‘There is no sophistry in my body’—this statement expresses the brutal frankness of the hawk. Does the poet suggest something through this statement?

Ted Hughes’ “Hawk Roosting” is a dramatic monologue in a non-human voice that narrates the self-assertiveness of a hawk that is secluded from the world. . Hughes has critically exposed the rusticity and savageness of the hawk by focusing on the uncouth and raw temptation of the hawk in its self-validation. The hawk is symbolic of Fascist ideology that forcefully tries to adopt the centrality of power all within itself. It even denies the invincibility of God’s power and tries to establish itself as the sole container of power and control. The fascist elements in the hawk become more prominent when it says, “There is no sophistry in my body”, thereby subverting and negating the social laws and mores. The ruthless narcissism in the hawk is evident when it boasts of its supreme power to kill and sport wherever and whenever it feels like. It declares itself as inscrutable whose actions to kill and sport cannot be put to interrogation. It is the Hawk itself, who decides the time, space and death of beings and the sole propeller of all forces in the world.