english litrature
ANALYSIS OF TED HUGHES “ HAWK ROOSTING”
"Hawk Roosting", published in 1960,is included in Ted Hughes's second book, Lupercal. The Hawk in Ted Hughes' poem "Hawk Roosting" is power personified.The roosting of the hawk signifies its self-assertion. The very first word of the poem "I" is a sign of the Supreme Ego. The hawk declares that he sits on top of the 'wood' that stands for his kingdom. His eyes are closed in oblivion, for at the present, for him, only he exists.
His world is limited between his hooked head and hooked feet. He is in 'inaction'. For action does not define him, rather, he defines action. This is no falsifying dream, a castle built-in the air, but the omnipresent truth. He dreams about "in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat." Therefore, it is not the necessity of killing and eating that concerns him but the style of it.
Thus, the hawk transforms into a metaphor of the supreme arrogance of man where he is haunted by power. It echoes the Faustian endeavor disregarding salvation, and Tughlaq ( Girish Karnad's "Tughlaq") who ventured to become another God. Aziz in the play "Tughlaq" stands as an aspect of Tughlaq when he asserts:" What's the point in raping for sheer lust? That's a mug's game. First one must have power, the authority to rape! Then everything takes on meaning." Just as the hawk avows that, the style of preying on the weak is more significant than the act itself.
The trees are indeed convenient as they are high, enabling him to reach new heights. The air's buoyancy enables him to float in the air; the sun's rays lend him rays of hope. These are all metaphors for circumstances that allow the hawk to stay in the position that he is. His being up, it appears to him as if the earth is laid down for his inspection. The poet affirms here how power is only a matter of perspective. The hawk's narcissistic tendencies are strongly resonated in the lines:
My feet are locked upon the rough bark.
It took the whole of Creation
To
"Hawk Roosting", published in 1960,is included in Ted Hughes's second book, Lupercal. The Hawk in Ted Hughes' poem "Hawk Roosting" is power personified.The roosting of the hawk signifies its self-assertion. The very first word of the poem "I" is a sign of the Supreme Ego. The hawk declares that he sits on top of the 'wood' that stands for his kingdom. His eyes are closed in oblivion, for at the present, for him, only he exists.
His world is limited between his hooked head and hooked feet. He is in 'inaction'. For action does not define him, rather, he defines action. This is no falsifying dream, a castle built-in the air, but the omnipresent truth. He dreams about "in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat." Therefore, it is not the necessity of killing and eating that concerns him but the style of it.
Thus, the hawk transforms into a metaphor of the supreme arrogance of man where he is haunted by power. It echoes the Faustian endeavor disregarding salvation, and Tughlaq ( Girish Karnad's "Tughlaq") who ventured to become another God. Aziz in the play "Tughlaq" stands as an aspect of Tughlaq when he asserts:" What's the point in raping for sheer lust? That's a mug's game. First one must have power, the authority to rape! Then everything takes on meaning." Just as the hawk avows that, the style of preying on the weak is more significant than the act itself.
The trees are indeed convenient as they are high, enabling him to reach new heights. The air's buoyancy enables him to float in the air; the sun's rays lend him rays of hope. These are all metaphors for circumstances that allow the hawk to stay in the position that he is. His being up, it appears to him as if the earth is laid down for his inspection. The poet affirms here how power is only a matter of perspective. The hawk's narcissistic tendencies are strongly resonated in the lines:
My feet are locked upon the rough bark.
It took the whole of Creation
To