The consciousness highly elevates the need for the hawk to have absolute control. This is done through the careful selection of words, phrases and structural measures. The hawk is personified, however the writer keeps mentioning bird-like qualities to sustain a ceiling of power that the poet created for the reader.

Hughes presents the Hawk as tyrannical as he describes the hawk by saying: “Between my hooked head and hooked feet:”. This suggests that the hawk has various tools for acquiring his power, and the hawk is keen to mention these qualities to avoid any attempt at dissent. The repetition of “hooked” further supports this as it shows how the hawk wants to use harsh imagery to keep its control. Moreover, the alliteration in the “h” sound allows the reader to particularly focus on these words-which may feel intimidating. The use of “:” is caesura and shows how the Hawk wants to achieve total control by creating uniformity. This could be linked to the fact that Hughes was very critical of power and that the hawk may be the motif used to warn people against dictators, their power and how they are able to take control.

In the third stanza, Hughes presents the Hawk as manipulative as he says: “Now I hold Creation in my foot”. This suggests that the Hawk continuously expresses the extent of his growing influence and this adds to his eventual wish for absolute control. The lack of plural in the word “foot” could mean that his power is so vast that just his one foot can control all kinds. Furthermore, by creating a vivid imagery of power, the hawk effectively manipulates his people through fear as his power is too grand to topple. Even more, by using the capitalisation of the letter: “C” in “Creation”, it creates religious imagery and it could be interpreted as the Hawk wanting to use religion as a means to manipulate more people as it may suggest that his position was given to him by Nature and by God to be on top of the food chain, further highlighting his use of manipulation to achieve total control. This can be linked to how Hughes witnessed the rise of many dictators when he wrote and how he could see that these dictators were comparable to the predators of the food chain.

Nextly, in the 4th stanza, Hughes presents the Hawk as menacing as he says: “I kill where I please because it is all mine.” This suggests that the Hawk has incredible power that he is able to use loyalty and rewards to command respect and influence. It shows his extent of power as someone who is not willing to use torment as a means of attaining full power. The use of the word “mine” suggests that the Hawk with all his power has the ability to control each and every aspect of the lives of people below him. It creates a sense of possession and how it shows that he is absolute and no one is comparable to him in his land. The personal pronoun used in “I” further highlights this as it shows that the Hawk himself has the power to control everything. It also creates a sense of fear for the reader as the Hawk uses intimidation to scare other creatures. The use of caesura in “.” could mean that the Hawk expects order and discipline or otherwise faces the consequence of death. This can be linked to the fact that Hughes often observed the patterns of creatures and saw human ego and arrogance in the behaviours of many.