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

Abstract

Best known for his nature and animal poetry, Ted Hughes (1930-98) has an
 important place in the history of twentieth century English literature with his
 poems, stories for children, plays, essays, letters and translations. He has
 been fascinated with the forces of nature, the world of animals and the
 challenges of postindustrial society. His diction and controlled language give
 a sense of order to the violent and chaotic natural world, drawing attention to
 the immediate experiences. Ecocriticism, “the study of the
 relationship between literature and physical environment” (Glotfelty:1996, xviii) is chosen for reading “Hawk Roosting”
 since this poem presents Hughes’s intense insights into the natural world. This
 article exemplifies the ways in which Hughes explores both violence and order
 in nature through the daily experiences of a hawk in its own habitat. The hawk
 acts in an instictive manner in line with the natural order.