Hawk Roosting by Ted Hughes (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature)

Language, structure and form revision

What happens in the poem? 

Language: 

• Anthropomorphism

• Imagery

• Metaphor

• Repetition

• Alliteration
  

Form: 

• Dramatic monologue

• Free verse

• Six quatrains

• No regular rhyme scheme

Structure: 

• Enjambment

• Present tense

• End-stopped lines

• Repetition

Stanza One:

• The first-person persona, an anthropomorphised hawk, describes its position at the top of the wood, eyes closed 
  

Stanza Two

• The hawk appreciates its advantageous position in the high trees and views the earth below; the tone is arrogant as if nature is its own domain 

Stanza Three

• It reflects on its creation with a self-reverential tone and claims to hold all of “Creation” in its feet; the biblical allusion here suggests its sense of God-like authority and dominance  

Stanza Four

• The hawk asserts its dominance with a remorseless description of its right to kill

Stanza Five

• The hawk describes its role in the “allotment of death” with ominous precision

Stanza Six:

• The hawk asserts its right to a seemingly timeless domination 

Poems for comparison: 

• ‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley: power, arrogance

• ‘Death of a Naturalist’ by Seamus Heaney: nature

• ‘Mametz Wood’ by Owen Sheers: death

Context: 

The Movement

Animals

Natural world

Themes: 

Nature

Power and arrogance

Death

Themes 

Key quotations

Language, form and structure

Nature 

“I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed.”

“The convenience of the high trees!”

“The allotment of death./For the one path of my flight is direct/Through the bones of the living”

Hughes anthropomorphises the hawk and the use of first-person creates an immediacy and places the reader in the hawk’s position. The opening line establishes the hawk as part of nature yet separate from it. Its closed eyes convey its supreme confidence  

The exclamatory sentence conveys the hawk’s appreciation of its natural surroundings. This portrays nature as a system that the hawk instinctively understands and exploits, reinforcing the theme of nature and survival

The metaphor of death as an “allotment” suggests that it is a natural and necessary part of the cycle of life and death. The stark imagery of “bones of the living” conveys its predatory behaviour. It portrays nature as brutal and unsentimental, challenging a romanticised view of the natural world

Power and arrogance

It took the whole of Creation
/ To produce my foot, my each feather:”

“I kill where I please because it is all mine.”

“I am going to keep things like this.”

The use of hyperbole illustrates the hawk’s arrogance and self-importance, seeing itself as the pinnacle of creation. The reference to “Creation” gives the hawk a god-like status and reinforces the hawk’s perceived supremacy in nature

The poem contains numerous simple, declarative statements which reflect the hawk’s direct and unambiguous perception. The first person conveys the hawk’s self-centredness and the phrase “because it is all mine” is unapologetic and suggests complete dominance and autonomy. The hawk’s attitude reflects the brutal reality of survival in nature

The use of the future tense in this declarative sentence and monosyllabic words allude to the hawk’s arrogance and confidence, conveying an inevitability and determination that reinforces its belief in its own power. The tone is resolute

Death

“My manners are tearing off heads”

“rehearse perfect kills and eat.”

Hughes presents violent imagery in this graphic description of killing. The juxtaposition of “manners” appears to normalise it

The use of the verb “rehearse” implies practice and preparation, suggesting that killing is a skill that the hawk strives to master. It also suggests pride and satisfaction. 

‘Hawk Roosting’ is a poem about death.

Choose one other poem from the anthology in which the poet also writes about death. Compare the way the poet presents death in your chosen poem with the way Ted Hughes presents it in ‘Hawk Roosting’.

In your answer, you should:

• compare the content and structure of the poems — what they are about and how they are organised

• compare how the writers create effects, using appropriate terminology where relevant

• compare the contexts of the poems, and how these may have influenced the ideas in them

Thesis / Essay introduction: Both ‘Hawk Roosting’ by Ted Hughes and ‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Bysshe Shelly explore themes of death and mortality, but they approach the subject from different perspectives. In ‘Hawk Roosting’, the poem depicts death as a necessary and natural aspect of the hawk’s existence. In contrast, in ‘Ozymandias’ the poem explores death through the inevitable decay of the legacy of an ancient kingdom. 

Similarities  

Differences

Both poems portray the inevitability of death within nature’s cycle. In ‘Hawk Roosting’, the hawk accepts death in its daily life. Similarly, in Shelley’s poem, the inevitability of death and decay is demonstrated through the ruined statue of Ozymandias

In Hughes’ poem, the hawk views death as an extension of its power and sees its ability to cause death as a manifestation of its dominance. In contrast, in Shelley’s poem, death is portrayed as a great equaliser, stripping away even the mightiest ruler’s power  

Both poems use a central figure to symbolise the theme of death and decay. In Hughes’ poem, the hawk is a symbol of natural power and predation. Similarly, in Shelley’s poem, the statue of Ozymandias symbolises the inevitable decay of human achievements and the futility of seeking immortality through power and monuments

In ‘Hawk Roosting’ the tone is confident and arrogant as the hawk speaks with pride regarding its mastery over its environment. In contrast, in ‘Ozymandias’ the tone is more reflective and melancholy and its attitude towards death is one of resignation

Both poems explore the concept of legacy in the face of death. In Hughes’ poem, the hawk’s perspective suggests a continuous, unbroken legacy of power: “Nothing has changed since I began”. In Shelley’s poem, the concept of legacy is also demonstrated, albeit ironically, through the ruined statue and its inscription: “Nothing beside remains”.

While the hawk in Hughes’ poem embodies the power of death in the present, Shelley’s poem demonstrates death’s power over time.

Thesis / Essay introduction: Both ‘Hawk Roosting’ and ‘Mametz Wood’ explore the central theme of death but tonally the poems differ widely. In ‘Hawk Roosting’, the poem depicts death as a brutal but necessary and natural aspect of the hawk’s existence. In contrast, Sheers’ poem examines death through the lens of the tragedy of World War One and the poem mourns the senseless loss of life.

Similarities

Differences

Both poems present death as a normalised aspect of existence. In ‘Hawk Roosting’, death is portrayed as an ordinary and routine part of the hawk’s life. In ‘Mametz Wood’ death is portrayed as an unavoidable consequence of war

In ‘Hawk Roosting’, a dramatic monologue, the first-person perspective is that of a predator, characterised by the hawk’s confident and arrogant tone. In contrast,  ‘Mametz Wood’ is narrated from the viewpoint of an observer reflecting on past deaths, resulting in a tone that is sombre and mournful

Both poems use vivid imagery to convey the physical reality of death. In ‘Hawk Roosting’ graphic and violent imagery illustrates the hawk’s act of killing. Similarly, in ‘Mametz Wood’ stark imagery is used to depict the bodies of the dead

In ‘Hawk Roosting’ death is presented as immediate and ongoing with the hawk speaking in the present tense. In contrast, in ‘Mametz Wood’ death is depicted as a past event, exploring the deaths that occurred decades before the poem’s present

Both poems explore the relationship between death and its surroundings. In ‘Hawk Roosting’ the hawk’s environment is intrinsically linked to its role as a predator. In ‘Mametz Wood’, the wood is altered by the presence of death

In ‘Hawk Roosting’, death is depicted from the perspective of an individual, the hawk, whereas, in ‘Mametz Wood’ death is portrayed as a collective experience and the poem focuses on the mass casualties of war