Evening Hawk

The scythe is an agricultural tool with a large, sharp, sickle-shaped blade. It is used to mow grasses, harvest wheat, and fell other crops. Symbolically, it is often associated with the Grim Reaper, an allegorical personification of Death as a black-robed skeleton. This figure, wielding a scythe, comes to collect the souls of the dying and/or dead.

In “Evening Hawk,” the hawk’s wing “scythes down another day” (Line 8) with a “honed steel-edge” (Line 9) motion. This cutting motion makes the speaker think of how “Time” (Line 10) passes and there is no escape from the inevitable human fate of death. Through the rest of the poem, the speaker struggles with their ultimate end.

Other than the titular bird of prey, two other winged creatures are mentioned in “Evening Hawk”: the thrush, a small songbird; and the bat. The thrush is often thought to symbolize youth, hope, and resurrection, while the bat is traditionally connected with death. However, in Warren’s poem, they both are used to signify the passage of time: “Long now / the last thrush is still” (Lines 16-17) alludes to the passing of youth, and, perhaps, the ability to create a winsome song.

While the hawk is in the full of life, strong as a bird of prey, it is also the bringer of the knowledge of death.