The Dove-breeder
Love struck into his life Like a hawk into a dovecote. What a cry went up! Every gentle pedigree dove Blindly clattered and beat, And the mild-mannered dove-breeder Shrieked at that raider. He might well wring his hands And let his tears drop: He will win no more prizes With fantails of pouters, (After all these years Through third, up through second places Till they were all world beaters...) Yet he soon dried his tears Now he rides the morning mist With a big-eyed hawk on his fist.
The Dove-breeder - meaning Summary
Love as Fierce Transformation
The poem presents love as a violent, transformative force. It first destroys the dove-breeder's orderly world of gentle, prize-winning birds, leaving him shocked and grieving for what he has lost. Yet the ending shows a change rather than simple defeat: he accepts the hawk and joins its freer, fiercer life. Love replaces safety, routine, and status with a more dangerous vitality.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.