In ‘The Dove Breeder’, Hughes explores the relationship between man and animals. Through his illustration of the simultaneous experiences of loss and gain for the titular breeder and the birds he keeps, Hughes suggests that the relationship is inherently exploitative because of man’s anthropocentric view of life.
The poem’s narrative voice presents other humans as the only worthwhile influence in the construction of human identity, making our relation to animals inconsequential to our identities. This contrasts starkly to the formation of animal identities which is solely dependent on how humans perceive them. The breeder is described as “mild mannered” in the first stanza, suggesting a universal gentleness that is quickly opposed by the “shrieked at that raider” in the following line. This juxtaposition begs the question ‘To whom is the dove breeder mild-mannered?’ Hughes’ use of bodily imagery to describe the breeder gives sinister implications about his treatment of the birds, suggesting this gentle nature does not extend to animals. In the second stanza Hughes demonstrates the breeder’s conflict of how to proceed after losing his doves: “He might well wring his hands/ And let his tears drop:”. On first glance, this creates sympathy in the reader for the breeder’s loss as the image of his tears falling appeals to pathos and the modal verb encompasses his sheer helplessness which is emphasised by the wringing of hands, a sign of distress.
However, by having this line directly follow the breeder’s jarring shriek and using “wring”, which also carries connotations specific to killing birds, Hughes creates an additional layer of meaning that implies that the dove breeder may wish to wring the neck of the hawk who he interestingly sees as “that raider”, both an intruder and a thief despite it entering a sphere of other birds. This alludes to a cruel side of the breeder which is highlighted by the final couplet of the breeder riding “the morning mist/ With a big-eyed hawk on his fist”. Hughes’ choice of “fist” over fingers, hands or even arm conveys a sense of brutal ownership, creating the image of the hawk firmly clasped in the breeder’s clutches with no way of escaping. The stillness of this image is suggestive of the insidious nature of man’s dominion over animals, whereby just the threat of force alone is enough to erode their autonomy. This is emphasised by the description of the hawk as “big eyed”, which denotes fear, sorrow and innocence, almost demonstrating an implicit awareness and acceptance of its entrapment. However, despite the suggestion of physical violence and ownership, the dove breeder remains “mild-mannered” nonetheless. Through this Hughes makes us exceedingly aware of the stereotype of those who keep animals as tame, harmless people as a very man-made idea to justify animal subjugation and that anything non-human exists on the margins, if at all, of how we construct our view of ourselves.
Closely linked to the dove breeder’s attitudes towards animals is the experience of loss and gain for all parties: the breeder, the doves and the hawk. The dove breeder is presented as fickle and possesses a capitalist view of the animals surrounding him as his mourning of the doves is short lived once he discovers that the hawk may be of use to him. Hughes demonstrates this through the sharp disruption of his trailing thoughts, represented by ellipses, at the end of stanza two, with the cutting standalone line “Yet he soon dried his tears”. This signifies a turning point – the end of his loss and the beginning of his gain – that is explicitly linked to material wealth as what seems to sadden him most is that “He will win no more prizes” while in the final stanza he “rides the morning mist” with the hawk which could denote competition, signalling an imminent period of prosperity for him. There is a clear conflict between the desires of the breeder and those of the birds, which Hughes shows through a possible second voice belonging to the doves. The first stanza’s tone creates an atmosphere of frenzy, demonstrated by the frantic active verbs “struck”, “clattered”, and “beat” which symbolise the doves’ urgency in seizing the opportunity to leave presented by the hawks’s disruption. Similarly, Hughes’ use of parentheses in stanza two could indicate the optimistic thoughts of the birds as they flee the dovecote:
(After all these years
Through third, up through second places
Till they were world beaters…)
The enjambment in this passage creates a visual and aural rhythm that mimics the physical flight of the doves, encompassing their invigoration at regaining their autonomy through the ability to fly outside of the constraints of the breeder. On the other hand, we can assume that for the breeder, the realisation that the hawk, too, can be capitalised off (therefore negating any loss) is the “love” referred to in the very first line as the idea that “Love struck into his life” initially seems incongruous with his despair throughout the poem until the exchange between doves and hawk is made clear at the end. Through the presentation of the doves’ liberation as at odds with the breeder’s happiness and the fact that his anxieties are only assuaged by the prospect of owning something else, Hughes suggests the self-serving nature of man’s relationship with animals.
Rather than explicitly condemning humans’ use of animals for their pleasure, Hughes invites us to consider how a human-centric mindset on the natural world shapes our relationship with other beings as the only solution that the poem proposes to the dove breeder’s ‘dilemma’ of losing one group of animals is the ensnarement of another. Through the doves and the hawk, Hughes illustrates that for animals, the very act of entering into any human interaction is to forfeit their freedom, suggesting that an equal power dynamic between humans and animals is hindered by human entitlement.
