The Falcon (Symbol)
As a symbol, the function of the falcon in “The Windhover” is best considered as ‘overdetermined,’ meaning that it figures as a symbol within several distinct, though interconnected, networks of meaning in the poem. As explained more in detail in the Analysis, the falcon is connected symbolically to Christ himself in the opening lines of the poem (“daylight’s dauphin” in particular), which fits with the poem being titled for the falcon and dedicated to Christ. The speaker of the poem also appears to identify with the falcon, in part via admiration or envy for its ability to deftly navigate the buffeting of forces much greater than itself, without being blown off course.
Flight (Allegory)
Just as we saw, in the Analysis section, how Hopkins’ use of sound and rhythm worked to create an aesthetic experience that mimics, in certain key ways, the falcon’s flight, the trajectory of that flight itself provides an allegory for the speaker-poet’s experience in a variety of ways. This allegorical connection emerges as early as the second word of the poem, ‘caught’; the purpose of the windhover’s flight is to find, and then catch, prey. The “hovering” motion to which it owes its name serves to allow it to home in on its prey. In watching the falcon, the speaker sees just how much effort, skill, indeed “mastery” go into the seemingly simple task of remaining still (“hovering”). Thus one allegorical reading of the flight is to see it as representing the task of the poet; of distilling experience down to its key details, zeroing in on the essential.
