Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:20 pm Post subject: Birds
Birds
Emily Dickinson
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
and never stops at all.
Emily Dickinson
A Bird
Emily Dickinson
A bird came down the walk,
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.
And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.
Bird Feeder
Mike Garofalo
Here is the bird feeder.
Here, seeds and crumbs.
Sprinkle them on and see what comes.
One cardinal, one chickadee, one junco, one jay.
Four of my bird friends
are eating today.
A bird does not sing
because it has an answer;
it sings because it has a song.
~Chinese proverb~
It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.
Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC), The Jay and the Peacock
One swallow does not make a summer.
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Nichomachean Ethics
How helpless we are, like netted birds, when we are caught by desire! Belva Plain
I realized that If I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes.
Charles Lindbergh (1902 - 1974), Interview shortly before his death, 1974
It is one of the first days of Spring, and I sit once more in the old garden where I hear no faintest echo of the obscene rumbling of London streets which are yet so little away. Here the only movement I am conscious of is that of the trees shooting forth their first sprays of bright green, and of the tulips expanding the radiant beauty of their flaming globes, and the only sound I hear is the blackbird's song -- the liquid softly gurgling notes that seem to well up spontaneously from an infinite joy, an infinite peace, at the heart of nature and bring a message not from some remote Heaven of the Sky or Future, but the Heaven that is Here, beneath our feet, even beneath the exquisite texture of our own skins, the joy, the peace, at the Heart of the Mystery which is Man. For man alone can hear the Revelation that lies in the blackbird's song.
- Havelock Ellis, Impressions and Comments, 1918
Two birds fly past.
They are needed somewhere.
- Robert Bly
Keep a green tree in your heart
and perhaps a singing bird will come.
~Chinese Proverb~
That the birds of worry and care
fly over your head,
this you cannot change,
but that they build nests in your hair,
this you can prevent.
~Chinese proverb~
That little bird has chosen his shelter. Above it are the stars and the deep heaven of worlds. Yet he is rocking himself to sleep without caring for tomorrow's lodging, calmly clinging to his little twig, and leaving God to think for him. - Martin Luther
The sound of birds stops the noise in my mind.
Carly Simon
I value my garden more for being full
of blackbirds than of cherries,
and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.
Joseph Addison
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
and never stops at all.
~Emily Dickenson~
There was a handsome male mockingbird that sang his heart out every morning during the nesting season from the top of a tall Norfolk Pine tree. Last week the tree was cut down. The mockingbird and his song are gone. I can't put a dollar value on the tree nor on the mockingbird nor on his song. But I know that I - and our whole neighborhood - have suffered a loss. I wouldn't know how to count it in dollars.- Jacquelyn Hiller
There are 8,600 species of birds in the world today. They are found everyiwhere. Birds play a vital role in the balance of nature. They eat insects, pests and small animals. Fruit eating birds are best for scattering seeds for these plants. Seed eating birds digest seeds and in so doing keep millions of weeds from the earth...
Birds have between 1,000 and 25,000 feathers.
- Birds, U.C. Davis
Poor indeed is the garden in which birds find no homes.
- Abram L. Urban
To me, the garden is a doorway to other worlds; one of them, of course, is the world of birds. The garden is their dinner table, bursting with bugs and worms and succulent berries.- Anne Raver
Spring would not be spring without bird songs.
- Francis M. Chapman
Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come. - Chinese Proverb
Yonder in the plum-tree,
Fluttering from branch to branch,
The warbler sings;
And white on his wings falls
Airy snow.
Oh, when will this night end
And the morning break?
I long to see the plum blossoms
That the song-ster scatters
Flitting from branch to branch!
The Eagle: Fragment
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
THE GRACKLE
Ogden Nash - 1942
The grackle's voice is less than mellow,
His heart is black, his eye is yellow,
He bullies more attractive birds
With hoodlum deeds and vulgar words,
And should a human interfere,
Attacks that human in the rear.
I cannot help but deem the grackle
An ornithological debacle.
One of my favorites from my childhood....
Little Bird
I saw a little bird go hop, hop, hop
So I said to the bird, won't you stop, stop, stop
And was going to the window, to say how do you do,
When he shook his little tail, and far away he flew.
