Bright wings An illustrated anthology of poems about birds

Rare and common, real and metaphorical, from Homer's omen bearers and Emily Dickinson's "thing with feathers" to Keats's nightingale, Shelley's skylark, and Poe's ravens, birds have graced works of poetry since poetry began. Poets enamored of their songs and in awe of their ability to fly have used them as powerful images of beauty, escape, and transcendence. Collins has compiled a wonderful birders' field guide in poetry. While he has passed over some better-known poems, those widely anthologized elsewhere, he surprises and delights us with work, contemporary and classical, from Catullus to Wallace Stevens, from Gerald Stern to Jane Hirshfield, to Carol Muske-Dukes. David Sibley's paintings are the icing. Verdict This collection will please anyone who has heard a birdsong and tried to understand it and seen a bird fly overhead and wondered how that must feel. Highly recommended for all readers.-Louis McKee, Painted Bride Arts Ctr., Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From the Introduction : The phenomenon of poems about birds extends from the earliest evidence of writing to a poetry workshop that might have been held last night. To follow the trajectory of these poems is to observe the persistence of the human fascination with these things with feathers-as Emily Dickinson called hope-who have always amazed us with their ability both to fly and sing. The poet envies the spiritual and imaginative liberation suggested by the bird's flight; and birdsong leaves him with the desire to sing as naturally and beautifully in his own lyric. By combining a rich set of poems about birds with illustrations by the illustrious David Sibley and then adding the kind of practical information about birding normally found only in field guides, the editors have provided the reader with pleasures that are literary, pictorial, and scientific. The CardinalBy Henry Carlile Not to conform to any other color is the secret of being colorful. He shocks us when he flies like a red verb over the snow. He sifts through the blue evenings to his roost. He is turning purple. Soon he'll be black. In the bar's dark I think of him. There are no cardinals here. Only a woman in a red dress. Excerpted from Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems about Birds All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.