Poem Hawk's Monologue (Ted Hughes) Summary Imp Qs Ref Explanation

Poem Hawk's Monologue (Ted Hughes) Summary Imp Qs Ref Explanation

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Poem:

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.

Introduction

The poet tells us about the life of a hawk that rules over the air. Actually he is using hawk as a symbol for a dictator. Such a fellow feels that he is all powerful and he can do whatever he likes. But he forgets that in his unlimited power lie the very seeds of his own death and ruin. As a result seemingly great power and strength, he does not at all realize the importance of retreat and one day meets destruction.

Summary

The hawk tells us that it sits in the topmost branches of the trees in a forest. There is a great connection between his beak and claws. These are hooked. It kills its prey during days; it dreams of killing more prey at night.

 

Nature had provided facilities to the hawk such as height of trees, buoyancy of the air and vast spreading earth. Nature has created it specially for the purpose of preying birds and other small creatures. Tearing heads it its habit and it kills whichever bird or creature comes in front of it during its flight. It does not need any argument to assert its right. It is the lord of the air and dreams of keeping the conditions of the world like that for all the times to come.

In-fact, the hawk is a symbol of a dictator (who thinks and feels like a hawk)

Important Questions

Question No 1. Bring out the beauties and delicacies of the poem "Hawk's Monologue" by Ted Hughes. Or Write Critical Appreciation of the poem.

Ans. It is though-provoking poem that tells us symbolically about a dictator. Hawk has been taken as a symbol. Just as a hawk feels it is the sole-ruler of the kingdom of birds, in the same way a dictator becomes power-drunk and feels that he is all-powerful and is always right.

The poet wishes to make us realize about this delusion on the part of the dictator that he has been specially made to rule the world whereas the others have been created to be ruled. Under the cover of the hawk, he lays open/bare before us all the follies of such a fellow.

The theme of the poem is the power and might of the hawk that makes it power-drunk. It always lives in the upper-most branches of the forest-tress. It feels that its curved beak and claws have been made be nature purposefully for preying. The air, the sun and the earth all help it in its job of hunting. It flies freely  and kills any bird it likes. Might is its right and might is right for it. Its target is very exact and precise. It flies directly "through" the body of its prey and doesn't need any argument to assert its right. It finds the sun at its back and intends to hold everything under its rule as it has found it.

This powerful theme of the poem has been put forth in strong and suitable words. The vocabulary is as aggressive as the flight and killing of the hawk. These lines are particularly worth quoting:

For the one path of my flight is direct

Through the bones of living  (lines 18-19)

The imagery of the poem is full of life. We begin seeing hawk ruling over the forest with all its might and destructive powers. The words used are evocative with deep emotion and a hidden strength which becomes manifest as we read/recite the poem aloud. The poem is a very good dramatic romantic lyric in the form of a monologue. It has been written in free verse with no rhyme except in line 3 and 4 that end in "feet" and "eat" (by chance) respectively. The number of syllables vary from 6 to 11 in different lines according to the flow of ideas or images. The poem, however, stands divided in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The words are mostly multi-syllabic, simple but elaborate.

Question No 2. Does the hawk accept the realities of life? Discuss with reference to "Hawk's Monologue" by Ted Hughes.

Ans. The hawk in "Hawk's Monologue" by Ted Hughes does not accept the realities of life. It is living under a continuous illusion. Right from the time it has gained consciousness, it has seen itself above other birds. It has been ruling the forest so to speak. It has seen that nature has never deceived it. The air's buoyancy has always been there to help it. The sun has always given it light. The earth has always presented itself below its feet. Nothing has changed. It has been killing the birds. All these continuities have assured it that its rule and domination over others will go on for ever. But there is one thing to be noted which it never notes. It is that all its powers are granted by God and God can take these whenever He likes. Hawk forgets in its power-drunkenness that it is, after-all, going to die one day.

So we see that the hawk does not accept the realities of life and that serves to take it towards a miserable end.

Questions No 3. Discuss the theme of the poem. Do Hawk's assertions of all powerfulness impress you? If not, why?

Ans. Actually the poem Hawk's Monologue is symbolic. Hawk is a symbol of despotic ruler or a dictator who feels that he has been born to rule the people. The theme of the poem is the delusion of the power-drunk dictator. Such a fellow feels and asserts his all-powerfulness and goes to such advanced limits there remains no place to retreat and he has to die a humble and humiliated death.

The assertions of all-powerfulness of the hawk (i.e., such a dictator) do not impress us at all. We know that no bird (or man) can be all-powerful. Only Allah Almighty is All-Powerful. Man is mortal. He can never be all-powerful.

