Complete Summary and Solutions for Hawk Roosting – Woven Words Class XI English (Elective), Poetry Chapter 7 – Explanation, Analysis, Questions, Answers
Detailed explanation and summary of Chapter 7 ‘Hawk Roosting’ from the Woven Words English Elective textbook for Class XI, including poetic analysis, themes, literary devices, interpretation, and complete solutions to all NCERT questions and exercises.
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Hawk Roosting
Ted Hughes | Woven Words Poems - Ultimate Study Guide 2025
Introduction to Poetry - Woven Words
Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language—such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, a prosaic ostensible meaning. It may use condensed or compressed verse or prose to convey emotion or ideas unusually or in an unusual way.
In the Woven Words collection, poems like 'Hawk Roosting' explore nature, power, and human parallels through vivid imagery and monologue. This poem, a dramatic monologue from the hawk's perspective, embodies Hughes' fascination with animals as primal forces, shocking with violent images and intense language.
The poem differs from prose in its economy and intensity, allowing complex ideas in few lines, much like the hawk's unyielding grip on creation.
Key Elements
- Forms: Monologue, free verse, imagery-driven.
- Themes: Power, nature's brutality, human-animal parallels.
- Devices: Personification, enjambment, rhetorical assertions.
- Economy: Concise lines pack philosophical depth.
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Author: Ted Hughes (1930–1998)
Ted Hughes completed his education at Pembroke College, Cambridge. In 1956, he married the poet Sylvia Plath. He tried to make a living in America by teaching and writing. Finally, he returned to England.
The most remarkable quality of Hughes’ poems is an intense and obsessive fascination with the world of birds and animals; and though essentially about birds, animals and fishes, his poems shock us with unusual phrases and violent images.
Major Works
- The Hawk in the Rain (1957)
- Crow (1970)
- Poet Laureate (1984–1998)
Key Themes
- Primal nature and violence
- Animal consciousness and power
- Mythic, elemental forces
Style
Raw, visceral; dramatic monologues anthropomorphize nature's ferocity.
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Full Poem Text: Hawk Roosting
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Poem Summary: English & Hindi (Detailed Overview)
English Summary (Approx. 1 Page)
In this dramatic monologue, the hawk perches atop a tree, eyes closed in poised inaction, dreaming of flawless kills. It revels in nature's design favoring its supremacy: high trees for vantage, buoyant air and sun for flight, earth's face for scrutiny. The hawk's talons grip the bark, embodying Creation's pinnacle—its foot and feathers the fruits of cosmic effort, now clutching the world below.
Ascending, it surveys its domain, killing at will without deceit; its body knows no sophistry, only raw tearing of heads. Death is its ordained portion, its flight slicing straight through life's bones, unchallenged by arguments. Backed by the unchanging sun, the hawk decrees stasis: no evolution permitted under its gaze, vowing eternal dominion.
Hughes anthropomorphizes the hawk as a tyrannical god, critiquing unyielding power and natural brutality.
हिंदी सारांश (संक्षिप्त)
यह नाटकीय एकालाप में, बाज़ पेड़ की चोटी पर आँखें बंद करके विराजमान है, निष्क्रियता में, निर्दोष हत्याओं का सपना देखते हुए। यह प्रकृति के डिज़ाइन में अपनी सर्वोच्चता का आनंद लेता है: ऊँचे पेड़ नज़ारे के लिए, हवा की उछाल और सूरज की किरण उड़ान के लिए, पृथ्वी का चेहरा जांच के लिए। बाज़ के पंजे खुरदरी छाल पर जकड़े हैं, सृष्टि का चरम दर्शाते—इसका पंजा और पंख ब्रह्मांडीय प्रयास के फल, अब नीचे की दुनिया को थामे।
उड़कर, यह अपने क्षेत्र का सर्वेक्षण करता, इच्छानुसार मारता बिना छल; इसका शरीर कोई तर्कसंगतता नहीं जानता, केवल सिर फाड़ना। मृत्यु इसका निर्धारित भाग, उड़ान जीवन की हड्डियों से सीधी काटती, बिना विवाद। सूरज पीछे, बाज़ स्थिरता घोषित करता: कोई परिवर्तन नहीं, शाश्वत प्रभुत्व की प्रतिज्ञा। ह्यूज़ बाज़ को अत्याचारी देवता के रूप में मानवीकृत करते, प्राकृतिक क्रूरता की आलोचना।
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Interpretation & Themes
Overview
The poem interprets the hawk as an emblem of absolute power and natural law, its monologue revealing a fascist-like certainty. Themes include dominance over creation, rejection of change, and the brutal honesty of instinct versus human sophistry.
