Anthology Revision - Nature

How does Hughes explore nature in his poem ‘Hawk Roosting’? Group Annotations You have been given ‘Hawk Roosting’ in your exam. As a group annotate focused on the question: How does Hughes explore nature in his poem ‘Hawk Roosting’?

Choose one other poem from your anthology which discusses nature Choose one other poem from your anthology which discusses nature. Compare the presentation of nature in your chosen poem to the presentation of nature in ‘Hawk Roosting’. (25 marks)

Hawk Roosting and ________________ Similarities Differences

Compare the presentation of war in your chosen poem to the presentation of nature in ‘Hawk Roosting’. (25 marks) One similarity between ‘Hawk Roosting’ and ‘Death of a Naturalist’ is how they personify the animals. Hawk Roosting (HR) is writing from the Hawk’s points of view described as, “I sit in the top of the wood” whilst in Death of a Naturalist (DoaN) it describes the frogs as “great slime kings”. Both poets show how the animals have power and control in their environment. The hawk is able to observe everything at the “top of the wood” while the frogs being compare to “kings” makes them seem all powerful.

One similarity between Hawk Roosting and Death of a Naturalist is how they personify the animals. Hawk Roosting (HR) is writing from the Hawk’s points of view describing, “I sit in the top of the wood” whilst in Death of a Naturalist (DoaN) it describes the frogs as “great slime kings”. Both poets show how the animals have power and control in their environment. The hawk is able to observe everything at the “top of the wood” while the frogs being compare to “kings” makes them seem all powerful. Another link is how the poems show the severity and aggressive side of nature. In HR lots of language is focused around violence and death, “I kill where I please because it all mine.” In DoaN, the frogs are “Poised like mud grenades”, again linking to the theme of violence. The writers demonstrate that nature can have a negative and dangerous side. In a way the animals are using violence or the threat of violence to keep their control. A difference between the poems is seen in their structure. HR has a very strict structure with 4 lines in each verse, while DoaN is very informal and lacks structure. This may be because of the different view points of the poem. In HR the Hawk likes to keep control over his environment and this is reflected in the poems own controlled structure, while DoaN is from a child’s point of view and could reflect the child-like quality of the poem or the fact that he feels out of control during his encounter with the frogs.