The Power of God

The speaker of "The Windhover" uses a particular experience—observing a bird in flight—to meditate on the strength of God's power as a creator. In the first eight lines of the poem, the speaker focuses primarily on describing the bird. He compares the bird to a "dauphin," or French inheritor of the throne, to emphasize the majestic nature of the experience. The speaker is in awe over the bird's ability to hover over the ground, saying, "in his riding / Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding / High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing" (2-4). The speaker quickly shifts course, however, interrupting the fifth line of the poem by saying, "then off, off forth on swing," indicating that the bird had suddenly begun to swoop down to the ground (5). These descriptions help highlight the speaker's...