Analysis Of The Poem 'Hurt Hawks' By Robinson Jeffers

“Hurt Hawks”, by Robinson Jeffers, tells the story of a hawk whose wing is hurt and a man who makes the decision to take the hawk out of its misery by killing it. Jeffers describes the hawk in the first stanza of the poem by stating, “The broken pillar of the wing jags from the clotted shoulder, / The wing trails like a banner in defeat, / No more to use the sky forever but live with famine” (Lines 1-3). Jeffers is describing the hawk’s broken wing as the bone protrudes from the skin and blood has clotted on its wing. He describes the wing as white like a flag of surrendering to his fait. Additionally, he implies that the bird will never fly again, which means that it will be in agonizing pain and die of starvation. Jeffers goes on to state, “The wild God of the world is sometimes merciful to those/ that ask for mercy, not often to the arrogant” (13-14). Jeffers could be referring to the Christian God who shows mercy to those who believe in him and do his work while on earth. Jesus Christ rewards those who are not arrogant and do not sin against him, rather live in fellowship with him. The hawk is depicted as arrogant and humble in his last moments before death and had he asked for mercy he might have had an easier passing.

Jeffers states, “I’s sooner, except the penalties, kill a man than a hawk,” implying that the speaker feels that it would be easier to kill a fellow human than a hawk (18). The speaker feels a greater kinship with the hawk than the human race, which leads the reader the question the speaker’s position in society. The speaker speaks to the idea that humans are not superior to nature and they should have respect for it rather than tearing it down. Furthermore, the speaker does end up killing the hawk to put it out of its misery, but does not do so in hared of the