THE HAWK

THE HAWK by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) 

(this is a Cooper's Hawk . They live in rural residence areas and hunt in our back yards.....)

Call down the hawk from the air

Let him be hooded or caged

till the yellow eye has grown mild

For larder and spit are bare

The old cook enraged , the scullion gone wild

I WILL NOT BE CLAPPED IN A HOOD!

Nor a cage, nor alight upon wrist

Now I have learnt to be proud

Hovering over the wood in the broken mist

Or tumbling cloud!

What tumbling cloud did you cleave,

Yellow eyed hawk of the mind

Last evening? that I, who had sat

dumfounded before a knave

Should give to my friend a pretence of wit...…..

* The Hawk symbolizes great seeing power, not just in the physical sense but in spiritual awareness. The appearance of a hawk means to keep your wits about you and keep your soul aware.

Photographs 2020