Write a critical estimate on Hawk Roosting

Hughes published a number of animal poems during his long and distinguished literary career;
these were often harsh and vigorous, painting a picture of Nature 'red in tooth and claw'- violent, grim,
and unsentimental, but at the same time remorselessly true to itself. In Hawk Roosting, Hughes uses the
thought-processes of the hawk as a metaphor for the mind of every megalomaniac who ever lived - the
poem resonates with dictatorial phrases and turns of expression. The hawk lives according to the rules of
its own morality ('No arguments assert my right'), in a world where might is right. 'I kill where I please
my right', in a world where might is right. 'I kill where I please because it is all mine' - violent, but also
chillingly insightful. The massive egotism running through the poem is, again, telling in its implications
for the human world. Yet the unstated theme lying underneath the hawk's soliloquy is this that the hawk is
a product of Nature; its 'personality' is (ultimately) dictated by Nature, and hence, somehow, proper to
itself. On the other hand, for human beings, untrammeled power is (Hughes seems to say) twisted and
sick, leading only to tyranny and oppression. A final note: the stark contrast between the imperial majesty
of Tennyson's eagle and the vicious tyranny of Hughes' hawk is striking -using virtually the same basic
image, the two poets paint drastically differing pictures which are, nonetheless, no less true for being
worlds apart in their truth

The hawk sees himself as living a peculiarly singular existence. He has only one purpose in life: to kill and
eat. Even when he is asleep, therefore, he dreams of killing and eating, rehearsing it over and over in his
dreams so that he reaches perfection in his art. There is a very militaristic philosophy about the hawk.
Military generals inspect their troops. Kings inspect their subjects. Tyrants inspect their people. The words of
the hawk also denote a form of ownership. The earth's face is upwards for "his" inspection. He owns the
universe. The universe was created for his purposes and he will inspect it regularly.

The Hawk itself is powerful and in command of the earth below him: 'The convenience of the high trees!
‘He is overjoyed by his power, and asserts his power by saying things such as: 'My manners are tearing off
heads - The allotment of death.'
The hawk is conceited, 'Now I hold Creation in my foot, ' and certain of himself, 'my eyes closed.'
The hawk is at the top of the hierarchical chain that defines nature and how it runs, and seems unmoved by
the fact that he does not need to defend his place on this chain: 'No arguments assert my right: The sun is
behind me.' Furthermore, this word sun gives an image of light and righteousness shining upon the hawk,
creating a shadow of justice covering all creatures below it. It may also relate back to the idea of nature and
how it's rules and laws, no matter how ridiculous they may be, still support his position.

The hawk sees himself as the end point of evolution, as the pinnacle of creation, as the centre of the universe.
Creation has now been given to him to control, and he rules it with his talons, killing whatever attempts to
bring about change by moving. It shows an amazing degree of arrogance, it is the hawk that is actually doing
the turning! But, as Einstein would have said, it's all a matter of relativity. From the earth, it looks as if the
hawk is revolving but from the hawk's vantage point, it looks as if the earth is turning beneath him. Of course,
if the hawk believes he controls the earth, then it is indeed the earth that is turning at his command because
everything obeys the hawk! Manners refer to sophistication in society! Manners are like the suspension in a
car: they make life go by that much more comfortably. But the hawk says there is no sophistry in his body.
Therefore he has no manners! One could interpret "the path of his flight" as meaning "his purpose in life".
The way the hawk sees it, his purpose is to kill. He does not scavenge like the vultures. He eats only living
flesh. His path is therefore “through the bones of the living”.

Like all tyrants, the hawk allows no discussion. He has his rights; no-one else has any rights; and he maintains
this situation by killing all who would disagree. Disagreement, of course, is shown by movement. If the hawk
sees movement, he swoops down and kills. “Change" in this case means simply "movement”. The hawk sits
in a high place, or floats on the air, looking for movement. When he sees it, he swoops down and captures
whatever it was that moved. Even if he misses, there will be no further movement for a long time. Therefore
the hawk claims that nothing changes (there is no movement) and he will ensure that nothing will change in
the future or he will kill whatever is moving and so causing the change.
One usually thinks of water when one thinks of buoyancy. Buoyancy means that one can float. A bird can
also float on the air. Hawks and eagles do this regularly: floating on the air and watching the ground below
for movement. Eagles apparently can lock their wings so that they can float effortlessly.
If the sun is high in the sky, it will hide the hawk . The mouse or shrew on the ground will be blinded by the
rays of the sun and will not see the hawk hovering in the sky above. The mouse moves and, before he knows
what's happening, the hawk has catapulted out of the sun and has captured him.
 The Hawk itself is powerful and in command of the earth below him: 'The convenience of the high trees! '
He is overjoyed by his power, and asserts his power by saying things such as: 'My manners are tearing off
heads - The allotment of death.'
The hawk is conceited, 'Now I hold Creation in my foot, ' and certain of himself, 'my eyes closed.'
The hawk is at the top of the hierarchical chain that defines nature and how it runs, and seems unmoved by
the fact that he does not need to defend his place on this chain: 'No arguments assert my right: The sun is
behind me.' Furthermore, this word sun gives an image of light and righteousness shining upon the hawk,
creating a shadow of justice covering all creatures below it. It may also relate back to the idea of nature and
how it's rules and laws, no matter how ridiculous they may be, still support his position.