Core Themes
- Power & Tyranny: Hawk as god-king, holding "Creation in my foot."
- Nature's Brutality: "Tearing off heads," direct flight "through the bones."
- Stasis vs. Evolution: "Nothing has changed... I am going to keep things like this."
- Human Parallels: Predatory instincts mirroring aggression, imperialism.
Points to Ponder
- Symbolism: Hooked head/feet = predatory perfection; sun = unchanging authority.
- Tone: Arrogant, declarative—hawk's voice unapologetic.
- Cultural Insight: Hughes' eco-critique: Nature's violence as mirror to human hubris.
Tip: Note enjambment mimicking hawk's seamless control.
Understanding the Poem
1. Comment on the physical features of the hawk highlighted in the poem and their significance.
- The hawk's "hooked head and hooked feet" signify predatory precision—curved for killing and gripping, embodying nature's efficient design for dominance. These features frame its "inaction," a coiled readiness, contrasting falsifying dreams with instinctive perfection.
- "Feet... locked upon the rough bark" and "each feather" highlight evolutionary culmination: Creation's labor distilled into tools of control, allowing it to "hold Creation in my foot." This underscores the hawk's centrality, its body a microcosm of cosmic purpose.
- Significance: Physical traits anthropomorphize the hawk as invincible ruler, critiquing unchecked power; they enable surveillance ("earth’s face upward") and execution ("tearing off heads"), symbolizing raw, unmediated authority in Hughes' animal-centric worldview.
2. How does the poem emphasise the physical prowess of the hawk?
- Through environmental mastery: High trees, "air’s buoyancy," and "sun’s ray" are "of advantage," positioning the hawk as evolution's beneficiary, its flight revolving "it all slowly" for total oversight.
- Corporeal supremacy: The foot, product of "the whole of Creation," grips bark and world alike; feathers enable effortless kills, with no "sophistry" in its body—pure, direct force.
- Emphasis via monologue: Assertions like "I kill where I please" and flight "direct / Through the bones" portray unyielding strength, free of moral qualms, elevating physicality to philosophical invincibility.
3. ‘There is no sophistry in my body’—this statement expresses the brutal frankness of the hawk. Does the poet suggest something through this statement?
- The line contrasts animal instinct with human rationalization: "Sophistry" implies deceitful logic, absent in the hawk's primal "manners... tearing off heads," highlighting nature's honest brutality.
- Hughes suggests critique of humanity: Our "arguments assert [no] right," unlike the hawk's innate entitlement, implying civilized sophistry masks predatory drives—wars, exploitation as veiled "kills."
- Broader implication: Poet envies/envisions animal purity, yet warns of its tyrannical potential, urging reflection on power's corrupting simplicity.
4. ‘Now I hold Creation in my foot’—explain the centrality of this assertion in the poem. What makes the hawk’s assertion of its invincibility so categorical?
- Centrality: This pivot line crystallizes the hawk's god-like hubris—Creation's effort ("whole... to produce my foot") inverted to subjugation, encapsulating themes of dominance and stasis.
- Categorical invincibility: Backed by design (high trees, sun), unchallenged flight, and rejection of change ("My eye has permitted no change"); no "arguments" needed, as its body is truth incarnate.
