The Association has a wealth of digital back issues of Jeffers Studies, featuring academic articles. Here's the poet with his wife Una, and a sassy dog: Articles and Interviews There's the hawk of a man, standing at Hawk Tower.ĭid he have one of those hurt hawks taxidermed? In his introduction, Jeffers explains that there are two hawks-not one. You can listen to The Poetry Foundation's recording of Jeffers reading his poem while reading along. So the makers of this won't win any prizes for sound or their photo montage, but it's fun to hear "Hurt Hawks" alongside some of Jeffers' other poems.
The Academy of American Poets offers a solid overview of the poet's life and work. Tor House looks like Jeffers would if he were a house. This is the go-to for all things Jeffers. Hey Look, Robin's Got His Own Association!
At the end of the day, we're an awful lot like these two hurt hawks-dependent on the whims and mercies of the world to keep us alive.
It's also about the dangers inherent in the natural world, and the sheer precariousness of our existence. But here's the thing: this poem isn't just about a pair of injured raptors. And you can imagine that a pair of hurt ones might upset him a bit. So yeah, hawks were kind of a big deal to this guy. From that craggy height, Jeffers could look out at the sea and watch hawks swoop over the landscape. Pretty much single-handedly, Jeffers hefted huge rocks up the hill from the beach to build Hawk Tower. He and his wife Una loved the quiet life, so they picked out the perfect storm-swept outcrop over Carmel-by-the-Sea to build Tor House. To understand just how much Jeffers identified with hawks, you've got to get to know the guy's life a bit. You know those quizzes on Facebook that will tell you what your totem animal is? Jeffers wouldn't have had to answer more than one or two questions before his answer would flash on the screen: Hawk. What is Hurt Hawks About and Why Should I Care? Carl Sandburg said once that Jeffers was " bigger than Balboa" because he "rediscovered and immortalized the Pacific." We totally agree. Through this and his other poems, Jeffers became known as the quintessential Californian poet. Not bad for a guy who took his nickname for a much less ferocious bird, Robin. Robinson Jeffers rocked the world when in this poem, published at the height of Jeffers' powers and popularity in 1928, he says "I'd sooner, except the penalties, kill a man than a hawk." Not only does Jeffers make it perfectly clear that he's siding with animals over humans, he's saying he's ready to look upon the worst possible crime with a cool (dare we say hawk-like) eye. It's the contrast between that image and the mortally injured hawks described in " Hurt Hawks" that packs this poem's punch. What do you see? You are probably imagining a mighty predator flying high, surveying the field with its incredibly acute vision, ready to swoop down on its prey with its sharp beak and talons.
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