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READ THIS
A hawk sits atop a tree in a forest, meditating his place in creation. He sees himself as the pinnacle of
the universe, around whom everything revolves.
He is a deadly killing machine, born to kill, born to rule the world. Or is this man we are talking about?
ABOUT THE POET
Ted Hughes was born in 1930 in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire. His early years were lived in a rural
setting where he learnt the love of nature and its creatures.
He would later study at Cambridge University where he and some fellow students produced a poetry
journal. It was at the launch of this journal that he met the American poet, Sylvia Plath, whom he soon
married.
Hughes believed that poetry and magic were intertwined. Each is a healer. Each is the means to
transport the human spirit from the dark, subconscious side of human nature into the world of light and
well-being.
Poetry therefore lies in the realm of creation, in the world of everyday miracles. It is the pathway into the
domain of the imagination, the journey into the inner universe and exploration of the genuine self.
The modern world, said Hughes, overvalues the rational, objective side of human nature. Such beliefs
cause fear and pain. Healing and renewal, on the other hand, are the true purpose of poetry and magic.
The poet is therefore a shaman -- a magical medicine man who makes journeys to the underworld of
the subconscious to bring back lost souls.
His wife, Sylvia Plath, committed suicide in February 1963 and her death affected Hughes profoundly.
It would take four years before he published again -- and this collection contained some truly bleak
poems.
Hughes died of a heart attack in October 1998 while undergoing treatment for colon cancer. He was 68
years of age.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
The allotment of death.
For the one path of my flight is direct
Through the bones of the living.
No arguments assert my right.
- When the poet speaks about "the allotment of death", he means:
A. the place where death lives;
B. the hawk officially hands out death;
C. giving a small piece of land up to the dead;
D. a lot of death all around him.
[Need help?]
"Allotment" is the official handing out of something. One could say that the soldiers were given their
"allotment" of boots
In this case, the hawk is claiming that he has been officially appointed by God to hand out death to all
creatures, especially those which move.
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- Supply ONE suitable word to sum up the statement, "For the one path of my flight is direct /
Through the bones of the living". Answer: The hawk ____________ . (1)
[Need help?]
What about: "The hawk kills"?
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- What does the hawk mean when he says that the path of his flight is "direct through the bones of
the living"? Why does he not use the adverb "directly"? (4)
[Need help?]
There is a greater directness with the word "direct" than "directly".
"Direct" is a noun whereas "directly" is an adverb.
The poet therefore chooses to use a noun which gives the word substance in its own right rather than the
adverb which qualifies a verb and therefore is less direct.
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- What is the hawk's point when he claims that "No arguments assert my
right"? (4)
[Need help?]
Like all tyrants, the hawk allows no discussion. He has his rights and no-one else has any rights.
Furthermore, he maintains this situation by killing all who would disagree.
Disagreement, of course, is shown by movement. If the hawk sees movement, he swoops down and kills
the thing moving.
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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.
- Why is it so important that the sun is behind the hawk? (2)
[Need help?]
If the sun is high in the sky, it will hide the hawk . The mouse or shrew on the ground will be blinded by
the rays of the sun and will not see the hawk hovering in the sky above.
The mouse moves and, before he knows what's happening, the hawk has catapulted out of the sun and
has captured it.
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- The hawk claims that he will not permit change. How does he intend to maintain such
control? (4)
[Need help?]
"Change" in this case means simply "movement".
The hawk sits in a high place, or floats on the air, looking for movement. When he sees movement, he
swoops down and captures whatever it was that moved.
Even if the hawk misses, there will be no further movement for a long time. Therefore the hawk claims
that nothing changes -- i.e. there is no movement -- and he will ensure that nothing will change in the
future. Indeed, he will kill whatever is moving and thus causing the change.
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- What does the hawk mean when he says that nothing has changed since he
began? (2)
[Need help?]
As with the answer above, the hawk claims that there has been no movement since he has been around.
"Change" and "movement" mean precisely the same thing. Since there can be no
movement without the hawk swooping in an killing whatever it was that moved, there has also been no
change since the hawk has been around.
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