Language In Hawk Roosting example essay topic

Topic: The Jaguar, The Pike and Hawk Roosting by Ted Hughes Compare the three poems, their similarities and differences, their aim and intention. Describe their viewpoint and their style and language. Which one do you prefer and why Some of the poems similarities are quite subtle and you are only able to catch them if you reread the poems a couple of times. The most obvious one is that they are all about animals.

Why is this Maybe Ted Hughes is comparing humans to these different animals, and with these poems is trying to show us what we are really like. Take the hawk in Hawk Roosting for instance. He considers everything an advantage for himself. He thinks that everything is there just for him and that he is so perfect that it took the whole of Creation to produce my foot. We humans think this way. We seem to think that everything is there for us, and that we are the most perfect of Creation.

Also in every one of these poems, Hughes seems to be emphasising the importance of animal instinct. Killers from the egg, but theres no cage to him. He does not criticise their instinct, on the contrary, he seems to respect it a great deal. He is trying to make us realise that sometimes it is better to act on instinct then to think everything through very carefully. Another similarity is that he has used only the hunters in his poems, and not the victims. He does not try to hide the animals bad points, instead, he writes what he sees, which adds even more reality to his poems.

The differences in the three poems are numerous, so there is no point naming but a few. Both The Jaguar and The Pike are written in third person narrative, whilst Hawk Roosting is written in first person narrative. The Jaguar feels as if it was written by a perceptive perso who saw it caged up like that in the zoo. I dont think it contains as much intimity as do the other two. Hawk Roosting I feel contains the most of this intimity I was talking about.

This is given by the fact that it is the hawk telling us the poem, I am going to keep things this way. It gives an interesting viewpoint, the animal telling us about how it feels about its surroundings. The Pike, feels like it has been written by the fisherman who has had first hand experience with the pike and knows all the facts and the myths about it, A pond I fished, That past nightfall I dared not cast. The language in Hawk Roosting seems like the language like the language of an old lord or aristocrat. It is composed, and seems ancient: Nothing has changed since I began. It is also in control and emphasises the hawks self-absorb ement and its superiority.

In The Pike, the language makes the poem more intriguing. The way Hughes expresses himself adds to the aura of mystery already surrounding the poem: so immense and old, Or hung in an amber cavern of weeds. My favourite of these three poems is without doubt Hawk Roosting. I enjoyed the way the author wrote it from the hawks point of view. But most off all I liked the language of this poem. Certain phrases just stick to memory like: The allotment of death.

The hawk is not a hypocrite, he tells us exactly what he is like: My manners are tearing off heads. But my favourite verse of the poem has to be: The sun is behind me. Nothing has changed since I began. It just gives you a feeling that this creature has been here since eternity and has watched us evolve the way that he wanted us to. It is quite scary actually, but it makes you think: what if there was actually such a creature, which has watched us for a long, long time Deciding what we should be like I dont think we will ever know. Maybe it is better that way.