What is hawk?

Famous quotes containing the word hawk:

“And Coleridge, too, has lately taken wing,
But like a hawk encumber’d with his hood,—
Explaining Metaphysics to the nation—
I wish he would explain his Explanation.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)

“Merry Margaret,
As midsummer flower,
Gentle as falcon
Or hawk of the tower:”
—John Skelton (1460?–1529)

“I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on.
A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home.
I have wasted my life.”
—James Wright (1927–1980)