Peckin'
The saddest thing I ever did see
Was a woodpecker peckin' at a plastic tree.
He looks at me, and "Friend," says he,
"Things ain't as sweet as they used to be."
Shel Silverstein
Feeding the Birds...
To me, the garden is a doorway to other worlds;
one of them, of course, is the world of birds.
The garden is their dinner table,
bursting with bugs and worms and succulent berries.
~Anne Raver~
Bird Sanctuary
Robert Service
Between the cliff-rise and the beach
A slip of emerald I own;
With fig and olive, almond, peach,
cherry and plum-tree overgrown;
Glad-watered by a crystal spring
That carols through the silver night,
And populous with birds who sing
Gay madrigals for my delight.
Some merchants fain would buy my land
To build a stately pleasure dome.
Poor fools! they cannot understand
how pricelessly it is my home!
So luminous with living wings,
So musical with feathered joy . . .
Not for all pleasure fortune brings,
Would I such ecstasy destroy.
A thousand birds are in my grove,
Melodious from morn to night;
My fruit trees are their treasure trove,
Their happiness is my delight.
And through the sweet and shining days
They know their lover and their friend;
So I will shield in peace and praise
My innocents unto the end.
Today I am sure no one needs to be told that the more birds a yard can support, the fewer insects there will be to trouble the gardener the following year.
- Thalassa Cruso
The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp.- John Berry
Sweet bird! thy bow'r is ever green,
Thy sky is ever clear;
thou has't no sorrow in thy song,
No winter in thy year.
- John Logan
Two birds disputed about a kernel,
when a third swooped down and carried it off.
- Proverb from the Congo
I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.
- Joseph Addison
There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.- Robert Lynd
Let the farmer remember that every bird destroyed, and every nest robbed, is equivalent to a definite increase in insects with which he already has to struggle. He will soon appreciate the fact that he has a personal interest, and a strong one, in the preservation of birds.
- Henry Oldys
Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds. And don't hate nobody. - Eubie Blake
I sincerely congratulate you on the arrival of the mockingbird. Learn all the children to venerate it as a superior being in the form of a bird, or as a being which will haunt them if any harm is done to itself or its eggs.
- Thomas Jefferson
A Robin Redbreast in a cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage.
- William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing. - Bret Harte
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Gentle day's flower -
The hummingbird competes
With the stillness of the air.
- Chogyam Trungpa
Which came first the chicken or the egg?
Chickens and eggs always exist at the same time.
Don't count your eggs before they hatch.
n the middle of the pecking order.
He had something to crow about.
My allowance is chicken feed.
A deadly game of chicken.
Don't get your hackles up.
She's like a mother hen.
He is a chicken.
Chickens.
Eggs.
Over the glittering, rattled ladders of shale
the birds cross, tangential to the sea at night.
Hour upon hour you can sense the undulation of wings.
If you lift your cheek quite carefully
you can feel the kiss and the wisp of air
stirred by the inaudible glide.
- Jan Haag, Birds Migrate at Night
I Heard A Bird Sing
~by Oliver Herford~
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.
"We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,"
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
Sweet Bird
Sweet bird! thy bow'r is ever green,
Thy sky is ever clear;
thou has't no sorrow in thy song,
No winter in thy year.
John Logan
Early Bird
Shel Silverstein
Oh, if you're a bird, be an early bird
And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.
If you're a bird, be an early, early bird-
But if you're a worm, sleep late.
The Wise Old Owl
The wise old owl
Sat on an oak
The more he saw
The less he spoke
The more he spoke
The less he heard
Why can't we all
Be like that wise old bird?
If I Were A Bird
Jackie Silberg
If I were a bird, I'd sing a song
And fly about the whole day long
And when the night comes, go to rest,
Up in my cozy little nest.
Little Robin Redbreast
Author unknown
Little Robin Redbreast sat upon a tree.
Up went the pussy cat and down went he.
Down came Pussy and away Robin ran.
Says little Robin Redbreast, "Catch me if you can."
Little Robin Redbreast jumped upon a wall.
Pussy cat jumped after him and almost had a fall.
Little Robin chirped and sang and what did Pussy say?"
Pussy cat said, "Meow," and Robin ran away.
Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.
