Hawk’s Monologue Poem by Ted Hughes | Summary Explanation & Questions

 

HAWK’S MONOLOGUE by Ted Hughes

About the poet

 

 

Summary | Main Idea | Hawk’s Monologue

 

I kill where I please because it is all mine  

l am going to keep things like this.

 

He only worships the false image of power. He is unable to judge the temporary power, like a cruel dictator. The tragic end is wrapped in his passion to rule others. He makes a false judgment.

that he is unchallenged in his authority and power.

Reference to Context and Explanation

Lines 1-4

I sit on 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.

Reference

 

Context

 

Explanation

 

In these lines, the hawk tells us about his hypocritical and cruel nature. He says that he is sitting on the branch of a tree. His eyes are closed but he is not misguided by his false dreams. 

 

He is observing all things in his dreams. Even in his dreams, his hooked beak and claws go on rehearsing the act of killing other birds. He is a master in his art of killing other birds.

 

Lines 5-8

The convenience of the high trees;

The air’s buoyancy and the sun’s rays

Are an advantage to me,

And the earth’s face upward for my inspection.

Reference and Context

 

Same as for lines 1-4

Explanation

 

In these lines, the hawk shows himself superior to other creatures. He thinks that he is the lord of everything. Nature has provided him with many advantages for his plunderers’ activities. 

 

He says that the tall trees in the forest, the buoyant air, the rays of the sun, and the vast surface of the earth all have been created for his convenience. Owing to these facilities he can easily locate, control, and hunt his prey. He enjoys all these comforts fully.

 

Lines 9-12

 

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.

Reference and Context

 

Same as for lines 1-4

Explanation

 

In these lines, the hawk considers himself the best creature of God. God has gifted him the power to kill and destroy the other birds. Hawk himself asserts that his feet are firmly fixed upon a rough trunk of a tree. 

 

He further says that the services of the entire creation were used to produce his feet and each of his wings. He is the ruler of all creations. Allah Almighty has paid special attention to make each part of his body. His feathers are also very strong like his feet. There is no flaw in any part of his body.

 

Lines 13-16

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

Reference and Context

 

Same as for lines 1-4

Explanation

 

In these lines, the hawk tells us that when he flies, the whole universe revolves around him. He can fly fast or slow, as he likes. He is the lord of his territory. 

 

He can kill his prey when and where he likes. Nobody can guess his supernatural kind of power. There is no defect in his body. He is perfectly made. His sole purpose is to kill and tear the other birds whenever he likes.

 

Lines 17-20

 

The allotment of death.

For the one path of my flight is direct

Through the bones of the living.

No arquments assert my riqht:

Reference and Context

 

Same as for lines 1-4

Explanation

 

In these lines, the hawk says that his only job is to allot death to any bird. He can kill the bird of his choice without being challenged by anyone. For this purpose, he flies straight through the body of his prey and kills it at once.

 

Whenever he flies in the air, he tries to make his path through the bones and flesh of the living creatures. This is his fundamental right which God has allotted him. Nobody can argue against this right.

 

Lines 21-24

 

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.

Reference and Context

 

Same as for lines 1-4

Explanation

 

In these lines, the poet describes the boastful nature of the hawk. The hawk thinks and considers himself the sovereign lord of this world. He is actually a power-drunk. He considers that the sun is behind his back. The sun provides him light to capture his prey. 

 

It guides his sharp eyes to mark his prey and hunt it as easily as possible. He does not like any change in the world. He wants to continue to keep things in the same manner. He does not allow any revolution against his sovereign rule. Even

he thinks natural objects like the sun, must be under his control.

 

 

Important Questions and their Answers

Question 1

 

Discuss the theme of the poem Hawk’s Monologue by Ted Huges.

Answer

 

In spite of being the crown of creation man has some malevolent traits which quite artistically presented by Ted Hughes In his wonderful poem Hawk’s Monologue. 

 

The poem is a metaphorical representation of tyranny, arrogance, destructiveness, Conceitedness, superiority, egotistical attitude, and obsession with the power and inhumanity of the man. All the destruction in the world is just because of man all the above-mentioned evils.

 

Power drunken man kills and destroys everything that comes in his way, like the Hawk who kills and preys innocent birds and other creatures to satisfy his hunger. The theme of destruction is all-pervasive in the poem.

 

Man’s desire to gain utmost power has made him a tyrant and arrogant. Such as in this poem Hawks claims great power and dominance. He says Now I hold

Creation in my foot. Arrogance and conceited attitude of man are also some of the dominant themes of the poem. 

 

The Hawk claims that God has designed this world and its all things for its purpose

so as a man. Mortality is another dominant theme in the poem. The death is personified by Hawk. Such as Hawk ruthlessly tears off and beheads the innocent creatures so as death is cruel, merciless.  I kill wherever I wish.

 

The poem is not a simple monologue of a cruel bird rather it is a manifestation of the cruel force of nature in the face of the man and his inhuman desires. Man’s lust for power and dominance made him a tyrant who knows nothing except perfect control over the world.

 

Question 2

 

Can we say that Hawk’s Monologue is the assertion of a power-drunk ruler.

 

How has the poem presented hawk as a symbol of power, strength, and destructiveness?

 

How would you comment on hawk’s claim? Now I hold Creation in my

foot?

 

Answer

 

The poem is a dramatic monologue in which a Hawk talks to himself. He considers himself a symbol of power. He has grown old but he still considers himself powerful. He says that he still grips the branch of the tree with all his might. 

 

His work according to him is cutting off heads from bodies. He thinks he can kill any bird around him and he has the right to do so. He thinks he is blessed with sharp and powerful paws. He considers himself master of all-natural objects.

 

The poem is a symbolic poem. The hawk may be a symbol of a dictator. A dictator

thinks that he has all powers. He can do what he wants. He considers himself the owner of black and white. He argues that all things happen and should happen according to his will.

 

He is of the opinion that he can kill others for nothing and there is nobody to ask him. He is above accountability and has the power to make laws of his own choice. Hawk as a dictator has so many similarities between them. A dictator kills his opponents without any reason like a hawk. 

 

He rules his country in a way he desires like a hawk flies high in the sky like a king. He has limitless powers like a king. Both have the false notion that there would be no change in their powers. 

 

The poem ends with the fact that as hawk himself that he is still young and powerful the dictator also feels that he will remain powerful all his life. But there is a decline in everything. A dictator will no more be in power he will have to lose his powers one day.

 

Question 3

 

Answer

 

Question 4

Answer