Poem Explication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Poem Explication - Essay Example There are six stanzas in it, but none of them follow traditional poetic forms or a set meter. Instead, Hughes allows the lines to be choppy, like how he imagines a hawk might think. The animal's self-impression is given as he seems to judge his body, "on falsifying dream / Between my hooked head and hooked feet: / Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat" (2-4). The thoughts are presented as fragments only loosely connected to each other. As the hawk surveys his land through these choppy thoughts, it becomes clear he considers himself the master of his domain, â€Å"Nothing has changed since I began. / My eye has permitted no change. / I am going to keep things like this† (22-24). The mind of the hawk is flighty, but shows two primary drives -- an appreciation for beautiful detail and a deadly purpose. Hughes demonstrates a strong understanding of the hawk's world as something that is both beautiful and terrible. He says, "the earth's face is upward" (8) as he talks about th e trees poking into the sky, the buoyant air of the mountain and the warm sunshine. These details bring to mind a beautiful spring day glittering with promise.