Imagery In Poetry

Robert Penn Warren uses expertly crafted words to tie his poem together. From swooping imagery to heavy words, they combine to create a clear picture of the hawk’s journey.
The first paragraph sets the scene with descriptive colors and scenery. The sun is setting, and the reader is filled with anticipation of the hawk’s arrival. “Geometries,” “angularity,” and “guttural” are used to show how sharp and striking the scenery is. The hawk swiftly darts over the mountains and valleys, cutting through the air. The mention of pines adds to the crisp imagery, making the reader think of clean air and winter.
The second paragraph focuses more on the hawk than the scenery. It describes the hawk’s wings, and gives us more sharp words like “scythes” and “steel-edge.” The hawk beats its wings
Time is a crucial element to this hawk, as its flight takes place during a specific time of day, sunset.
The tenth line is alone in its stanza, a clear sign of its weighty significance. “The head of each stalk [referring here to the “fall of stalks of Time” of the last paragraph] is heavy with the gold of our error.” Gold is an extremely heavy material, adding on to the weight of this line. The implication here is that time is a heavy substance, and that the hawk can fly over this. I think this line suggests that the hawk is above the passage of time.
In the third paragraph the hawk flies high with the light, chasing it whilst looking at the advancing darkness. This paragraph confirms the hawk’s being outside of time, as it says “[The hawk] Who knows neither time nor error.” This sentence not only elevates the hawk to immortality, but also to godhood, as only divine beings are incapable of errors. The hawk, like a god, watches over the “unforgiven” land. It judges the the world with its gaze, but does not forgive