BIRDS AT DAWN
butcher bird in song
I was reading an amusing poem Dogs in the Morning Light
by the famous Australian poet Bruce Dawe (it can be found on the
Internet). It struck me that dawn in the country on the far north
coast of NSW is quite different as it is, above all, the birds you
hear. Australia actually has many wonderful birds. In fact, there is
now strong genetic evidence that it is the origin of all pigeons,
parrots and song birds (passerines). See Where Song Began by
Tim Low. I chose the rather unusual word cachinnation (loud laughter)
for the kookaburra as it sounds a bit like their song.
BIRDS
AT DAWN
Moved by the music of first morning light,
The faint arpeggios of dawn upon
the amphitheatre of the eastern hills,
a multitude of feathered throats catch song
and so proclaim their empires of day.
Even a roost of mournful crows admits
a melancholy contrabass to fit
the tiny bells of flitting finches, floating
from tall and seeded grasses. Magpies weave
a melting middle range from singing trees.
For brass there rises brief but brilliant bursts
of cachinnation from far kookaburras. . .
and now, to seal the symphony of light,
a butcher bird upon a wire adds
his fluting, free, and flowing, single line:
the silver melody of morning shine.
The polyphonic day's begun. The sun
returns as dominant. Air's minstrels,
the sylphs of dawn song, scatter wide, resume
soft, leafy chamber works or solo tunes.
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