How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
The broken pillar of the wing jags from the clotted shoulder,
The wing trails like a banner in defeat, (1-2)
Squeamish Shmoopers might want to look away from these lines. Although couched in poetic words ("broken pillar" and such), this hawk's wound is straight up gnarly. What's a hawk with a wing that destroyed? A goner, is what. His spirit may still be fighting, but the wing signals the ultimate defeat.
Quote #2
No more to use the sky forever but live with famine
And pain a few days […] (3-4)
What a contrast, right? The sky forever or a few days of pain and famine. Life for a hawk is vast, free, and oh so infinite. But injury grounds him, cuts his days down to a few, his experience to famine and pain. These last days are going to stink, big time.
Quote #3
He is strong and pain is worse to the strong, incapacity is worse. (9)
The bigger they are, the harder they fall. You get used to living large, so it's a blow to be so reduced to pain and incapacity.
Quote #4
[…] but the great redtail
Had nothing left but unable misery
From the bones too shattered for mending, the wing that trailed under his talons when he moved. (18-20)
Is the speaker making a case to ease his guilt for having to kill this bird? It sounds like it. If it's true that all this animal had left was "unable misery," and there was no other way, you can't fault him, but you can tell the speaker feels terrible for having to do the dirty deed.