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Poetry - Hawk Roosting
Read the poem carefully before answering the questions.

Poetry - Hawk Roosting

Ted Hughes was a twentieth-century English poet. His work was highly-regarded: he received many awards and much praise for his poetry during his lifetime, and was made Poet Laureate in 1984. Much of his earlier poetry explores the natural world, focussing on its primal, non-romanticised essence. This poem, 'Hawk Roosting', is a good example.

Read the poem slowly, then test your analytical skills with this quiz.

Hawk Roosting

I sit in 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 buoyancy 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 the one 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.

Ted Hughes
 

1.
Who is the 'I' of the first line?
The poet
The hawk
The reader
A murderer
The voice of 'Hawk Roosting' is that of the hawk
2.
What is the hawk doing at the beginning of the poem?
Looking for a kill
Practising flying
Resting
Tearing off heads
Always remember to think about the title and how it relates to the rest of the poem. Here, 'roosting' is what we find the hawk doing at the beginning of the poem; he is in a state of repose
3.
Find examples of the language Hughes uses to express the violent mood of the poem.
Falsifying, rehearse, inspection, sophistry
Kills, lock, tearing, assert
Inaction, revolve, bones, permitted
Buoyancy, rough, direct, right
4.
The mood, while violent, is also one of...
fascination with nature
disgust with the hawk
humour
indifference
The hawk kills because that is its nature. From its 'hooked head' to its 'hooked feet', the hawk is the deathly pinnacle of creation
5.
Looking again at the words which express violence and comparing these with the poem, you will see that it is the images, more than individual words, which fully convey the mood. Which one of the following images does NOT contribute to the violence of the poem?
'It took the whole of Creation / To produce my foot, my each feather'
'Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly --'
'The one path of my flight is direct / Through the bones of the living'
'Now I hold Creation in my foot'
6.
'Juxtaposition' is to place two things / ideas / words side by side in order to invite comparison or contrast. In which line(s) do we find juxtaposition?
Line 1
Lines 10-12
Line 20
Lines 23-24
The hawk, who presents this juxtaposition, seems amused by the thought that 'Creation' formed his foot and that he is now master of creation, holding it in his claw
7.
What is the significance of these words: sophistry, manners, allotment, arguments, assert, right, permitted?
They remind the reader of the hawk's nature
They are words which apply to people, rather than hawks
They reinforce the mood of fascination with nature
Hughes did not intend to use these words - he couldn't think of better choices
8.
Considering the answer to question seven - this is an example of which poetic or literary device?
Simile
Onomatopoeia
Personification
Assonance
Hughes is writing about more than a hawk in nature. The hawk is personified, which will make the reader think about people who have the attitude the hawk has been given in the poem. Who do you think Hughes is referring to here? Killers? Tyrants? The landed gentry throughout history?
9.
Why does the hawk say 'I am going to keep things like this'?
The hawk is aware that things will change
The hawk knows, as the sun is going down, that his death is near
The hawk will remain in the air forever
The way the world works suits the hawk perfectly; the views of his prey do not count
The hawk believes he can stop change; he does not 'permit' change
10.
The hawk believes himself to be...
almighty, all powerful
thoughtful, sophisticated
justified, ready to argue for his rights
ashamed, wanting to change
The hawk's self-image is all powerful, almighty; he views the world, god-like, from on high
Author:  Sheri Smith

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