Question No 4. Discuss the images used by the poet to highlight the grandeur and impact of the Hawk's physical strength and domination over other creatures.

Ans. In the poem Hawk's Monologue we find that the poet Ted Hughes has used many images to highlight the grandeur and impact of the Hawk's physical strength and domination over other craters.

To start with, we find the hawk with eyes closed, but with

"..... no falsifying dream

Between my hooked head and hooked feet."   (line 2-3)

Later on, the hawk boasts that all the conveniences of nature like "air's buoyancy and the sun's rays" are made for it.

"Ans the earth's face upward for my inspection." (line 8)

Still, later on, it tells us that

"It took the whole of creation

To produce my foot, my each feather". (line 10-11)

and as result:

"Now I hold creation in my foot."  (line 12)

There is a very forceful image in the lines:

"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."  (lines 16-19)

There is another powerful image that comes near the end:

"The sun is behind me."  (line 21)

The last two lines close the poem with another powerful assertion:

"My eye has permitted no change

I am going to keep things like this." (lines 23-24)

So we find a whole line of images used by the poet to highlight the grandeur and impact of the Hawk's  physical strength and domination over other creature.

Reference, Context and Explanation:

Lines 1-4: I sit in ... and eat.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from the poem "Hawk's Monologue" by Ted Hughes.

Context:

The poet tells us in this poem about the hawk that is the lord and ruler of all the birds of the forest. The hawk is boasting of its great physical force, precision of attack and over-all rule over the birds. It feels that it would maintain its rule forever.

Explanation:

The poet says that the hawk normally lines in the top branches of the trees in the forest. Sometimes it closes its eyes because it is not doing any work at that time. But it does not see false dreams. At the most it is doing rehearsal of killing and eating its prey during the dream.

Lines 5-8: The convenience ... my inspection.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from the poem "Hawk's Monologue" by Ted Hughes.

Context:

The poet tells us in this poem about the hawk that is the lord and ruler of all the birds of the forest. The hawk is boasting of its great physical force, precision of attack and over-all rule over the birds. It feels that it would maintain its rule forever.

Explanation:

According to the hawk, God has made its life fully convenient. High trees, buoyant air, rays of the sun and the vast surface of the earth _ all these things have been made by God for its convenience. These are all advantageous for it.

Lines 9-12: My feet are ... in my foot.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from the poem "Hawk's Monologue" by Ted Hughes.

Context:

The poet tells us in this poem about the hawk that is the lord and ruler of all the birds of the forest. The hawk is boasting of its great physical force, precision of attack and over-all rule over the birds. It feels that it would maintain its rule forever.

Explanation:

The hawk says that its feet/claws are curved and it can catch hold of the rough trunk of a tree by these. Nature has taken enough care and consideration in making its claws and feathers. It is now so perfect that it can hold any bird [a part of creation] in its feet.

Lines 13-16: Or fly up ... tearing of heads.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from the poem "Hawk's Monologue" by Ted Hughes.

Context:

The poet tells us in this poem about the hawk that is the lord and ruler of all the birds of the forest. The hawk is boasting of its great physical force, precision of attack and over-all rule over the birds. It feels that it would maintain its rule forever.

Explanation:

The hawk says that it can catch any bird or fly up any time at its ease. It can fly fastly as well as slowly at its own sweet will. There is no false reasoning in its body. Its body is perfectly well-adjusted and precise. Its work is to kill the birds at its own will.

Lines 17-20: The allotment ... my right.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from the poem "Hawk's Monologue" by Ted Hughes.

Context:

The poet tells us in this poem about the hawk that is the lord and ruler of all the birds of the forest. The hawk is boasting of its great physical force, precision of attack and over-all rule over the birds. It feels that it would maintain its rule forever.

Explanation:

The hawk says that killing birds and allotting death to them is its job. It flies straight "through" the body of the living birds, killing them all at once in the air at its own sweet will. It need not assert or prove its right. Every bird knows that.

Lines 21-24: The sun is ... things like this.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from the poem "Hawk's Monologue" by Ted Hughes.

Context:

The poet tells us in this poem about the hawk that is the lord and ruler of all the birds of the forest. The hawk is boasting of its great physical force, precision of attack and over-all rule over the birds. It feels that it would maintain its rule forever.

Explanation:

The hawk says that is has all the sources of power and authority at its back. Right from the time of the beginning of its rule over the world of birds, it has never relaxed its rule. It hopes to continue like the same in future. (But here, the hawk is wrong. It will die one day as it is mortal. Its rule is surely to come to an end one day.)