I hold Creation in my foot

The hawk says that it took all of Creation to make its foot and each of its feathers. And now, it boasts, it holds Creation in its foot.

It kills where it pleases, because, it says, everything belongs to it. There is no false reasoning ('sophistry') in its body; its only 'manners' are killing.

Its path goes straight through the bones of the living. It needs no arguments to assert its right to kill.

It says that nothing has changed since it began, and that it will keep things as they are, forever.

The hawk's voice sounds very like that of a human tyrant, a ruler who believes he owns the world and may do as he likes. English links birds and people in other ways too: 'hawkish' describes people who favour war; 'eagle-eyed' means sharp-sighted.

The hawk's pride is the pride of every tyrant.