Animal Consciousness: Reflections through Poetic Interpretations

The thoughts of animals has always been a fascination for man. Since the beginning humans have researched animals with a simple curiosity of how they think and to what extent do they think. Though animals are often painted as simpletons with no comprehensive thought but rather acting on raw instinct. However, the authors of Hawk Roosting and Golden Retrieval, Ted Hughes and Mark Doty, present two very different outlooks on life through an animal. One a bird and one a dog, but each characterized through descriptive language, the animals' interests, and tone.

The descriptive language in the poems reveal a small part of the personality of the animals. In the first poem, Hawk Roosting, Hughes comments that the bird finds, "Inaction, no falsifying

The tone in Hawk Roosting is presented in the line, "The sun is behind me. Nothing has changed since I began. My eye has permitted no change."(lines 21-23). Since the poem is told through the bird's point of view, the calm tone reveals that the bird is calm and accepting of his role. He sees his activities as nothing more than his meaning of life and he enjoys that meaning, his character is shown to be calm and introspective. The second poem, Golden Retrievals, "My work: to unsnare time’s warp (and woof!), retrieving,my haze-headed friend, you. This shining bark" (lines 10-12). The playful tone reveals that the dog himself is playful, his lack of introspection and deep thinking is apparent, he rather paitns himself as the saving grace for his owner. His personality is filled with child like humor while still praising himself as a hero for barking at his master. The tone reveals the personalities of the speaker through unique nuances in the writing.

Animals, despite what people may think, are shown to have depth and unique personalities through the two poems presented here. Both animals are seen to be different but similar to each other in which both are completely satisfied with their way of life. In the poem Hawk Roosting by Ted Hughes and Golden Retrievals by Mark Doty each animal is characterized through descriptive language, the animals' interests, and