy
that places him above all else as well as his distance, literally being far high above everything else in
the trees, but being so far removed from the creatures living under his reign.
Key There is a vivid contrast between language such as “inspection” which inject an almost humdrum
Language bureaucratic society run underneath this hawk to blatant references to “tearing off heads” and the
“bones of the living”. This shows the very different sides to the personality of this bird, acting like a
politician. While his intentions are seemingly innocent initially, the intensity increases over the course
of the poem. This contrasts the hawks’ claim to not having “sophistry” in his body and makes it
appear as if he is a liar.
The prowess of the hawk is conveying with The poet describes “the allotment of death”
allusions to a god-like presence. We see this in which shows the extent of the hawk’s control, but
how he describes having “creation in [his] also how he regards death and of miniscule
foot” and how he “kill[s] where I please importance it is to him, being something as
because it is all [his]”. This solidifies him as a ordinary as allotment.
domineering force.
Form and This poem has a strong, regular The length of the lines vary but even the shorter lines convey
Meter form. It is written in six stanzas of strong and controlled ideas, e.g. “The sun in behind me”.
four lines each. This is end-stopped to express strength and control.
Structure The first two stanzas are about the hawk’s physical superiority, describing how the “air’s buoyancy
and the sun’s ray are of advantage” to him. Stanzas three and four express his prowess, detailing
how he “hold[s] creation in [his] foot” and how there is no “sophistry” in his body. The final two
stanzas form a justification for his actions, describing there is not deception behind the way he acts:
“the sun is behind me.”
The structure takes us through different aspects of his though processes and arrives whereit begin,
beginning and ending in lines beginning with ‘I’, underlining the key idea of the poem: that he is a
rule who will continue to rule exactly how he pleases for years to come, supporting his statement that
he will “keep things like this”.
Compare Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley The Prelude by William Wordsworth
s with…
Quotations to remember
I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed. …convenience...
…
And the earth’s face upward for my inspection.
It took the whole of Creation I kill where I please because it is all mine.
To produce my foot, my each feather: There is no sophistry in my body:
Now I hold my Creation in my foot. My manners are tearing off heads –
The allotment of death. ... the bones of the living.
The sun is behind me. My eye has permitted no change.
Nothing has changed since I began. I am going to keep things like this.
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