Comparison of Ted Hughes's Hawk Roosting and William Wordsworth's

The poems are imagery poems and the figure of speech both poets use is somewhat similar. “I wondered Lonely as a Cloud” contains glances of recollections of the inner mind of the author. This poem describes the exquisite effect in which the outside world has upon the speaker. Ted Hughes’s poem on the other hand although violent and cruel, conveying beauty and horror shows a delineation of human nature. “Hawk roosting” is a poem in which the poet clearly shows his understanding of the hearts of the mankind and nature and he utilizes his attention to a lot of details and expressive language.

If we compare the language used in both poems it is clear “Hawk Roosting” seems a lot more direct and violent. Hawk roosting is a graphic poem that has six stanzas with no rhythmic scheme. The hawk plays the main role and the author does not try to hide this through out the whole poem. The author uses words like I, my so often that it seems that the hawk sees itself as the center of the universe and the creation of the world. It seems as though it controls the world, bringing death to anything on the ground that dares to move. The 2nd stanza of the poem shows that everything that is created is created for the hawk, the high trees, the air, the sun, the earth faces... everything. He sees himself as the pinnacle of creation. The nature is portrayed in a more crueler aspect. This is clearly shown with the powerful manifestation of the predator – the hawk. The hawk is represented as the all seeing eye, the center of the universe. He does not admire nature for its beauty, but because it is a pure part of the way of living.

The language of the “I Wondered as a Cloud” is much more soft and respecting towards the nature. William Wordsworth doesn’t use “my” at all in his poem, because his poem is not so egoistic. It is not a surprise that that this poem’s other title is The Daffodils. The poet shows his great respect towards nature and he uses a rhythmic style that helps him to get our attention. “I wondered Lonely as a Cloud” is a poem of loneliness, but in the good sense. The daffodils play the main role. When the speaker is feeling dull, depressed or lonely he thinks of the daffodils and cheers up. The full impact of the daffodils’ beauty doesn’t strike the author until he stares blankly at them. The speaker is metaphorically represented to a nature object, a cloud – “I wandered lonely as a cloud/ That floats on high...”, and the daffodils are personified as human beings, tossing and dancing their heads in a crowd, a host. With this technique the author implies and inherent unity between man and nature. The theme of the poem is the overwhelming power of nature towards