The hawk probably means a bit of both. He does not dream false dreams, like you and I do, but only dreams
of killing . On the other hand, he says there will be no falsifying dream between my hooked head and hooked
feet. What is between his hooked head and his hooked feet? The creature that he has just killed! So the
creature had a dream that it could scurry around and forage for food but it was a falsifying dream because that
creature was immediately grabbed by the talons of the hawk and had his head ripped off!
The hawk sees himself as living a peculiarly singular existence , doesn't he? He has only one purpose in life:
to kill and eat . Even when he is asleep, therefore, he dreams of killing and eating , rehearsing it over and over
in his dreams so that he reaches perfection in his art.
There is a very militaristic philosophy about the hawk, isn't there? Military generals inspect their troops.
Kings inspect their subjects. Tyrants inspect their people. The words of the hawk also denote a form of
ownership. The earth's face is upwards for "his" inspection. He owns the universe. The universe was created
for his purposes and he will inspect it regularly .
The hawk sees himself as the end point of evolution, as the pinnacle of creation , as the centre of the universe.
Creation has now been given to him to control, and he rules it with his talons, killing whatever attempts to
bring about change by moving. It shows an amazing degree of arrogance , doesn't it.
It's not creation that's revolving, is it? It's the hawk that is actually doing the turning! But, as Einstein would
have said, it's all a matter of relativity. From the earth, it looks as if the hawk is revolving but from the hawk's
vantage point, it looks as if the earth is turning beneath him. Of course, if the hawk believes he controls the
earth, then it is indeed the earth that is turning at his command because everything obeys the hawk!
Manners refer to sophistication in society! Manners are like the suspension in a car: they make life go by that
much more comfortably. But the hawk says there is no sophistry in his body . Therefore he has no manners!
Can one really call "tearing off heads" as "manners"?

One could interpret "the path of his flight" as meaning "his purpose in life". The way the hawk sees it, his
purpose is to kill. He does not scavenge like the vultures. He eats only living flesh. His path is therefore
through the bones of the living .
Like all tyrants, the hawk allows no discussion . He has his rights; no-one else has any rights; and he
maintains this situation by killing all who would disagree. Disagreement, of course, is shown by movement. If
the hawk sees movement, he swoops down and kills.
Change" in this case means simply "movement" . The hawk sits in a high place, or floats on the air, looking
for movement. When he sees it, he swoops down and captures whatever it was that moved. Even if he misses,
there will be no further movement for a long time. Therefore the hawk claims that nothing changes (there is
no movement) and he will ensure that nothing will change in the future or he will kill whatever is moving and
so causing the change.
When a bird "roosts", it sits comfortably through the night on a branch or other perch, perhaps sleeping."

Hawks and eagles like to sit on high places like the tops of trees or telegraph poles so that they can survey the
world for movement. Movement, of course, means a mouse or a rat is foraging for food. The high place
allows the hawk to sit unnoticed, but he can then dive down with little effort and capture his prey.
One usually thinks of water when one thinks of buoyancy. Buoyancy means that one can float. A bird can
also float on the air. Hawks and eagles do this regularly: floating on the air and watching the ground below
for movement. Eagles apparently can lock their wings so that they can float effortlessly.
If the sun is high in the sky, it will hide the hawk . The mouse or shrew on the ground will be blinded by the
rays of the sun and will not see the hawk hovering in the sky above. The mouse moves and, before he knows
what's happening, the hawk has catapulted out of the sun and has captured him.
The hawk is being pretty arrogant here, is he not? He believes that he controls the universe because anything
that moves is captured and eaten. He captures his prey with his talons which means that, in his mind, he holds
all of creation (i.e. the creatures of this earth) under the control of his feet. Move and you die!

"Change" in this case means simply "movement" . The hawk sits in a high place, or floats on the air, looking
for movement. When he sees it, he swoops down and captures whatever it was that moved. Even if he misses,
there will be no further movement for a long time . Therefore the hawk claims that nothing changes (there is
no movement) and he will ensure that nothing will change in the future or he will kill whatever is moving and
so causing the change.