Hurt Hawk

The poem opens with a vivid image of the hawk's broken wing trailing "like a banner in defeat" (2). The formerly proud being is now confined to the land and living a pained existence far from the freedom of the skies it once lorded over. The hawk is described as strong but weary from pain, waiting for death.

The hawk lives with the unnamed speaker taking care of him for six weeks before the speaker kills the bird out of mercy.

Speaker

The unnamed, third-person speaker in the poem is loosely based off of the poet, Robinson Jeffers, who once cared for an injured hawk with his son. The speaker's role is to present an accurate picture of the hawk's pain and suffering and to demonstrate how the formerly majestic bird has been reduced in stature and prestige. The speaker also serves as a point of comparison for...