The writers of the poems "Hawk Roosting" and "Vulture" allow the reader to identify many similarities in their poems upon reading them. The two poems, although written in very different styles are rather interesting.
From the two titles, the reader can note a marked similarity in that the two birds mentioned in the titles are both birds of prey. If we examine the forms of the poems, we are able to note a significant difference in the stanza patterns and lines. "Hawk roosting" is written in six quatrains with the last stanza being end-stopped lines. A rather simple structure that does not get in the way of meaning and let's the reader clearly see what the writer intends. Meanwhile, "Vulture" is a free versed poem with longer lines; lines where the sentences leak over into the next line, which tries to have an interesting effect on how we should react to them. The beat and tone of both poems become well established and the rhythm becomes rather definite. The poets begin their poems with easy grace "I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed", "lay down to rest on a bare hillside" yet with concentrated power. And as we continue down the lines, the grace ceases to exist and we are forced to race with our feelings.
On studying the language styles of the poems, one can see that, in "Hawk Roosting", the hawk expresses himself in short concise sentences which makes .
the language powerful and direct. The hawk is definite and assured in his ideas. The short sentences in the four line stanzas are able to create powerful images. Immediately, the reader is able to see things through the eyes of the hawk. The vocabulary used in the poem is the mixture of ordinary or simple words or and unusual words such as "the wood", "rough bark", "allotment", and "sophistry". In "Vulture" however, the man expresses himself with rather long sentences in a sort of narrative style. The lines are rather intense, and could be considered as slightly dense clusters of words, with a sweeping rhythm.