AN ECOCRITICAL READING OF TED HUGHES’S “HAWK ROOSTING”

Abstract

Best known for his nature and animal poetry, Ted Hughes (1930-98) has animportant place in the history of twentieth century English literature with his poems, storiesfor children, plays, essays, letters and translations. He has been fascinated with the forcesof nature, the world of animals and the challenges of postindustrial society. His diction andcontrolled language give a sense of order to the violent and chaotic natural world, drawingattention to the immediate experiences. Ecocriticism, “the study of the relationship betweenliterature and physical environment” (Glotfelty:1996, xviii) is chosen for reading “HawkRoosting” since this poem presents Hughes’s intense insights into the natural world. Thisarticle exemplifies the ways in which Hughes explores both violence and order in naturethrough the daily experiences of a hawk in its own habitat. The hawk acts in an instictivemanner in line with the natural order.