PositivelyNellie

The Life of a Bird

Edith Matilda Thomas

Thou art clothed on with plumes, as with leaves,

Front-like, and lighter than air;

Thy pinions are arrows in sheaves,

That carry thee none knoweth where.

 

Thou fliest, and non gives pursuit,

Thy realm both the earth and the sky;

Thou hast in thy bosom a flute,

The glance of a soul in thine eye.

 

Thou obeyest a sovereign power,

That sets thee on summer’s track;

Thou knowest the tide and the hour,

When to advance, or turn back.

 

Into the world thou art flung,

Thou herald of rapture and light.

Thou weavest a home for thy young—

And none but thyself hath the sleight.

 

Out of the world thou art gone,

And who shall say where is thy rest?

A rapture and light are withdrawn

Into some Heaven-side nest.

 

For who of my kind hath beheld,

Where, stricken, were any of thine?

Hast thou not been, from of old –

A spirit unscathed and divine?

 

 

When I was in school, I never liked poetry.  I always dreaded when we had to read poems.  I thought the wording was so 'weird'!  And trying to translate a poem was like a nightmare to me!  But as I've grown older, or maybe a little more mature, I've grown to embrace and even love poetry.  Most poems have a beautiful message.   

 

Over this past summer I've had a bird's nest on my back porch.  Yes, they made a mess, but it was such a delight to see the birds there every morning, and again in the evening.  I saw birds being born, fed from their mother, and finally fly away from their nest during the day -- only to return to their safe haven again at night.  Now it is October and the birds are no longer around.  I miss the little critters!  I'm sure they have moved on, preparing for winter months.  How do they know the winter months are coming?  Is it the shorter days, or the semi-cooler weather kicking in? 

 

The poem above reminds me of my visitors this past summer.  They were beautiful indeed, just like this poem, and I did see "the glance of a soul in thine eye".  Safe travels my little tenants -- wherever you may be!