Henry Van Dyke
Those little nimble musicians of the air, that warble forth their curious ditties, with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art. Izaak Walton (1593 - 1683)
God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages. Jacques Deval
The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life. . . . The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds -- how many human aspirations are realised in their free, holiday-lives -- and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song!
John Burroughs (1837 - 1921), Birds and Poets, 1887
Peckin'
Tap Tap Tap
Tap, tap, tap goes the woodpecker
As he pecks a hole in a tree.
He is making a house with a window
To peep at you and me.
The Whippoorwill and I
In the hushed hours of night, when the air quite still,
I hear the strange cry of the lone whippoorwill,
Who Chants, without ceasing, that wonderful trill,
Of which the sole burden is still, "Whip-poor-Will."
And why should I whip him? Strange visitant,
Has he been playing truant this long summer day?
I listened a moment; more clear and more shrill
Rang the voice of the bird, as he cried, "Whip-poor-Will."
But what has poor Will done? I ask you once more;
I'll whip him, don't fear, if you'll tell me what for.
I paused for an answer; o'er valley and hill
Rang the voice of the bird, as he cried, "Whip-poor-Will."
Has he come to your dwelling, by night or by day,
And snatched the young birds from their warm nest away?
I paused for an answer; o'er valley and hill
Rang the voice of the bird, as he cried, "Whip-poor-Will."
Well, well, I can hear you, don't have any fears,
I can hear what is constantly dinned in my ears.
The obstinate bird, with his wonderful trill,
Still made but one answer, and that, "Whip-poor-Will."
But what HAS poor Will done? I prithee explain;
I'm out of all patience, don't mock me again.
The obstinate bird, with his wonderful trill,
Still made the same answer, and that, "Whip-poor-Will."
Well, have your own way, then; but if you won't tell,
I'll shut down the window, and bid you farewell;
But of one thing be sure, I won't whip him until
You give me some reason for whipping poor Will.
I listened a moment, as if for reply,
But nothing was heard but the bird's mocking cry.
I caught the faint echo from valley and hill;
It breathed the same burden, that strange "Whip-poor-Will." Horatio Alger
I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.
Joseph Addison (1672 - 1719), 'The Spectator'
Cranes carry this heavy mystical baggage. They're icons of fidelity and happiness. The Vietnamese believe cranes cart our souls up to heaven on their wings.
Mitchell Burgess
There'll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover,
Tomorrow, just you wait and see.
Nat Burton, White Cliffs of Dover (song, 1941)
Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?
Rose Kennedy (1890 - 1995)
Much talking is the cause of danger. Silence is the means of avoiding misfortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, without speech, fly freely about.
Saskya Pandita
I know of only one bird - the parrot - that talks; and it can't fly very high.
Wilbur Wright (1867 - 1912), declining to make a speech in 1908
No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.
William Blake (1757 - 1827)
When thou seest an eagle, thou seest a portion of genius; lift up thy head! William Blake (1757 - 1827)
You cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren.
William Henry Hudson
As to the garden, it seems to me its chief fruit is--blackbirds. William Morris
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I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.
- Henry David Thoreau
In solitary moments magpies will perch on a branch and mutter soft soliloquies of whines and squeals and chatterings, oblivious to what goes on around them. Stanley Crawford
Coexistence ... what the farmer does with the turkey - until Thanksgiving. - Mike Connolly
Any woodthrush shows it - he sings,
not to fill the world, but because he is filled.
- Jane Hirshfield, The Stone of Heaven
What is joy?
It is a bird
That we all want to catch.
It is the same bird
That we all love to see flying
- Sri Chinmoy
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:15 am Post subject: Bird Sanctuary
Bird Sanctuary
Robert Service
Between the cliff-rise and the beach
A slip of emerald I own;
With fig and olive, almond, peach,
cherry and plum-tree overgrown;
Glad-watered by a crystal spring
That carols through the silver night,
And populous with birds who sing
Gay madrigals for my delight.
Some merchants fain would buy my land
To build a stately pleasure dome.
Poor fools! they cannot understand
how pricelessly it is my home!
So luminous with living wings,
So musical with feathered joy . . .
Not for all pleasure fortune brings,
Would I such ecstasy destroy.
A thousand birds are in my grove,
Melodious from morn to night;
My fruit trees are their treasure trove,
Their happiness is my delight.
