The poem is broken down in eight stanzas each are a quatrain. Additionally, the rhyme scheme is a somewhat ABAB throughout the poem. The consistency in the syntax and rhyme scheme suggests the hawk is flying swiftly not too fast, creating a humble if not imperturbable tone and mood. This tone resembles the dullness in hawks as they usually only hover around the sky until it swoops down to prey on creatures. The varied use of punctuation also complements the tone, there are many commas this gives breaks and pauses for the readers to reflect on what the message the poet is attempting to convey. The pauses further slow down the tone, and Witt has made repeated use of hyphens. For example, “on pointed wing – what was a feathered cross”. These hyphens allow more than one idea to be connected into more powerful ones. In this case Witt brings the readers into a more intimate relationship with him allowing the full effect to be carried on. From stanza 1 it begins with the Hawk hovering in the sky and the subsequent stanzas since represent his journey to the ground and back up.
The opening sentence includes an antithesis, “tilted” and “still”. The narrator is referring to the Hawk as “tilted” and us as “still, this elucidates how the narrator clearly differentiates the Hawk from other people. The following line “theoretic thing”, “theoretic” connotes to metaphysical and abstract, suggesting the Hawk has surrealistic qualities. Moreover the fact that it is called a “thing” no entity or name is given to it, again undermining the importance of the Hawk. Witt overtly depicts the bird as a murderer, “bent tense to kill”. This sheds criticising light on the dangerous Hawk. Witt also makes references to biblical allusions. “feathered cross”. The “cross” can be alluding to Jesus Christ and the fact that it is “feathered” giving it the qualities of the cunning Hawk, Witt imperceptibly denigrates religion in a way. As he cannot understand how Jesus could have created a creature like the Hawk. Surprisingly the Hawk has been given powerful facets such as, “cruising”. This imagery articulated the Hawk controls the skies and overlooks the natural world by looking down to it.
In the third stanza it states that the ferocious animal will “tear” anything. Interestingly till now Witt has described the Hawk pessimistically through his actions and violent imagery. However the effect of this is to contrast it to the “lamb” and “rabbit” which are present in the third stanza. The “lamb” is an archetypal symbol of Christ. On a deeper level both these animals are associated with peace and innocence, very much contrary to the Hawk. This innocence is portrayed through pastoral imagery. “lamb tottering lost”, the fact that it is “lost” gives the lamb childish qualities as they are also lost many times. “rabbit hopping in grass” The action of “hopping” shows the naivety in the rabbits and encapsulates a vibrant feeling. Thus both these animals are symbols of the “gentleness” creations of nature. The consequent stanza vividly addresses the challenge faced by nature according to the poet, Witt. “gentleness, as if nature had meant to demonstrate by..bird...its deadly purpose” This simile reveals that nature has only one purpose which is harmful like the Hawk. It also voices that the Hawk is a metaphor of the evil creations of nature. However there is juxtaposition because at the same time there are the “lambs” and “rabbits” which is a metaphor of the positive creations of nature. Although the poem hints that Witt’s attitude to the natural world is unenthusiastic.
In the fifth stanza Witt expresses his attitude that how innocence no longer exists within the natural world. “meekness hasn’t a chance” This outlines how in the natural world, it’s a fight for survival and “meekness” does not exist. Again, shadowing his negative feelings towards the natural world. Furthermore, Witt makes use of synecdoche: “eye of power”. Here the strength of the Hawk is enhanced through characterisation giving him a very high and strong position in the natural world, despite it being evil. The words used in this stanza give a very similar effect: “high”, “wide”. The semantic field is immensity, the poet would like to paint the Hawk as a colossal animal. In the sixth stanza the Hawk is further characterised as cunning hunter. “equipped”, “stealth” and “sharply”. The lexicon in this case evinces that Hawk is like a Tiger, very sly and smart.
In the penultimate stanza, construes that nothing is safe from the Hawk. “So we though as we watched the hawk swoop down” This illuminates that the narrator is also helpless knowing that “nothing is safe” he is only able to “watch” as nobody can fight against nature. However in the final stanza Witt comes to a consensus regarding the issue of creations of nature. “hawk flapped up again – tenderness hadn’t been caught. It blended in.” The ending shows how even though the Hawk came down, the “tenderness” and innocent hadn’t been lost. In fact the innocence and cunningness both “blended”. Witt agrees that nature consists of both positive and negative elements and that the both together form the natural world.
This poem constantly challenges the creation of nature, i.e. animals. The theme is explored by considering the duality in nature and how there are two sides. There is the deleterious side of nature which is represented by the Hawk and there is the peaceful side of nature which is represented by the Lambs and Rabbits. Thus the poet remarks the dicotiny in the natural world. Witt challenged the readers to question the establishment and come to their own conclusions about the natural world.
