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.
Hawk Roosting - meaning Summary
Power Without Restraint
The poem presents a hawk speaking with total confidence in its power. From its high perch, it treats the natural world as arranged for its benefit and sees killing as a direct, unquestioned part of its existence. Its claims to control Creation and prevent change make the bird's voice unsettling, suggesting not only predatory instinct but also an extreme desire for authority and permanence.
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