And through the sweet and shining days
They know their lover and their friend;
So I will shield in peace and praise
My innocents unto the end.
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:18 am Post subject: Bird Watcher
Bird Watcher
Robert Service
In Wall Street once a potent power,
And now a multi-millionaire
Alone within a shady bower
In clothes his valet would not wear,
He watches bird wings bright the air.
The man who mighty mergers planned,
And oil and coal kinglike controlled,
With field-glasses in failing hand
Spies downy nestlings five days old,
With joy he could not buy for gold.
Aye, even childlike is his glee;
But how he crisps with hate and dread
And shakes a clawlike fist to see
A kestrel hover overhead:
Though he would never shoot it dead.
Although his cook afar doth forage
For food to woo his appetite,
The old man lives on milk and porridge
And now it is his last delight
At eve if one lone linnet lingers
To pick crushed almonds from his fingers.
Let poets piece prismatic words,
Give me the jewelled joy of birds!
What ecstasy moves them to sing?
Is it the lyric glee of Spring,
The dewy rapture of the rose?
Is it the worship born in those
Who are of Nature's self a part,
The adoration of the heart?
Is it the mating mood in them
That makes each crystal note a gem?
Oh mocking bird and nightingale,
Oh mavis, lark and robin - hail!
Tell me what perfect passion glows
In your inspired arpeggios?
A thrush is thrilling as I write
Its obligato of delight;
And in its fervour, as in mine,
I fathom tenderness divine,
And pity those of earthy ear
Who cannot hear . . . who cannot hear.
Let poets pattern pretty words:
For lovely largesse - bless you, Birds!
Opposite my chamber window,
On the sunny roof, at play,
High above the city's tumult,
Flocks of doves sit day by day.
Shining necks and snowy bosoms,
Little rosy, tripping feet,
Twinkling eyes and fluttering wings,
Cooing voices, low and sweet,--
Graceful games and friendly meetings,
Do I daily watch and see.
For these happy little neighbors
Always seem at peace to be.
On my window-ledge, to lure them,
Crumbs of bread I often strew,
And, behind the curtain hiding,
Watch them flutter to and fro.
Soon they cease to fear the giver,
Quick are they to feel my love,
And my alms are freely taken
By the shyest little dove.
In soft flight, they circle downward,
Peep in through the window-pane;
Stretch their gleaming necks to greet me,
Peck and coo, and come again.
Faithful little friends and neighbors,
For no wintry wind or rain,
Household cares or airy pastimes,
Can my loving birds restrain.
Other friends forget, or linger,
But each day I surely know
That my doves will come and leave here
Little footprints in the snow.
So, they teach me the sweet lesson,
That the humblest may give
Help and hope, and in so doing,
Learn the truth by which we live;
For the heart that freely scatters
Simple charities and loves,
Lures home content, and joy, and peace,
Like a soft-winged flock of doves.
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I'm youth, I'm joy. I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg. Sir James M. Barrie
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the
flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Bible -Song of Solomon
Father in Heaven! When the thought of thee wakes in our hearts let it not awaken like a frightened bird that flies about in dismay, but like a child waking from its sleep with a heavenly smile. Soren Kierkegaard
Some newspapers are fit only to line the bottom of bird cages. Spiro T. Agnew
The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing. Eric Berne
God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest. J.G. Holland
One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. Author Unknown
My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather.
Loire Hartwould
Like dogs in a wheel, birds in a cage, or squirrels in a chain,
ambitious men still climb and climb, with great labor, and
incessant anxiety, but never reach the top.
Robert Burton
I have always believed that God never gives a cross to bear
larger than we can carry. No matter what, he wants us to be
happy, not sad. Birds sing after a storm. Why shouldn't we? Rose F. Kennedy
Enjoy the Spring of Love and Youth, to some good angel leave the rest; For Time will teach thee soon the truth, there are no birds in last year's nest!
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Success is full of promise till one gets it, and then it seems like a nest from which the bird has flown.
Henry Ward Beecher
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. Langston Hughes
God gives every bird his worm, but He does not throw it into the nest. P. D. James
What law, what reason can deny that gift so sweet, so natural that God has given a stream, a fish, a beast, a bird?
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck. Richard C. Cushing
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