- Poetic force: Enjambment and declarative tone amplify absolutism, mirroring hawk's grip—unyielding, total.
5. Why is the poem entitled ‘Hawk Roosting’?
- "Roosting" evokes perching repose, yet implies predatory vigilance—inaction as preparation, fitting the hawk's poised monologue of rehearsed kills.
- Title grounds the abstract tyranny in a mundane act, subverting expectations: Roost becomes throne, highlighting Hughes' fusion of everyday nature with mythic power.
- Significance: Suggests complacency in dominance, paralleling human empires "roosting" on conquest, unchanging under self-permitted rule.
6. Bring out the parallel suggested between the predatory instincts of the bird and human behaviour.
- Instinctual violence: Hawk's "tearing off heads" mirrors human aggression—wars, colonialism as "allotment of death" without sophistry.
- Arrogant entitlement: "I kill where I please... it is all mine" echoes imperial hubris, leaders viewing earth as "upward for my inspection."
- Resistance to change: Hawk's "keep things like this" parallels societal stasis, dictatorships rejecting evolution; Hughes critiques how primal drives fuel totalitarian behaviors.
Talking about the Poem - Discussion Prompts
Discuss in pairs or small groups
1. Nature's violence: Does the hawk represent raw instinct or a critique of human power structures?
- Hawk as instinct: Primal honesty ("no sophistry") vs. human hypocrisy—explore eco-fascism risks in idolizing nature.
- Human parallel: "Creation in my foot" like dictators; discuss modern leaders echoing hawk's stasis.
- Personal: How do we "roost" in privilege, resisting change?
2. Animal monologues: How does Hughes humanize beasts to reveal human flaws?
- Anthropomorphism: Hawk's voice exposes arrogance; compare to other Hughes poems like 'Pike.'
- Flaws revealed: Predatory "right" without arguments critiques moral relativism.
- Extension: Role-play hawk's defense—does power justify brutality?
Appreciation & Analysis
1. Analyze the use of imagery in establishing the hawk's dominance.
- Visual: "Earth’s face upward" personifies submission; "revolve it all slowly" evokes god-like panorama.
- Tactile: "Locked upon rough bark," "tearing off heads"—visceral, grounding abstract power.
- Effect: Imagery builds tyrannical aura, blending beauty (buoyancy) with horror (bones), Hughes' signature shock.
2. Discuss the poem's structure and its relation to theme.
- Free verse: Mimics hawk's unbound flight, no rhyme constraining its assertions.
- Stanzas: Build from repose to decree, paralleling ascent to invincibility.
- Relation: Enjambment flows like direct path, reinforcing unyielding control and stasis.
3. How does the poem reflect Hughes' broader poetic concerns?
- Animal fascination: Hawk as elemental force, like Crow's mythic birds.
- Violence: Shocking phrases critique civilization's veneer over savagery.
- Legacy: Influences eco-poetry, urging confrontation with nature's/humankind's dark drives.
Language Work
1. Notice the use of phrases: Guess meanings
- Air’s buoyancy: Uplifting quality of air aiding flight—advantageous lift.
- Sophistry in my body: Deceitful reasoning—absent; hawk's instincts purely direct.
2. Try This Out: Differentiate birds
| Bird | Characteristics | Habitat/Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Eagle | Large, broad wings, keen vision | Mountains; soars high, hunts large prey |
| Hawk | Medium, sharp talons, hooked beak | Woods/fields; perches, dives swiftly |
| Kite | Slender, forked tail, graceful | Open skies; scavenges, hovers |
| Vulture | Bald head, broad wings, scavenger | Deserts/plains; circles for carrion |
3. Adjectives: Aspects of human behavior
- Eagle-eyed: Sharp, observant—vigilant scrutiny.
- Hawkish: Aggressive, predatory—warlike policies.
Interactive Quiz - Test Your Understanding
10 MCQs on poem, themes, and language. Aim for 80%+.
Suggested Reading
- The Lake by Ted Hughes
- Poem in October by Dylan Thomas
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