Hawk

Hawk
Mary Oliver 415-416

"Hawk" is a really great example to show how line breaks and form really affect a poem and emphasize it's meaning. The stanzas are shaped like wings, each line indented more than the one previous. This form also gives a floating, swooping sense of flight. Without even focusing on the words and just seeing the rhythm created by the shape, the reader gets the sense of some mighty bird in flight, being admired. Most of the lines are broken against the phrase and phrases are even broken into different stanzas. This makes the reader take more time on each part of the line rather than breezing through it, as it would probably flow if it were set in longer line. The lines breaks also place more emphasis on significant words and phrases like "and I said: remember" and "lake." The last two lines are longer than the rest, sticking out to the reader and make the words, "which fell" even more powerful. This is a very calming poem that strikes the reader and makes him or her think of admiring nature's gifts and the "admiral" hawk.